• Tickets go on sale for Arcade Fire and Pixies @ Marley Park

    December 13, 2013 - By 

    Tickets for Arcade Fire and alt-rock pioneers Pixies at Dublin’s Marley Park on Sunday, June 29 have gone on sale. Set to be one of the most must-see Irish summer shows of 2014, the event was announced on Tuesday afternoon. Along with confirming the show – as well as a date at Cork’s Marquee on June 30 – the Pixies revealed Paz Lenchantin from A Perfect Circle and Zwan as their new bassist. Co-produced by former LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy, Arcade Fire released their fourth studio album, Reflektor, back in October. Tickets for the show – priced at €61.50 – are available to…

  • The Thin Air’s Top 100 Irish Tracks of 2013 (74-51)

    December 13, 2013 - By 

    Love, hate or merely tolerate them, end of year lists come in all different shapes and sizes. From the finest EPs of the last twelve months to the most questionably-named bands to emerge throughout the year, there is currently no shortage of lists and countdowns around to remind us of what went down in the world of music, both international and much closer to home, in 2013. This is our humble little offering – the Top 100 Irish Tracks of 2013. Feel free to go here to check out the first installment of the countdown, featuring tracks 100-75. 74. The…

  • Interview: A Fight You Can’t Win

    December 12, 2013 - By 

    Four months on from their most recent breathtaking performance in Belfast, Edinburgh alt-rock four-piece A Fight You Can’t Win return to Voodoo this weekend to plays alongside Hornets and riffmasters general LaFaro. Having just released the brilliantly accomplished video for their latest single ‘Jerusalem Crickets’, we talk to the band about its creation, the obstacles they face performing in their own city and what the next few months hold in store for the band. Hi guys. You’ve just unveiled the ridiculously impressive video for your new single, ‘Jerusalem Crickets’. Firstly, how did the idea for the video come about? Thank you!…

  • Watch: Out Krypton Son – I See A Sadness

    December 10, 2013 - By 

    Off the back of the release of his stunning ‘Can’t Make You Come Back’ (not to mention a sublime cover of Willie Nelon’s ‘Pretty Paper’) Derry singer-songwriter Chris McConaghy AKA Our Krypton Son has unveiled a live video of a sublime new track, ‘I See A Sadness’. Filmed in Smalltown America’s studio in Derry, the video – edited by Paul Brown and his team from In Your Steps – is, according to the STA blog on the video, “delicate in every sense of the word and is sure to pull on the heart strings and bring a tear to a…

  • Gig of the week: Wooden Shjips, The Altered Hours @ The Menagerie

    December 9, 2013 - By 

    Our (sold out) gig of the week this week is the latest in a string of top-drawer shows by Strange Victory promotions. Supported by spectacular Cork psych-rock band The Altered Hours, U.S. space/psych rock four-piece Wooden Shjips will return to Belfast to play the Menagerie on Friday, December 13 following their show here at The Mac back in September. Go here for the show’s event page. Check out ‘Back To The Land’ by Wooden Shjips below and our interview with the Altered Hours here.

  • Interview: Katie Richardson on HATCH! @ The Mac

    December 11, 2013 - By 

    Not content playing as part of Katie and the Carnival, Salt Flats and in various other collaborative musical endeavours, Belfast-based musician, singer and musical director Katie Richardson is the epitome of a tireless, committed and boundlessly passionate artist. From December 4 right up until January 4 (and many weeks in advance in preparation) her current creative occupation is composer and musical director of HATCH! Adventures of the Ugly Duck at The Mac, Belfast. With the production having already smitten hundreds of attendees and several critics, we speak to Katie about the ins and outs of the biggest production she’s been…

  • Girls Names announce European tour

    December 9, 2013 - By 

    Starting to crop up in all different kinds of end of year lists, Belfast-based four-piece Girls Names have announced details of a forthcoming European tour. Starting in London on February 5 and concluding in Italy’s Savignano Sul Rubicone on February 13, check out the eight dates below. February 5: The Lexington, London February 6: Espace B, Paris February 8: Ferme de Biereau, Louvain-la-Neuve February 9: Rössli, Bern February 10: Blah Blah, Turin – door sales only February 11: Garage Genova, Genova – door sales only February 12: Off Modena, Modena – door sales only February 13: Sidro Club, Savignano Sul Rubicone Watch the wonderfully…

  • The Thin Air’s Top 100 Irish Tracks of 2013 (100-75)

    December 10, 2013 - By 

    It’s that time of year again: End Of Year” lists are steadily rolling in from every conceivable direction, many of us are still debating the BBC Sound of… verdict for next year and we’re all silently pondering our own favourite albums and EPs of the last twelve months. Closer to home, it’s been yet another ridiculously impressive year for Irish music, both North and South. Since January 1, right up until the writing of this article (December 10), a single week hasn’t gone by that wasn’t soundtracked in some way by the very best in new, homegrown music. As such –…

  • Stream: The Groundlings – Life Is Fine/Roses Red, Violence Blue

    December 9, 2013 - By 

    Belfast-based rock n’ roll band The Groundlings have unveiled a stream of two new tracks titled ‘Life Is Fine’ and ‘Roses Red, Violence Blue’. Two brilliantly garagey efforts from the three-piece – recorded by the band themselves – both tracks are expected to feature on a six-track EP at some point in the new year. The Groundlings play a Cramps Tribute night at Belfast’s Voodoo on February 8. Go here for the event page. Stream ‘Life Is Fine’ and ‘Roses Red, Violence Blue’ below.

  • Watch: The Late David Turpin – Fur

    December 6, 2013 - By 

    Taken from his third studio album We Belong Dead, Dublin-based singer-songwriter The Late David Turpin has unveiled the video to his new single, ‘Fur’. Made in collaboration with photographer Mark Duggan and the actress Julie Shanley as well as friends of Turpin, the video was inspired by Derek Jarman’s The Angelic Conversation and Jean Cocteatu’s La Belle et la Bete. Speaking of the video, Turpin said, “When I made ‘Fur’ I was thinking about hair. Because we live in a pornographic society, hair – like all the realities of the body – is something we seem to either fetishise or…