• Stream: Arvo Party – ouroboros

    Following a big 2018, a year that saw the Belfast-based producer and musicians release his second album, II, all while emerging as one of the country’s strongest electronic artists, Herb Magee AKA Arvo Party has returned with ‘ouroboros’. Across nine minutes, the track untangles as a masterfully propulsive effort, marrying ecstatic synth shapes, woozy ambience and drubbing rhythms. Better still – in a move that fully underscores the broad-minded spirit that’s setting Magee apart – there is, ladies and gentlemen, a sax solo. Delve in below. ouroboros by Arvo Party

  • Watch: JyellowL – True Colors

    Ahead of what we expect to be a strong year for Word Up Collective, JyellowL has unveiled the video for new single, ‘True Colors’. Taken from his latest EP, Me n Me Too, slick production and breathless bars meld for one of the strongest efforts from the Dublin-based rapper, aka Jean-Luc Uddoh, to date. We’re told, “The song is about becoming aware of the shadiness in the world and calling it as is but also exposing yourself for masking moments of vulnerability with exuberant confidence, hiding your true self behind the bravado.” Check out the video – and upcoming JyellowL tour…

  • Win tickets to Kathryn Joseph @ Black Box

    We have a pair of tickets to give away to acclaimed Scottish singer-songwriter Kathryn Joseph at Belfast’s Black Box – taking place as part of this year’s Out to Lunch Festival – on Sunday, January 20th. To enter, simply send your answer to the following question to info@thethinair.net What is the title of Joseph’s debut album? Please note: doors for the show are at 3pm.

  • The Gloaming Announce Album Number Three

    The Gloaming have announced details of their forthcoming third studio album. The trad super band – comprised Martin Hayes, Dennis Cahill, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, Thomas Bartlett and Matt Purcell – will release The Gloaming 3 on February 22 via Real World Records. Produced by Thomas Bartlett, the album was recorded last autumn at New York’s Reservoir Studios. See some thoughts on the release by Irish author Colm Tóibín – and check out the artwork for the venue – below. The Gloaming play Dublin’s The National Concert Hall on March 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th, & 11th. “What you notice first…

  • The Workman’s Club Set for Tony Hawk’s Soundtrack Night

    On Friday, February 8, Dublin’s The Workman’s Club will host Story Mode, a night of Tony Hawk’s soundtrack nostalgia. Aimed squarely we who have whittled away countless hours playing the long-running skateboarding series throughout the 2000s and beyond, the night is presented as “a club night dedicated to celebrating [the] tunes” from its soundtrack, including The Violent Femmes, NOFX, NAS, The Offspring, RUN DMC, Dead Kennedys and more. Better still, slick skate visuals are promised on the big screen throughout the night, featuring classics such as Flip’s Extremely Sorry and CKY and Tony Hawk’s featured skaters like Eric Koston, Mike Vallely, and Bam…

  • The Cinematic Orchestra Set For Dublin Show

    The Cinematic Orchestra are set to make their long-awaited return to Dublin. Doubling up as their first Irish show in 12 years, the genre-warping British act will perform 20 years of career-spanning spanning classics at Vicar Street on March 25. Tickets – priced at €34.50 – go on sale this Friday at 9am. Revisit the band’s critically-acclaimed fourth studio album, 2007’s Ma Fleur, below.

  • Choice Music Prize Shortlist Announced

    The shortlist for this year’s RTE Choice Music Prize has been announced. Taking place at Dublin’s Vicar Street on Thursday, March 7th, the following ten albums will vie for the prize. The Academic – Tales From The Backseat (ROOM6 Records) Delorentos – True Surrender (Delo Records) Just Mustard – Wednesday (Pizza Pizza Records) Kojaque – Deli Daydreams (Soft Boy Records) O Emperor – Jason (Big Skin Records) Lisa O’Neill – Heard A Long Gone Song (River Lea Recordings) Saint Sister – Shape Of Silence (self released) Rejjie Snow – Dear Annie (BMG) Villagers – The Art Of Pretending To Swim…

  • Premiere: John Blek – The Blackwater

    Cork singer-songwriter John Blek is a master at weaving gossamer tales stemming as much from his own headspace as the lineage of various transatlantic folk traditions. Set for release on February 1, Blek’s fourth studio album, Thistle & Thorn, is set to underscore that repute tenfold. Recorded between Clonakilty and Louisville, Kentucky at the start of last year, the album is a largely collaborative, with Brian Casey, Davie Ryan, Joan Shelley and guitarist Nathan Salsburg among the artists who have lent their own touch to the release. Lead single ‘The Blackwater’ is a delicate and carefully-crated sample of what to expect. Brimming with pathos,…

  • Stream: James Joys – Fugitive Wound

    Despite existing on a peripheral plain sonically, Belfast producer and composer James Thompson AKA James Joys deserves much more than negligible regard, both at home and much further afield. Beyond his work as one-half of Ex-Isles with vocalist Peter Devlin, his solo output to date is equal parts spectrum-bucking, dense and hugely rewarding. Six minutes of self-proclaimed “deep brain cracking electronica to get sweaty to”, new single ‘Fugitive Wound’ encapsulates this. Mastered by fellow Belfast-based electronic wizard Herb Magee AKA Arvo Party, it’s a heady, warped triumph marrying a slew of staggered beats with ecstatic arpeggios and textures. Placed back-to-back with October’s Super_Tidal, it heavily suggests that James Joys might well…