All of us at The Thin Air are deeply saddened to hear of the recent passing of lighting designer Conor Biddle. Conor’s work shone brightly across so many stages, lighting up live performances from some of the best acts in the country. We’ve gone through our photography archives to share this tribute to Conor and some of his beautiful work. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his husband Sean, family, friends, and the many colleagues across the music industry who were so lucky to work with him.
For over a quarter of a century, Cian Ó Cíobháin’s An Taobh Tuathail has been an almighty force in Irish broadcasting and a nightly dispatch from the edges of sound. First aired on 1st May 1999, the show has long operated as RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta’s flagship for leftfield and alternative music, delivering everything from ambient drift and avant-pop to underground techno and wayward folk. Presented in Irish but universal in scope, ATT has steadily, and ever increasingly built a reputation as one of the most vital and visionary radio shows on this island – and far beyond it. This…
Dive into the very best Irish music of the week, featuring Junior Brother, AM Shanley, Stratford Rise, Hamer Place, Charlie Hanlon, Maria Somerville and more. Photo by Ellius Grace Junior Brother – Small Violence AM Shanley – AMERICAN VANILLA AMERICAN VANILLA by AM Shanley Stratford Rise – Gunshow Hamer Place – Gerry’s Retired Gerry’s Retired by Hamer Place Charlie Hanlon – Foreshadowing Maria Somerville – Projection Cathal Francis – Snowblind Snowblind by Cathal Francis Dose – After This After This by Dose Cliffords – Dungarvan Bay Offica – Go Mo Laura Duff – Fondness Of You DREAM BOY – Ivory…
Dive into brand new gems from God Knows, M(h)aol, Nerves, VARO featuring Lankum’s Ian Lynch, YARD, RUÁ and Skinner Photo by Yana Babkina God Knows – The Observer Feat. Dreddy M(h)aol – I Miss My Dog Nerves – Dirty Fingers VARO feat Ian Lynch – Sweet Liberty RUÁ – Forbidden Pleasures Skinner – Eisbär (Grauzone Cover) YARD – Slumber
“For most of my life, I’ve lived with enormous, driven agony. Now, I wake up and I’m okay. Someone dies – I grieve, but I’m still okay. I could lose everything – money, reputation – and I’d still be okay. Something in me has healed, at a core level.” Go on there: forget everything you thought you knew about Daniel Bedingfield. What you thought you knew was only the sudden glint on the surface of something far deeper, freer, and more alive. You probably got the memo: he appeared, seemingly fully formed, back in 2001, an unknown Kiwi-Londoner with a…
Off the back of his sublime debut album, Loner, Donegal alt-folk artist Declan McClafferty aka Ramper talks us through some of his all-time favourite songs – from Kate Bush and the Bothy Band, to Dylan, Villagers and beyond. Photo by Joe Doherty Bob Dylan – Girl From The North Country I think this was the first song that pulled me out of listening to music through the prism of what the guitars were doing. I got a bit obsessed with the simplicity of it – acoustic, vocal, harmonica. Dylan is like a big hole. If you get stuck in there…
Irish music this week isn’t so much stacked as spilling over. Hear brand new cuts from Myles Manley (who we’re bringing to Ulster Sports Club on Good Friday – tickets below), Search Results, Garrett Laurie, The Null Club, Data.Soul, The Number Ones and many more. Myles Manley – Jeremiaaad 1 // Di Fontaines Tickets for Myles Manley and Garden Centre at the Ulster Sports Club in Belfast on Friday 11th April are right here Search Results – Be Laurel Garrett Laurie – Something Blue Data.Soul – My Data Soul The Null Club – The Null Club Monday’s Child – Love,…
Cork’s, and arguably Ireland’s premier pedal steel player David Murphy released one of our favourite albums of last year with debut LP Cuimhne Ghlinn: Explorations in Irish Music for Pedal Steel Guitar. A sublime collection of interpretations of traditional songs, it was another part of a growing body of work that is reshaping the role of the pedal steel away from its American roots and into global folk and contemporary music. His work has spanned soundtracks, collaborations with acclaimed Irish songwriters like The Lost Brothers, Arborist and John Blek, to versions of Led Zeppelin’s ‘The Rain Song’ and Aphex Twin’s…
It’s another stacked week for new music from across the island. The releases are coming thick and very fast – and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Lemoncello cover The Corrs in a way only they can. The Oh Yeah Centre’s latest Scratch My Progress compilation returns with standout tracks from Touzai and co. Connor McCann drops a stellar new EP, Cloakroom Q return with album number two, and there are some essential curveballers from Peng Weng, Unique Freaks and more. Link in bio Various Artists – Scratch My Progress Lemoncello – Breathless Connor McCann – After The End…
It’s been a while – too long – since we last heard from Galway’s Field Trip. And while we’ll get into the hows and whys of that shortly, the return alone is cause enough for celebration. Today, we’re pleased to premiere ‘I Get Down’, a textbook harmony-laced gem that reaffirms just why the triom became one of the country’s most quietly beloved garage-pop bands. Taken from their long-awaited debut LP, Foreign Land, it’s a track that reaches gently into the past and brings something timeless back with it: bittersweet, impossibly earworming jangle-pop. Formed in Galway and fondly remembered for a…