• Premiere: The Wood Burning Savages – We Love You

    March 21, 2016 - By 

    If their last few shows are anything to go by – not least their thrilling performance at our Tuesday Throwdown at Lavery’s in last month – Derry’s Wood Burning Savages are a band coursing forth with a huge amount of momentum right now. Recorded by Rocky O’Reilly at Belfast’s Start Together Studio, their new single, ‘We Love You’, is breakneck two and a half minutes that sees frontman Paul Connolly at the peak of his steadfast and ever-increasingly silver-tongued powers. Speaking of the release, Connolly said, “It’s not a love song. It’s a song about youthful dreams and hope being…

  • Track Record: Sorcha Brennan (Sleep Thieves)

    March 15, 2016 - By 

    As featured in one of our print issues of The Thin Air magazine, we spent some time with Sorcha Brennan from Sleep Thieves in her lovely home in Dublin to discuss her favourite records, from Why? to Jape. Photos by Aaron Corr. Jape – Ocean of Frequency What can I say about Richie Egan’s musical output? I’ve loved every album. I think Richie is a master of the perfect turn of phrase paired with the most singable melody. I’ll never get bored of Scorpio. Austra – Feel It Break I found Austra because Niall Byrne posted a video of their…

  • Monday Mixtape: MMOTHS

    March 14, 2016 - By 

    In the latest installment of Monday Mixtape, Dublin producer Jack Colleran AKA MMOTHS gives us a cursory tour of his current favourite YouTube bookmarks, including Solar Bears, Steve Reich & William Basinski. Colleran launches his debut LP, Luneworks, at District 8 on Saturday night. Benoît Pioulard – Upon The Break Arch Sting Freestyle The Dead Texan – The Struggle Smt. Kesarbai Kerkar: Raag-Malkauns Solar Bears – Man Plus Steve Reich – Piano Phase (solo) William Basinski – Melancholia #9 आप stundents पसंद है

  • More Acts Set for Sea Sessions

    March 14, 2016 - By 

    Bundoran, Co. Donegal surf and music festival Sea Sessions have announced the second wave (ahem) of acts set to play its ninth outing from June 24-June 26. With the likes of Primal Scream, Bad Manners and Ciaran Lavery already revealed, Gavin James, Ham Sandwich, King Kong Company, Raglans, Daithi, Exmagician (pictured), Miles Graham, Picture This, T.P.M., Fang Club, New Valley Wolves, Crow Black Chicken, Karma Parking, Third Smoke and Wolves of Youth join the bill. Tickets for this year’s festival start at €99.90. Go here to buy yours. Check out the current Sea Sessions line-up below.

  • Stream: Race The Flux – Matty Rusko

    March 11, 2016 - By 

    Reminiscent in different ways to El Ten Eleven, Axis Of and the elated instrumentalism of And So I Watch You From Afar, ‘Matty Rusko’ by Galway four-piece Race The Flux is the kind of prog and latter-day post-rock-leaning track we’re more than happy to wrap our ears around time and time again. Going at least one step further than some of their peers in said realm, the single is a masterstroke in sidetracking exhausted tropes of the genre, blossoming from purposeful instrumentalism to a single-minded, fist-clenched conclusion. Going one further: it’s right up there with the best Irish tracks released this year. Race The Flux play Dublin’s…

  • Stream: Deadman’s Ghost – Insula

    March 11, 2016 - By 

    Previously known as Deadman, Belfast producer Jason Mills AKA Deadman’s Ghost comfortably established himself as one of the country’s most ambitious and idiosyncratic musicians with his debut LP, The Broken Zoetrope. Drawing comparisons to the likes of Beck and David Holmes, it tapped into a magnificent mid-point between expansive post-rock terrain and exquisite electronic soundscapes. Very much a return worth waiting for, his new track ‘Insula’ instantly lured us to a realm in which Beak> and Tortoise got together to jam ‘All I Need’ by Radiohead. The result was delightful.

  • Watch: Sam Ojo – So Pro

    March 11, 2016 - By 

    It’s safe to say 17-year-old Dubliner Sam Ojo is a hip-hop artist with confidence and flow beyond years. Produced by Ignorvnce, his new single ‘So Pro’ is, in spite of being under two minutes in length, a heady, intent-drenched throwdown that doubles as something of a statement of intent from the hugely-promising wordsmith. The latest release as part of the new-fangled Word Up Collective – also featuring the likes of Damola, Katie Laffan, Anti-One and Stay Gold – watch the video for the track, directed by Steven BeatSmith, below.

  • Stream: Silences – There’s a Wolf

    March 11, 2016 - By 

    “Quite a touching song in its sheer bare-boned simplicity and sound. Great track – potentially brilliant artist.” So your writer scribed three years ago this June in reference to an early version of ‘There’s a Wolf’ by Co. Armagh’s Conchúr White AKA Silences. Having came on many leaps and bounds since that tentative first foray in 2013, White and his band have released a reworking of the track, revealing deft harmonies, wonderfully subtle pockets of sound and fleshed-out, full-band instrumentation that more than justifies the revamp. Silences’ forthcoming EP Luna will be released on April 15 will be released on April 15.

  • Belfast Film Festival 2016

    March 10, 2016 - By 

    Comprised of more than 133 films and events from 30 countries around the world, the programme for this year’s 16th Belfast Film Festival is their biggest to date. Set to return from April 14-23 in various venues across the city, an incredible range of premieres, guests, documentaries, shorts, discussions, music, film installations fall under categories including New Cinema, Documentary Panorama, Altered States, Talking Film, TV, NI Independents and Twisted Cornea. Launching with Deniz Gamze’s Mustang on Thursday, April 14 at the Moviehouse, the sheer medley and diversity of this year’s programme is nothing short of a thing of beauty. But don’t take our word for it: you…

  • Stream: Carriages – Like a Child

    March 9, 2016 - By 

    The third release from the pair, ‘Like a Child’ by Dublin’s Harry Bookless and Aaron Page AKA Carriages started as a percussion loop recorded using flower pots and a garden sweeping brush. A curious birth betraying the twosome’s wonderfully idiosyncratic leanings, the final product is a slick slice of minimalist electronica in which repetition (not least in the song’s chorus of “Like a child I run to you”) comfortably tunnels in one’s auditory cortex. Released on March 23 – and followed a week later with a remix by Bantum – stream ‘Like a Child’ via Soundcloud below.