• Tower Records: Record Store Day 2019

    As with every year in recent memory, Dublin’s Tower Records is marking this year’s Record Store Day on Saturday, April 13 in style. This year, the store – Ireland’s largest independent record shop – is marking the occasion with a week-long celebration, with countless records, old and new, being sold with a massive price reduction. You can check out what’s on the cards this year right here. Majorly reduced, first-rate wax aside, the store will also host exclusive in-stores from three Irish acts across the week: All Tvvins launch their new album, Just To Exist, on April 12th at 1pm…

  • Stream: Fears – Fabric

    Constance Keane aka Fears is an artist wielding rapt and carefully-woven electro-pop like few others. The follow-up to previous singles ‘h_blood‘, ‘Blood‘ and ‘Priorities’, ‘Fabric’ is an unfurling, self-produced tale of entanglement and escape that finds the Belfast/Dublin musician and producer at her most emphatic to date. Prepare for this one to reverberate in your inner ear hours after a first listen. Fears and Steven Henry play Belfast’s the 343 on tomorrow night (Friday, April 5.)

  • Album Premiere: Fixity – No Man Can Tell

    Of the myriad forward-pushing acts we’ve featured over the years, Cork polymath Dan Walsh’s Fixity remains a singular and uniquely exploratory proposition. Backed by a revolving cast of sonic conspirators, the bandleader and multi-instrumentalist has carved out a uniquely collaborative niche driven by fierce extemporization. Released via the ever-reliable Penske Recordings on April 12, Walsh and an extended cast of Irish and international musicians weave new mastery on Fixity’s second album, No Man Can Tell. Produced by the Altered Hours’ Patrick Cullen, it’s a six-track featuring a veritable dream-team: Emil Nerstrand on flute and tenor sax, Kevin Terry on guitar and…

  • Dublin Is Sound

    On Saturday, April 13th – Record Store Day 2019 – Dublin’s The Grand Social will play host the inaugural Dublin Is Sound. Co-hosted by Nialler9 and Seven Quarters, the +14s daytime gig will present a genre-spanning bill of four of country’s best acts: Pillow Queens, Squarehead (pictured), God Knows from Rusangano Family and Tebi Rex. Advance ticket buyers will receive a limited edition 12″ vinyl record on the day featuring tracks from the acts. The vinyl is pressed in the city by Dublin Vinyl with specially-designed artwork by Dublin based designer Ruan Van Vliet in response to the music. Doors…

  • Pixies To Play Dublin and Belfast

    Boston indie rock legends Pixies will return to Ireland to play two shows in September. Coinciding with the release of a new album in the autumn, the Black Francis-fronted quartet will play Belfast’s Ulster Hall on September 25 and Dublin’s Olympia Theatre on September 26. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10am.

  • Pavement Co-Founder Scott Kannberg aka Spiral Stairs Set For Dublin and Belfast

    Scott Kannberg aka Spiral Stairs will play Dublin and Belfast in September. The founding member of Pavement and solo artist, who has just released a new album as Spiral Stairs (We Wanna Be Hyp-No-Tized) will play Voodoo in Belfast on Wednesday, September 25 and Whelan’s in Dublin on September 26. Tickets go on sale at 9am on Thursday, April 4, priced €20.00 and £15.00 respectively.

  • Bombay Bicycle Club To Play All Together Now and Cork Opera House

    Bombay Bicycle Club are set for two Irish appearances in August. As well as joining the bill for the (sold-out) All Together Now in Cork, play the festival on August 4th, the London quartet will also play a headline show Cork Opera House on August 3. Tickets for the latter are priced at €30.00 and go on sale at 10am on Friday. Fan presale for Cork begins tomorrow (Thursday) at 10am.

  • Win Tickets to Broken Social Scene at Vicar Street

    Before they go on sale on Friday, we have a pair of tickets to give away to Toronto indie rock heroes Broken Social Scene at Vicar Street on Saturday, August 17. To enter, send your name and your answer to the following question to info@thethinair.net: Released in 2001, what’s the name of Broken Social Scene’s debut studio album? Good luck!

  • Stream: Pat Dam Smyth – Dancing

    When we last spoke to him, back in March of 2016, we reasoned that London-based Northern Irish troubadour Pat Dam Smyth stood tall as one of the country’s most distinctive and vital songwriting voices. Three years on, that theory needs underlining. Having recently signed to Belfast’s Quiet Arch, Smyth is back with a new single – the first for a forthcoming album – called ‘Dancing’. Reflecting on his life as a teenager in Belfast, it’s a pensive, full-band affair, bursting with pathos and Smyth’s singular melodic knack. Stream it below. Smyth’s second album is out in July 2019.