On the slinky, interstellar ‘Lithobreakin”, Alpha Chrome Yayo confirms our suspicions that he’s a jack of all trades and a master of many. Having emerged as a maestro of stellar synthwave retromancy over the last few months, the Belfast producer’s new single is a first-rate foray into interstellar electro-funk. Inspired, he tells us, “in almost equal parts by the interstellar grooves of Zapp and Roger, vintage Sega Mega Drive title Toejam and Earl, and the surprisingly sexy world of astrophysics”, it’s a bombastic, wonderfully curveballing new effort from the remarkably productive artist. Better yet, the single’s masterfully downtempo, Jean-Michel Jarre-influenced b-side ‘Escape Atrocity’ melds a…
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Liam Gallagher will play Dublin later in the year. The solo artist and Oasis frontman will play 3Arena on Sunday, November 24th. He last played the city last year, at Malahide Castle as part of his As You Were tour. Tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday, July 12th. The 3Arena show takes place as part of a European arena tour that will follow the release of his forthcoming second album, Why Me? Why Not.
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Kevin Parker and co. pulling out all the stops at Dublin’s 3Arena. Photos by Leah Carroll.
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In the latest installment of Mixtape, a season of music films curated by Feature, the Oh Yeah Music Centre will play host to a screening of Thom Zimny’s 2010 Bruce Springsteen doc The Promise – The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town on July 3rd. As modern retrospective music films go, none have pulled off conveying the bliss and burden of mounting superstardom – the legal issues, the towering pressure, the creative gestation – with the same power and panache as Zimny’s film. With his 1975 third album, the critically and commercially devoured Born To Run having made him a star beyond his wildest…
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If there’s a busier Irish musician than Philip Quinn, please, send them our way. Over the years, the Belfast musician has performed in myriad guises: from releasing music as Charles Hurts and playing guitar in the recently-disbanded Girls Names, to making up one-third of the already hugely-promising Grave Goods, his versatility has always ran parallel with fecundity. Bands, collaborations and the odd side-project aside, it’s in his main solo guise as Gross Net where the full weight and majesty of Quinn’s art comes into view. Taking from his eagerly-anticipated second studio album, Gross Net Means Gross Net, ‘Gentrification’ is one of his most cohesive and assured efforts to…
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Dundalk’s indie imprint par excellence, Pizza Pizza Records, will host the first ever The Big Slice on Saturday, July 13th. An all-day, two-stage event bringing together eclectic sounds and culture to the Spirit Store, it finds the label curating a bill “specially to include artists that we really love and we are really excited about having involved.” As well as antiques, vinyl and clothes markets on the day, as well as Pizza Pizza Records DJs and art workshops, the following acts will perform. Best of all, entry is absolutely free.
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Long a favourite here at The Thin Air, Dublin-based Galway artist Maija Sofia has announced details of her forthcoming debut album, Bath Time. Set for release via Trapped Animal Records in the Autumn, news of the debut comes accompanied with Sofia’s exquisite new single, ‘Edie Sedgwick’. Recorded and mixed by Chris Barry in Alfionn Studio, it’s a typically bewitching effort from the musician, marrying wistful lapsteel lines with sparse guitar, cello and Sofia’s skeletal confessionalism. “The song is about the demise of a relationship that was spiralling beyond anything that I could salvage,” said Sofia. “I wrote it during a summer I spent…
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In the latest installment of Monday Mixtape, Belfast musician Katie Richardson aka HEX HUE selects a mixture of old and new favourite tracks, from Lykke Li to Christine and the Queens, that have “fed into the HEX HUE story in different ways”. So Sad So Sexy – Lykke Li Lykke Li was the first Scandinavian artist I really remember notably hearing loving. I love how much her sound has changed over the years and she has been a big influence on me – partly just by introducing me to a Geographical world of music that I have consistently fallen more and more…
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What do you mean you don’t love Sheer Mag? Get the hell outta here. For those of you in your right mind, you’ll be glad to know the Philadelphia power-punk quartet will play Dublin’s Grand Social on November 5. Tickets are priced at a ridiculously reasonable €15 and go on sale this Friday (June 21) at 10am.
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The supremely unGoogleable !!! will play Dublin later this year. Otherwise known as Chk Chk Chk or whatever you want to call them, the Sacramento dance-punk heroes will stop off at Whelans on November 21. The show marks 10 years since they last sold out the venue. Tickets cost €25 and go on sale this Friday (June 28) at 3pm.