• Marcus Woods shares fast-paced electronic cut, ‘Saturn V’

    January 9, 2019 - By 

    We first became aware Marcus Woods back in 2017 around the release of his polychrome via the ever elusive Wooden Spoons imprint. The now tape exclusive EP of self-proclaimed ‘Chill Trash’ was a fine introduction to the Dublin producer whose atmospheric, lo-fi beats have seen him evolving to be one of the country’s most sought after young producers. Last October, he released his debut digital album, demo, which you can check out here. Now, the 18-year-old beatmaker is embarking on his 2019 release schedule, launching proceedings with the fast-paced and percussive electronics of ‘Saturn V’. Shared via his own Burner Records, the track is named after…

  • Choice Music Prize Shortlist Announced

    January 9, 2019 - By 

    The shortlist for this year’s RTE Choice Music Prize has been announced. Taking place at Dublin’s Vicar Street on Thursday, March 7th, the following ten albums will vie for the prize. The Academic – Tales From The Backseat (ROOM6 Records) Delorentos – True Surrender (Delo Records) Just Mustard – Wednesday (Pizza Pizza Records) Kojaque – Deli Daydreams (Soft Boy Records) O Emperor – Jason (Big Skin Records) Lisa O’Neill – Heard A Long Gone Song (River Lea Recordings) Saint Sister – Shape Of Silence (self released) Rejjie Snow – Dear Annie (BMG) Villagers – The Art Of Pretending To Swim…

  • the arts column: January 9th

    January 9, 2019 - By 

    For our first edition of the arts column in 2019 we’ve details on an international residency, a national residency, a career opportunity as well as a trio of exhibitions that are opening this week and feature a mix of emerging and established artists – details of all below. If you have an event, talk, exhibition, or would like to recommend one please get in touch via aidan[at]thethinair.net Open Call | TBG+S and HIAP International Residency Exchange 2019 Temple Bar Gallery + Studios (TGB+S) have announced details of the thirteenth annual residency exchange between Ireland and Finland, due to take place later this year. The…

  • Video Premiere: Arthuritis – Let’s Touch

    January 8, 2019 - By 

    You might have missed idiosyncratic Cork auteur Arthuritis inconspicuously dropping one of the best Irish releases of 2018 at the end of November. Released through Cork independent label KantCope, I’m Great pulled off that rare balancing act of being equal parts opaque and inviting, its shards of influence – electronic, minimalism, drone, R&B, psychedelia, dreams (presumably) – painting vividly abstract images of an alien, dissociated consciousness, and one that’s all the more human for it. Following on from his wealth of releases – that include the deservedly-titled Neglected Ambient Shirts Vol 1 – lead single ‘Let’s Touch’ and its accompanying video are as good a Rosetta Stone for his output as you’re likely to…

  • New Pope shares surprise EP, Mångata

    January 4, 2019 - By 

    TTA favourite and Galway institution, New Pope AKA David Boland has dropped a spontaneous EP to mark the new year. Titled Mångata, the seven-track release is, for now, a YouTube exclusive and is the first new music to come from the Citóg Records founder in over a year. Since we last spoke to Boland around the release of his 2016 debut LP Love, he’s shared a reworked edition of tracks from his former band The Depravations and continued to be a regular live fixture in Galway’s venues. Strangely though, 2018 also saw him removing all of his previous releases from Bandcamp, including Love and its preceding EP, Youth.  With the…

  • The Favourite

    January 4, 2019 - By 

    Court is in session in Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite, a spectacular re-dressing of the period costume drama and savage comedy of manners about people who barely have any. It’s early 18th century England in Queen Anne’s palace. Off-screen, over on the mainland there’s a war with France to fund (there was always a war with France), but home is where the real hostilities are flaring up. Upstart crow Abigail Hill (Emma Stone at her most compelling) is the ruthless social climber cousin of the reigning royal favourite Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz), the Cheney-like whisperer who basically runs the country for the…

  • Premiere: John Blek – The Blackwater

    January 3, 2019 - By 

    Cork singer-songwriter John Blek is a master at weaving gossamer tales stemming as much from his own headspace as the lineage of various transatlantic folk traditions. Set for release on February 1, Blek’s fourth studio album, Thistle & Thorn, is set to underscore that repute tenfold. Recorded between Clonakilty and Louisville, Kentucky at the start of last year, the album is a largely collaborative, with Brian Casey, Davie Ryan, Joan Shelley and guitarist Nathan Salsburg among the artists who have lent their own touch to the release. Lead single ‘The Blackwater’ is a delicate and carefully-crated sample of what to expect. Brimming with pathos,…

  • Fallout 76 (Bethesda, Multiformat)

    January 2, 2019 - By 

    To quote The Big Lebowski, “sometimes you eat the bar… and sometimes the bar eats you.” It is both fair and heartbreaking to say that Fallout 76 has repeatedly eaten the bar since its initial release, largely because the core DNA of the game is so far removed from the traditional Fallout experience expected from fans of the franchise. It has received a drubbing not too dissimilar to the amount of toxic bile that was heaped upon The Last Jedi when it appeared in cinemas. Some of this castigation is justified, and some of it is the usual predictable self-entitled ranting from armchair critics with nothing better…

  • Stream: James Joys – Fugitive Wound

    January 4, 2019 - By 

    Despite existing on a peripheral plain sonically, Belfast producer and composer James Thompson AKA James Joys deserves much more than negligible regard, both at home and much further afield. Beyond his work as one-half of Ex-Isles with vocalist Peter Devlin, his solo output to date is equal parts spectrum-bucking, dense and hugely rewarding. Six minutes of self-proclaimed “deep brain cracking electronica to get sweaty to”, new single ‘Fugitive Wound’ encapsulates this. Mastered by fellow Belfast-based electronic wizard Herb Magee AKA Arvo Party, it’s a heady, warped triumph marrying a slew of staggered beats with ecstatic arpeggios and textures. Placed back-to-back with October’s Super_Tidal, it heavily suggests that James Joys might well…

  • Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar, Multiformat)

    January 2, 2019 - By 

    After a pack of dynamite fails to ignite, you chase after and then jump onto the top of a speeding locomotive train, hoisting your friend up from the side just before he comes just a hair’s breadth of being cleaned by a passing metal pole. Before you can catch your breath, you are moving through the carriages towards the engine room, picking off enemies with headshots before they can do the same to you. After you halt the train, metal wheels squealing as it comes to a stop, you discover a coach with a hidden room before more bandits arrive…