• TTA @ 1: A Year of Photography

    April 30, 2014 - By 

    Five thousand photographs is an impressive feat for our photographers and an even more difficult task to whittle them down to a gallery showcasing 150 fantastic images that represent what we’ve been doing for an entire year. Having worked as photo editor at State.ie and AU Magazine before starting from scratch at The Thin Air, I found myself in the unique position of hand picking a team of photographers. I was presented with some snappers whom I was familiar with previously, some I worked along side in the pit at gigs and some fresh meat all with varying backgrounds and experience. Quality…

  • Frame by Frame #009: Sullivan & Gold – Glory

    April 29, 2014 - By 

    In the ninth installment of Frame by Frame, Belfast-based photographer and filmmaker Colm Laverty talks to Ben Robinson from Derry acoustic duo Sullivan & Gold and director Michael Barwise about the former’s recent, rather lovely video for their single ‘Glory’. Hi guys. First off, tell us a little bit about each of your roles on this music video. Michael: I was director and editor on the video. In a sentence, what sets ‘Glory’ apart from other Northern Irish music videos? Ben: We’ve wanted to keep Sullivan & Gold something quite organic and homely. Forget Myself was one of the ‘poppier’…

  • Track Record: Somadrone

    April 29, 2014 - By 

    Electronic producer/musician Neil O’Connor AKA Somadrone sits down with Ian Pearce to give his ten LPs that have influenced him. Somadrone’s fourth album, The First Wave, which was recorded in San Francisco and Brooklyn and released in December 2013, is available to buy now via the Bodytonic website. White Noise – An Electric Storm Sixties English Psychedelic Music, but with a twist. Delia Derbyshire, who was part of BBC Radiophonic workshop, did all the electronics, which are stunning. This record was a big one for Broadcast. I went to see them play in the Sugar Club a good few years back. It…

  • Watch: Talos – Escariot

    April 24, 2014 - By 

    Directed, shot and edited by the visual maestros at Feel Good Lost, Cork singer-songwriter Eoin French AKA Talos has released a suitably understated video of him performing a wonderfully delicate version of ‘Tethered Bones’. Reminiscent of the likes of Perfume Genius and the Antlers, the stripped-back rendition of the debut track sees French’s vocals take centre stage, the original track’s percussion inflections and electronic tangents purified to a gripping four and a half minute of serene performance. We approve, in other words. Check out the video (by FGL’s Brendan Canty and Conal Thomson) and the original track below.

  • Slogan: Or how I learned to stop worrying and hate Serge Gainsbourg.

    April 24, 2014 - By 

    Francois Mitterrand, the French president at the time of Serge Gainsbourg’s death, called him, in a surprisingly emotional obituary, “our Baudelaire, our Apollinaire” with the sort of off-the-cuff erudition that’s made me a life-long Francophile. Our premier at the time was Margaret Thatcher, a woman who is to poetry what Baudelaire was to self effacing good humour and an early night. That the President of France felt the need and, no doubt, a political compunction, to address a pop singers death is extraordinary: I wouldn’t hold your breath, Sir Cliff. But Serge Gainsbourg was much more to the French than…

  • Watch: TVVINS – Book (Live)

    April 23, 2014 - By 

    Four months on from the propulsive electro-pop of their second single, ‘You Better’, Dublin duo Lar Kaye and Conor Adams AKA TVVINS have released a video of them performing a new track, ‘Book’, at Dublin’s Storm Studio. Featuring live drummer Lewis Hedigan, the track – evocative of the likes of PVT and early Battles – opens with the wonderful opening line,”So what? You read a book. I took it from you and you took a second look”, unravelling quickly to reveal an intoxicating blend of polyrhythms melding with throbbing bass lines, jagged guitar shapes and a general air of self-assured, summery…

  • Inbound: Under Tears

    April 29, 2014 - By 

    In the latest installment of Inbound, we talk to Berlin-based, Dublin musician Julie Chance (also of Kool Thing) about her current solo project as Under Tears and the emotional inspiration behind it. Exclusive photography featured by Berlin photograhers Wilkosz and Way. Hi Julie. Can you tell us a little bit about Under Tears, how you began and what the name means? After I broke up with my partner and bandmate last summer, I was going through a lot of pain and wrote a few songs about it. That’s basically how it started. You’re also one half of Kool Thing so how does this current…

  • In Photos: BarnDance VII

    April 23, 2014 - By 

    Taking place in a secret location forty-five minutes outside of Dublin, Rory Coomey captures the seventh installment of BarnDance on Easter Friday, featuring the likes of Mojo Gogo, the Minutes, King Kong Company and Fritz Kalkbrenner. [gallery type=’flickr’ user_id=’95205686@N06′ photoset_id=’7215764423291744

  • Fez (Sony, Cross Buy PS3/PS4/PS Vita)

    April 23, 2014 - By 

    If you have watched the fantastic documentary Indie Game: The Movie, and I heartily recommend that you do, then you will already be intimately familiar with the notorious Phil Fish. The Montreal-born designer has gained infamy – deservedly, some would say – for his fits of pique and bilious rants against the games industry and those who work within it. This, one could argue, is largely a product of frustration borne out of the unattainably high standards he imposes upon himself. In Indie Game, we see a man trapped within a prison of his own making, struggling to complete a puzzle-based platform…