• EP Stream: Little Rivers – Little Rivers

    June 4, 2014 - By 

    Set for its official launch at a secret show at Belfast’s Menagerie tonight (Wednesday, June 6), Northern Irish singer-songwriter Callum Cairns AKA Little Rivers has digitally released his second – self-titled – EP. The follow-up to his 2012 debut EP, We, I, the release six-track release features single ‘I Have No Sleep’ and a live version of the poignant ‘Hold On’. According to Cairns’ Bandcamp page the EP “stems from uprooting and moving to England, the loneliness accompanying it, and the first steps following a heartbreak”. Little Rivers was produced by Cairns, Michael Mormecha and Thomas Camblin. Stream it below via Bandcamp. Little…

  • Meb Jon Sol: Four More Fish

    June 6, 2014 - By 

    When the battle lines had been drawn a ripple of laughter broke out among the the groups of lads gathered on the playing fields at Lover’s Retreat. It echoed around the high trees that loomed over the banks of the Camowen river at the edge of the pitch. The teams were unintentionally split straight through the middle of Northern Ireland’s religious divide. It was reflective of the past and the present of a perpetually confusing country: together but still separated. ‘Hold on, we’re one down and yous have an extra.’ a voice from our team remarked. ‘Simon, you go with…

  • Exclusive Preview: Sons of Caliber – Albatross

    May 30, 2014 - By 

    Ahead of its official release on June 13, we’re very pleased to present an exclusive, one-day stream of Albatross, the debut album by Northern Irish folk singer-songwriter Andrew Farmer and friends AKA Sons of Caliber. Two years on from the Andrew Farmer-fronted band’s critically acclaimed 2012 release The Tundra, the nine-track album is a subtly mesmerising collection of songs, traversing  the laws and hidden depths of nature, love and survival. Albatross will be launched as part of this year’s Open House Festival at Belfast’s Black Box on June 22. Go here to buy tickets and stream Albatross via our Bandcamp page below. (You…

  • Robyn G Shiels – The Blood of the Innocents

    May 27, 2014 - By 

    Six years in the making, Belfast-based singer-songwriter Robyn G Shiels will sigh a breath of relief on Saturday, May 31, when he launches his long-awaited (not to mention, truly exceptional) second studio album, The Blood of the Innocents. Set to take place at Belfast’s Black Box from 8pm, the show will also feature support from Jonny Black of LaFaro and a DJ set from Clive Moore. An array of guests are also expected to make an appearance on the night. Go here for the show’s Facebook event page, pre-order the album here and stream ‘Drunk Myself a River’ from the album…

  • TTA Session #003: Affleck

    February 3, 2014 - By 

    In the third installment of our live session series, hotly-tipped Belfast-based experimental electro three-piece Affleck performs two tracks (including the brand new, unreleased ‘Ravenholm’) and grant us a brief but very revealing interview into the band’s formation, their songwriting process and much more. As ever, the session was filmed and edited by the masterful Colm Laverty and its audio recorded/mixed by Clark Philips.

  • The Thin Air’s Top 100 Irish Tracks of 2013 (35-1)

    December 30, 2013 - By 

    Sixty-five increasingly exceptional songs in, we’re pleased to round up our first ever countdown of the Top 100 Irish Tracks of the year. Truth be told, this list could have been much, much longesear – such was the extent and quality of the output from our homegrown musical talent over the last twelve months. From unassuming bedroom artists treading the often very thin line between absolute anonymity and mass recognition to genre-defining, decades-spanning bands that fall comfortably under “legendary” status, we’ve been very happily bombarded with some truly extraordinary Irish music over the last year. Until next time… listen, enjoy…

  • Video exclusive: Seven Summits – Little Twist

    November 11, 2013 - By 

    Just over a year since the release of their stellar second album Fossils, Belfast-based indie rock band Seven Summits have unveiled their ridiculously infectious new single ‘Little Twist’ – and we have an exclusive first look at the video. Directed by the band’s guitarist and keyboardist Dominic Coyle, the black and white video features, among other things, some of the most hypnotising slow-motion flapping of the lips that has ever been committed to film. The single – released as part of Belfast Music Week – was recorded by Phil D’Alton and mastered by Jon Moorehead. You can stream/buy it via…

  • Inbound: Skymas

    November 7, 2013 - By 

    In the latest installment of Inbound, we talk to Martin Corrigan, main man with new-fangled Belfast-based electronic three-piece Skymas. With collaboration at the heart of the project, Corrigan tells us about the band’s musical manifesto, the influence of philosophy and the band’s debut double A-side, Primer. Hi Martin. Firstly, how did Skymas come about? Did you all know each other before getting together as a musical unit? Nick owned a clothes shop that I was buying a T-shirt in. He was standing behind the counter playing air bass to ‘Elephant Talk’ by King Crimson. We started talking. Three weeks later…

  • Inbound: A Bad Cavalier

    November 1, 2013 - By 

    In the latest installment of Inbound, Brian Coney talks to And So I Watch You From Afar guitarist and ex-Panama Kings frontman Niall Kennedy about his (essentially) new solo project A Bad Cavalier, the release of his superb debut EP, Ex Libris, and trying to make the time to make the whole solo thing work. Hi Niall. You’ve just released Ex Libris, your first solo release under the moniker A Bad Cavalier. How long has it been in the making? It’s been in the making for quite a while now. I started A Bad Cavalier when I was 16 and I have been…

  • Exclusive album stream: Captain Kennedy – Draw It In Chalk

    October 24, 2013 - By 

    Ahead of its release next week, we have an exclusive first listen of the fantastic Draw It In Chalk, the long-awaited new album from Lurgan band Captain Kennedy. Recorded live and in one session at Mogul Studios, Portadown exactly two years prior to its November 1 release, the album mark encapsulates Captain Kennedy’s change to a 4-piece line-up and reveals the path the band were headed prior to their indefinite hiatus. Ahead of our review of the album, check out the artwork and listen to the stream below!