• Premiere: Edward F Butler – Running From Fears

    October 7, 2014 - By 

    Originally from London, Belfast-based musician and filmmaker Edward F Butler first made his mark here with the now defunct HOWL, a genre-spanning outfit driven by Butler’s soulful, nigh on beatific vocals. Going several steps further – both in sound and scope – the artist’s debut single, ‘Running From Fears’, is an extremely impressive first gambit, marrying Butler’s idiosyncratic electro-acoustic music with his extraordinary vocals. Conjuring the likes of James Vincent McMorrow, James Blake and Nina Simone, they serve as a transformative centre-piece of a sound bearing the hallmarks of resounding inspiration. And if that wasn’t enough to convince you of his talents, Butler –…

  • Download: Princess – Molly

    October 7, 2014 - By 

    Another highlight from Hard Working Class Heroes festival at the weekend, Dublin noise-pop band Princess have released the bewitching ‘Molly’, the follow-up to their breakthrough single ‘Neverlook’, released back in June. A spectre-weaving, superbly slow-burning eight minutes of astrally-inclined rapture, the single evokes the likes of Bardo Pond, Galaxie 500, Beach House and fellow Irish sonicosmonauts The Altered Hours‘ more subtle efforts. Expect it to feature quite highly in our annual Best Irish Tracks End of Year list in December. Stream/download ‘Molly’ – produced by the band, engineered by Ian McNulty and mixed by Solar Bears’ Rian Trench – via Bandcamp below. Molly by Princess

  • Watch: Ciaran Lavery – Orphan

    October 6, 2014 - By 

    Having played a triumphant set at Dublin’s Grand Social as part of Hard Working Class Heroes festival at the weekend, Aghagallon singer-songwriter Ciaran Lavery has unveiled the decidedly cathartic video for his new single, ‘Orphan’. Created by ROC, the minimalist visual accompaniment features a few anonymous individuals baring themselves to the camera, a theme introduced in Lavery’s video for ‘Left For America’. Propelled by the Northern Irish songsmith’s instantly-recognisable husky vocals and progressively experimental alt-folk approach, ‘Orphan’ is the closing song on Kosher, Lavery’s latest EP. Stream/buy that here. Watch the video for ‘Orphan’ below.

  • Inbound: Jess Kav

    October 6, 2014 - By 

    In the latest installment of Inbound, Brian Coney talks to multi-talented Dublin singer Jessica Kavanagh AKA Jess Kav about everything from her early influences, studying jazz in college, performing as part of Hozier’s band and her hugely eclectic musical journey to date. Hi Jess. Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background in music? I’m Jess Kav and I am a professional singer in Dublin. I started off in a stage school when I was younger, then got into the live scene from about eighteen. Since then I have been working with an array of different bands. They…

  • In Photos: The Thin Air Magazine Launch @ Bar Sub

    October 6, 2014 - By 

    On Saturday night we (rather excitably) launched our physical magazine at Belfast’s Bar Sub. We could have had a group of spazzed-out, talentless street urchins banging a couple of bin lids in the corner all night and worried not, so to have Belfast party-starters par excellence Not Squares, fast-rising indie rock trio Hot Cops and DJ David Baxter AKA Kab Driver soundtrack the magazine’s birth was nothing short of amazeballs*. Our photographers Colm Laverty and Sara Marsden popped down to capture all the action – as you can see below! * first and last night we will ever use that word to describe anything… promise.…

  • Talking Tatts @ The Mac

    October 6, 2014 - By 

    On Monday, October 6, Belfast’s the MAC will host a unique exhibition looking at the story behind the tattoos of some of Northern Ireland’s best-known musical artists and industry professionals. An intriguing project by artist and musician Paul Kane and one of the country’s leading music photographers, Carrie Davenport, the first installment of Talking Tatts “concentrate on how musicians and members of music industry, choose to be permanently creative with their own bodies, the designs they choose, the sentimental or memory based reasons behind ‘inked’ and ultimately, why they are such an addictive art form.” The exhibition will combine portraits and a video installation “where intimate…

  • Stream: September Girls – Veneer

    October 1, 2014 - By 

    Having gradually distanced themselves from the straight-up surf-rock of their early ruminations,September Girls have positively confirmed their rather exciting metamorphisis with ‘Veneer’, the title track from their forthcoming EP on Kanine Records. Psych-tinged and feedback-soaked in all the right places, the track is a swift, earworming lo-fi masterstroke; swooning and sinister in equal proportion, tapping into an inner recess, looking far beyond pacific, jangling, Summer pop. Veneer is released on November 25. Stream the single below.  

  • Line-up announced for inaugural Output showcase

    September 30, 2014 - By 

    With just over a fortnight to wait, the line-up for the inaugural Output have been announced. Northern Ireland’s largest ever one-day conference and showcasing event, taking place throughout Belfast’s city centre and Cathedral Quarter on Thursday, October 16, it will see a series of free talks, workshops and pop-up gigs, attending by around 350 artists, businesses and creative students. We’re very happy to be involved, too. Teaming up with tastemaker par excellence Niall Byrne AKA Nialler9, we will host a most awesome showcase in the Black Box main room with Cork psych rock five-piece Altered Hours (pictured), Dublin electronic duo Contour, Derry…

  • Shortlist revealed for Northern Irish Music Prize 2014

    September 29, 2014 - By 

    With Bangor singer-songwriter Foy Vance having scooped the inaugural award last year, the twelve-act shortlist for this year’s Northern Irish Music Prize has been revealed. Recognising the very best albums released in the last twelve months by a Northern Irish act, this year’s ceremony will see Belfast-based singer-songwriter Robyn G Shiels (above), alt-rock heroes Mojo Fury, the Smalltown America-signed More Than Conquerors, Derry indie-pop quartet Wonder Villains, transatlantic indie-rap duo Malibu Shark Attack, singer-songwriter Tony Wright AKA VerseChorusVerse, electro-pop band Ed Zealous, Nathan Connolly’s Little Matador, singer-songwriter duo Sullivan and Gold, Dungannon folk songstress Alana Henderson, Belfast doom masters Slomatics and multi-instrumentalist Peter McCauley AKA Rams Pocket Radio vie for prize. The shortlist was compiled…

  • Watch: A Plastic Rose – Move Islands

    September 29, 2014 - By 

    Nottingham-based Northern Irish alt-rock quartet A Plastic Rose have unveiled the brilliantly adventurous, short film-like video for their new single ‘Move Islands’. Shot in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, the video – directed by David Louis Lankester – features the Ian McHugh and Gerry Norman from the band going on a little journey in an attempt to make contact with something both unseen and unknown. Piqued your interest? Watch the video below. ‘Move Islands’ is the fourth single to be taken from the band’s forthcoming new album, Flickering Light of an Inner War, due out in February. The single itself is officially released…