• Uncut Gems

    January 17, 2020 - By 

    Uncut Gems, writer-directors Josh & Benny Safdie’s fifth feature together, starts full throttle and only occasionally lets up. It is fixed to the world and worldview of Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler), a jeweller for the stars in New York’s diamond district: a chancer and grifter, thriving in an ecosystem of insatiable avarice. As it becomes rapidly clear, he is a man that gets both a hit and an identity from triumphing over the constant barrage of knife-edge negotiations and impossible odds. Or, failing that, just surviving them. Ratner juggles his family life, with kids he is provisionally interested in and…

  • This Is How We Fly @ Solstice Arts Centre, Navan

    January 17, 2020 - By 

    The setting is unusual for This is How We Fly’s gig at Navan’s Solstice Arts Centre. It isn’t the circle of chairs, perhaps forty, that surround the musicians. In-the-round-concerts, after all, are not uncommon. It’s the fact that the audience is on the stage with the musicians. Through a gap in the curtain the empty theatre is discernible. It feels like a private party. TIHWF was brought together by fiddler Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, in what all thought would be a one-off gig at the 2010 Dublin Fringe festival. Swiftly approaching its first decade together, the simpatico between Ó Raghallaigh, reeds…

  • Premiere: Robbie Stickland – Lizard

    January 16, 2020 - By 

    We’re pleased to present a first listen to the debut single from Dublin musician Robbie Stickland. Tackling issues of body dysmorphia and self-care head-on, ‘Lizard’ is a compelling opening gambit from the artist, who is something of a cult figure in Dublin’s indie scene. Having already supported the likes of Fontaines D.C and Paddy Hanna under his previous moniker Spongebob Eyelashes, the song is the first to be taken from Stickland’s forthcoming debut LP, Warm Jeans in the Morning. Speaking about the self-produced track, Stickland said, “I wrote it to explore the relationship I have had with myself over the…

  • The Thin Air Podcast: Careerist

    January 15, 2020 - By 

    This week, we speak to Belfast band Careerist about the track ‘Negative One’. A highlight of their excellent debut album Weird Hill (released on Pizza Pizza Records in November), singer/guitarist Carl Eccles and bassist Nathan Rodgers talk to Danny Carroll about the influences that inspired the song, and the recording process. We also get insights from producer Chris Ryan (Robocobra Quartet) about how the song developed in the studio.

  • Girl Band Announce Cork Date

    January 14, 2020 - By 

    Girl Band are set to make their return to Cork. Having released easily one of the best Irish albums of last year in The Talkies, the Dara Kiely-fronted quartet will play the Cyprus Avenue on Saturday, March 7th. Presented by the Good Room, tickets for the show cost €28 (+ booking fee) and go on sale at 10am on Thursday, January 16th here.

  • the arts column: January 22nd

    January 22, 2020 - By 

    This week we’ve got details on tours, open calls, submission deadlines, exhibitions and more. As always, if you have an event, talk, exhibition, or would like to recommend one please get in touch via aidan[at]thethinair.net Quiz | Basic Space @ Temple Bar Gallery + Studios Next Wednesday, January 29th, sees the second iteration of David Fagan and John Waid’s Self-Improvement Quiz. The duo, in conjunction with Basic Space, have created a unique quiz that consists of “a series of questions, and tasks, most requiring no general knowledge.” The quiz will be hosted by Temple Bar Gallery + Studios in their Studio…

  • Goodbye Quiet Arch @ Empire Music Hall, Belfast

    January 13, 2020 - By 

    From the moment it was announced last month, it was clear that Goodbye Quiet Arch was never going to be your everyday swansong. Too monumental to call a gig; much too highly-charged to truly deem a farewell (Quiet Arch suddenly ceasing to exist? Not a hope.) In truth, it all felt a little unknowable. Momentous, yes, but also laced with the strong hint of something yet to emerge. This morning, suspicions and worst fears lodged in the back of one’s mind were sadly confirmed. Lyndon Stephens was gone. With all the heaviness of Bowie and Blackstar, the timing was heavy but, in…

  • Kurt Vile Set For Dublin Return

    January 13, 2020 - By 

    Doubling up as his first Irish solo show in six years, Kurt Vile will return to play Dublin in the summer. Marking the last date in a forthcoming European tour, the Pennsylvanian artist will stop off at Vicar Street on Friday, June 12th. Tickets cost €35.00 and go on sale on Wednesday, January 15th at 9am. Check out Kurt Vile documentary (bottle back) below.

  • Therapy? Set For 30th Anniversary Belfast Show

    January 13, 2020 - By 

    No band embodies the term “NI alt-rock royalty” more comfortably than Andy Cairns, Neil Cooper and Michael “The Evil Priest” McKeegan aka Therapy? On Saturday, September 26, the trio will take over Belfast’s Limelight 1 for a career-spanning, 30th anniversary show. In a statement, the band said, “‘We’re delighted to celebrate 30 years at the coalface of rock (no splits/no ‘hiatuses’) with a run of special anniversary shows next year! When we formed the band back in East Antrim little did we know we would be together through thick and thin to celebrate such a milestone.” Tickets for the show cost…

  • the arts column: January 14th

    January 14, 2020 - By 

    This week we’ve got details on some talks, tours, open calls and last calls for exhibitions around the country. As always, if you have an event, talk, exhibition, or would like to recommend one please get in touch via aidan[at]thethinair.net Exhibition & Talk | Turner @ National Gallery of Ireland Historically, January is Turner Month at the National Gallery of Ireland and 2020 is no different. Continuing the trend over the last few years Turner’s work will be shown alongside other artists, with a selection gleaned from both his contemporaries and those he influenced. Turner’s watercolours, and those of Paul Cézanne, John Singer Sargent…