• Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist (Ubisoft, Multiformat)

    September 25, 2013 - By 

    Sam Fisher has the best job in the world. Jetting all over the world, breaking into top secret buildings, snuffing bad guys, always talking in a deep, gravely voice. He’s your archetypal superspy: a service hardened tough-nut with a tendency to occasionally go off protocol but who has a keen sense of right and wrong. Now operating from “the Paladin”, a nondescript cargo plane which actually houses a hub full of advanced comms tech, Fisher and his crack team have been charged with stopping “The Engineers”. These faceless terrorists are threatening to destroy a number of American assets if their…

  • Ciaran Lavery – Other People Wrote These

    September 25, 2013 - By 

    Having released one of the finest Irish albums of last year – his mesmerising debut full-length release Not Nearly Dark – Aghagallon-based singer-songwriter Ciaran Lavery is an artist who clearly lives and breathes his craft. When he’s not honing and delivering his own uniquely longing brand of alt-folk he refers to the tales of others and revisits the sweeping imprint of influence that has helped shape his own wonderfully distinctive sound. A four-track manifestation of this, Lavery’s aptly-titled new covers EP, Other People Wrote This, offers a ideal opportunity to re-assess his talents from a totally new and interesting perspective. Starting…

  • Inbound: The Last Generation

    September 30, 2013 - By 

    Having released their terrific second EP Torann earlier this month, Mid-Ulster hard-rock four-piece The Last Generation have all but announced their arrival as one of the country’s most exciting and interesting riff-fuelled acts. Ahead of the Belfast launch of their latest release, we speak to the band’s lead guitarist Stephen O’Hagan about the band’s steady and well-deserved ascent. Hi Stephen. First off, could you tell us how you got together and about the early period of the band? We started the band around two years ago while still attending secondary school in Maghera. We where still very much cutting our teeth as musicians –…

  • Harrison – When It Rains

    September 25, 2013 - By 

    Hip-hop, for me, is music to be enjoyed and considered. It’s unfortunate though that what most would currently call hip-hop is dominated by the kind of backslapping lyricists that appear to only pander to audiences willing to accept alienating stereotypes, or utter musical tripe. Either that or it’s about swag, whatever the hell that is.  On a brighter note, all is not lost. J Dilla is still being released and re-released posthumously; Madlib is still going strong and Peanut Butter Wolf and his Stones Throw label are the gifts that keep on giving. These guys are the true music makers. They are the architects of the…

  • Cordials – Cordials EP

    September 24, 2013 - By 

    With the north coat really having carved a niche in recent years – to the extent that punk, post-hardcore and post-rock practically soundtrack the area – it’s refreshing to hear a band from the area who don’t feel obliged to be boxed in with the usual names. A trio from Coleraine & Portrush, Cordials in their self-titled EP tread paths not a million miles away from heartfelt classic power-pop/college rock bands in the vein of Teenage Fanclub and The Replacements. From the onset of opener ‘Metal Man’, the classic lo-fi overdriven chiming wall-of-sound has been implemented appropriately, allowing the EP…

  • Manic Street Preachers – Ulster Hall, Belfast

    September 24, 2013 - By 

    Manic Street Preachers are the great survivors of British rock music. In an era where the touring landscape is awash with bands of their vintage (and younger) on money-spinning reunion tours, the Manics keep racking up the albums, the tours and the years – 27 at the last count. And yet here they are, packing out the Ulster Hall again as they tour to promote their eleventh studio album, Rewind The Film – yet another top five chart hit. Given that album’s delicate nature – all acoustic guitars, slow tempos and snatches of brass – it’s not surprising that tonight’s…

  • The Guide To: In The Court Of… Tom Ravenscroft

    September 24, 2013 - By 

    Spectacularly curated by the comprehensively cultured Duke Special last year, the annual In The Court Of… showcase at Belfast’s The MAC returns this week in the trusty hands of one of our generation’s most informed and sonically attuned broadcasters, Tom Ravenscroft. Running from September 24 to September 28, Ravenscroft – son of the late, great broadcaster, John Peel – has compiled an unmissable five-day bill of music, dance and comedy featuring international artists and performers as well as the very best in local musical talent. With the mini-festival of sorts kicking off this very evening, below is our guide to all things In…

  • TTA Session #001: Bellos

    September 24, 2013 - By 

    It might go without saying but we’re pant-wettingly passionate about local music here at the Thin Air. Just another side to our collective desire to get the very best in homegrown talent out there and duly recognised, we are pleased to kickstart The Thin Air Live Sessions in the company of Belfast-based alt-rock three-piece Bellos. Fronted by Luke Bowen (once described as having “the best scream in Northern Irish music”), the band have gone from strength to strength over the last few months having released their self-titled debut EP back in June. In July we interviewed the band as part…

  • Reuben’s Jamie Lenman announces solo album, unveils video

    September 23, 2013 - By 

    Iconic frontman of sorely missed English alt-rock heroes Reuben, Jamie Lenman has delivered a Monday blues-banishing one-two by announcing that he will release a double-album in November as well as unveiled the video for the release’s bloodthirsty lead tracks, ‘Fizzy Blood’ and ‘Pretty Please’. With Reuben having been inactive for the last five years, Lenman will return with a solo double album, Muscle Memory, on November 4 via Xtra Mile Recordings. Announcing the album on his new-fangled Facebook page, Lenman wrote: “I’m writing to tell you all that I’ve recorded an album and it’s going to be released with my old…

  • Chasin’ The Trane: A John Coltrane Playlist

    September 23, 2013 - By 

    On what would have been his 87th birthday, the towering musical stature of American jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane could not be any more set in stone. One of a small handful amount of musicians to irrevocably transform the landscape of a music contemporary music – both during his lifetime and down the years through the sheer influence and clout of his legacy – he embodied a revolutionary spirit that permeating the length and breadth of his staggering back catalogue as a sessionist, collaborator, bandleader and solo artist. To pay small tribute to the man and his music, we have…