• An End-of-Year Catch-up With Ray Blackwell of DeBarra’s Folk Club

    December 31, 2020 - By 

    Back in 2015, we had a wonderfully insightful chat with Ray Blackwell, the manager of beloved Clonakilty venue DeBarra’s Folk Club. Five years on, the landscape of Irish live music is – if only temporarily – barely recognisable. Ahead of what will hopefully be the steady resurgence of the live music industry, we catch up with Blackwell to discuss the challenges, highlights and future of De Barra’s in 2021 and beyond. Photos by Bríd O’Donovan Hi Ray. It’s hard to believe that we last spoke to you back in 2015. A lot has changed in the meantime. Before touching on this…

  • Download: The Tan Jackets – Here Are The Tan Jackets

    December 23, 2020 - By 

    There we were, hanging up the proverbial keyboard for 2020 and Irish supergroup par excellence The Tan Jackets swing by with other ideas. And blessed we are they did. Spanning traditional blues, punk, garage and straight up rock and roll, Here Are The Tan Jackets masterfully distils what makes the Cork band one of the country’s most-loved live acts. Recorded in Rebel County between 2017 and 2020, proceeds from the album – which features versions of songs from The Sonics, Velvet Underground, Suicide’s Alan Vega and more – goes to supporting the incredible work of Cork Penny Dinners this Christmas. Founded…

  • Stream: Bad Operator & Artois – 130 University Street EP

    December 22, 2020 - By 

    If you’re in any way au fait with Irish drum & bass, you’ll most likely be familiar with Crilli. A Belfast clubbing institution, specialising in DnB, jungle and footwork, its residents and rotating cast of guests have been responsible for some downright legendary nights in venues including Black Box, Voodoo and the Menagerie. The address of the latter space – which sadly recently closed its doors after yet another rebirth – gives its name to the debut release by Crilli residents Bad Operator aka David Campbell and Artois, otherwise known as Seamus Barnett. Across four tracks, 130 University Street offers…

  • The Thin Air’s Alternative Christmas Playlist 2020

    December 21, 2020 - By 

    It may seem like a curse, but surely it’s more of a blessing that we’re not being collectively subjected to the same ten Christmas songs blasting from club and pub PAs on loop this year. In fact, if you ask us, the continuing shiteshow that is 2020 is yet more reason to take musical roads less travelled. For our part, we’re pleased to present our Alternative Christmas Playlist, featuring Yo La Tengo, Big Star and Mazzy Star to The Fall, Galaxie 500 and Deerhoof.

  • The Avalanches – We Will Always Love You 

    December 21, 2020 - By 

    On We Will Always Love You, The Avalanches are like voiceless orchestra conductors, sharply gesturing their batons into the air as they direct hundreds of samples,  infectious rhythms and towering vocals into pristinely constructed tracks.  There were 16 years between the Australian outfit’s previous albums: the psychedelic hip-hop classic Since I Left You (2000) and the buoyant Wildflower (2016). It spoke to the monumental effort required to create and clear these sample-filled records. On this, their third album, the duo diverges from its predecessors in tone, structure and sound. Four years after their last album, The Avalanches have found a…

  • Watch: Tuath & Lunch Machine – Mountains and Grooves

    December 21, 2020 - By 

    If, when civilization returns to some vague semblance of normality, you ever find yourself in the supreme liminal realm that is Letterkenny, you could do much worse than seeking out two of the town’s finest bands, Tuath and Lunch Machine. Led by Rob Mulhern and Jude Barriscale respectively, they embody what makes their particular neck of the woods a bit of a scene unto itself. Today, we’re pleased to share the visuals for Tuath and Lunch Machine’s new collaboration, ‘Mountains and Grooves’. Spaced-out and sorcerous in all the right places, it’s a shapeshifting gem that – among other things – gives due consideration to the lesser-heard…

  • The Thin Air’s Top 100 Tracks of 2020 (#50-1)

    December 17, 2020 - By 

    Ah, 2020 eh? Unless you were living off the grid in a self-made banana bread house whilst rocking yourself gently to various iterations of ‘Happy Birthday’ as you washed your hands, then you will know that despite collectively living through the pandemic there were plenty of Irish songs to get excited about. 100 to be precise. We’ve listened to them on repeat since we couldn’t attend gigs, raves, or house parties so we’re certain we’ve selected the finest this little locked down island has to offer. It’s safe to say this year epitomised the true meaning of community in this…

  • The Thin Air’s Top 50 Irish Releases of 2020

    December 20, 2020 - By 

    In years to come, when someone asks me what The Thin Air was and represented, I’ll likely direct them to features like the one you have just opened. Much like other publications of our ilk – Nialler9, The Last Mixed Tape, Goldenplec and others – we spend 52 weeks of the year relentlessly championing what truly makes Irish music special and, very occasionally, genuinely world-beating. We all do it in different ways, and to slightly different audiences, but the impetus and desire to shine a light on what we have is one and the very same. Although they’re almost never…

  • The Thin Air’s Top 100 Irish Tracks of 2020 (#100-51)

    December 16, 2020 - By 

    Ah, 2020 eh? Unless you were living off the grid in a self-made banana bread house whilst rocking yourself gently to various iterations of ‘Happy Birthday’ as you washed your hands, then you will know that despite collectively living through the pandemic there were plenty of Irish songs to get excited about. 100 to be precise. We’ve listened to them on repeat since we couldn’t attend gigs, raves, or house parties so we’re certain we’ve selected the finest this little locked down island has to offer. It’s safe to say this year epitomised the true meaning of community in this country…

  • Neil Brogan – Weird Year

    December 16, 2020 - By 

    It was only this summer that Belfast jangle pop trio Sea Pinks announced they were calling it quits after ten years, but frontman Neil Brogan has wasted no time in readying solo material, with debut Life Itself already appearing a mere month after his old band’s final EP Crocuses. Not that it should have come as any surprise. During their decade long run, Sea Pinks were always one of the most reliably prolific bands in the country, pumping out an impressive seven albums in that time on Brogan’s own CF Records, initially as the frontman’s bedroom recording project while drumming in…