• James Holden – The Inheritors

    July 1, 2013 - By 

    The Thin Air was always rubbish at maths (GCSE Grade B, y’all!). Frankly, we couldn’t see the point. Now, of course, we very much regret not concentrating more on the ol’ sums. For one thing, it’s embarrassing being unable to work out whether you’ve been given the correct change in a shop. For another, if only we’d been better at the subject we could have ended up like James Holden, self-confessed mathematics nerd, feted DJ and producer and – with his second album The Inheritors – producer of some of the most dense, dissonant and downright uncomfortable sounds you’re likely…

  • Optimus Primavera – Day Three

    June 21, 2013 - By 

      It feels like the festival’s only just begun, but the third and final day of Optimus Primavera Sound 2013 is already here. With it comes that bittersweet feeling one only gets when facing into the last day of a great festival weekend – there’s excitement for another day full of promising live shows, but also disappointment that it’s not lasting for another day at least. The only thing that can be done, though, is to make the most of the time that’s left. So, with a timetable in one hand and a beer in the other, The Thin Air sets…

  • The Breeders – Limelight 1, Belfast

    June 18, 2013 - By 

    Yesterday, it was announced that indie songstress par excellence Kim Deal had left boundlessly influential Boston band Pixies nine years into their reformation. This evening, she’s in town with her very own Breeders to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their breakthrough album, Last Splash. Nothing short of an alt-rock masterstroke, all but spanning every shade of sub-genre and sentiment, the record crystallised a supremely accomplished brand of sonic slackerdom effectively forged by Deal, her twin sister Kelley, bassist Josphine Wiggs and drummer Jim MacPhearson. As to which fact will warrant the most interest and acknowledgement from tonight’s crowd, only time will reveal.…

  • Optimus Primavera – Day One

    June 17, 2013 - By 

    Ah, festivals. Around these parts the very word conjures up images of wet weekends with wellies, mud, overpriced beer, flooded tents and a bunch of rowdy twats in the campsite who “only came here to see David Guetta.” Sure, there are more than enough decent acts to be seen, but precious few of them can stave off the sinking feeling that spreads throughout the crowd when it senses the pitter-patter of rainfall as the opening song rings out. Which is why The Thin Air has made an executive decision and flown out to the northern Portuguese city of Porto for…

  • The Who – 02, Dublin

    June 11, 2013 - By 

    Is Quadrophenia the greatest Who album? It’s a simple question asked of a complex album, one fans have debated and will continue to do so for many a year. It’s not the most successful, nor one who’s songs turn up in Best Of… collections, but it’s certainly the last really great Who record, and the one that typifies them as an ideal more so than anything they’ve done. Pete Townshend has always been the greatest curator of The Who’s past, and with Quadrophenia he created, shaped and immortalised the Who myth once and for all. For all its flaws, it’s…

  • The Dead Presidents – Can You Dig It? EP

    June 4, 2013 - By 

    It’s been a long trek for The Dead Presidents, having been a power trio in their early years, suffering from lazy comparisons to Thin Lizzy due to frontman (and former bassist) Matthew Wilson’s charismatic – to say the least – onstage demeanour. Having released very little other than an early brass section-free version of the band’s signature tune ‘She’s Falling In Love Again’ prior to this EP, the Dead Presidents spread almost solely on word-of-mouth press throughout the local circuit, with the launch of this very EP packing more people into QUBSU’s Radar than any in recent memory. One of…

  • The Specials – Ulster Hall, Belfast

    May 9, 2013 - By 

    Two years on from their phenomenal performance at Belsonic 2011 – not to mention an astonishing thirty-four years since first performing Queens University way back in 1979 – ska/2-tone pioneers The Specials return to Belfast tonight very much assured of their legendary status. Despite lacking founding member Jerry Dammers since reforming in 2008 and now missing vocalist Neville Staples this year due to health reasons, there is a definite air of celebration and mild hysteria in the air, undoubtedly spurred on by the looming, gratefully-received safety net of a next day Bank Holiday. Diving straight into the hectic ska of…

  • Desert Hearts – Enturbulation = No Challenge

    May 3, 2013 - By 

    “The opposite of harmonious, cooperative, respectful, calm, serene, disciplined”. A process of “agitating or disturbing”. As anyone who’s ever seen them can confirm, such words could serve as a neat description of Desert Hearts. They are, in fact, taken from the the Wiktionary definition of ‘Enturbulation’, a word coined by L. Ron Hubbard, used primarily by Scientologists and which, now, finds itself gracing the title of the new Desert Hearts album. One of the fundamental practices of Scientology is ‘auditing’, a procedure through which the individual revisits the traumas of the past as a means of elevating them to a…

  • Alana Henderson – Wax and Wane EP

    May 3, 2013 - By 

    Alana Henderson’s debut EP is a strong statement of intent. These dark folk songs are dominated by her powerful, nuanced cello playing and clear voice, with an able supporting cast complimenting each dramatic stroke with subtle harmonic flicks, background croons and interpretive percussion. It’s a beautifully organic sound, one which should appeal more to followers of the US indie end of the folk spectrum than to Mumford devotees. The opening title track is a thing of wonder, immediate and striking but revealing more of itself with every listen. Henderson’s confident cello stabs take centre stage, plucking, swooning and swelling round…

  • Vanilla Gloom – Vexed EP

    May 3, 2013 - By 

    Vanilla Gloom. It sounds like the sort of thing a depressed Willy Wonka might create. A grunge gumdrop, say. Just a taste and you’re transported back, back, back in time, all the way to the early-Nineties and a rain-slicked Seattle. Creatures in plaid lumberjack shirts and distressed jeans stalk the land, stomping their enemies under their Doc Marten-ed heels, paying tribute to King Kurt. Times are heavy. Times are good. Vanilla Gloom’s Vexed EP will take you back to those times just as surely as any magic lozenge. They’re a new-fangled, guitar-toting, female three-piece. They’re from Derry, originally, now based…