• Tim Wheeler: Solo Domain

    November 7, 2014 - By 

    Tim Wheeler took a break from his front-man duties for Ash to release his debut solo album, Lost Domain, for reasons very close to the singer’s heart and it’s a masterpiece. Deirdre O’Brien caught up with the Downpatrick native for The Thin Air on a very flying visit he took to Dublin just before the record’s release and his show at Belfast’s Oh Yeah Centre. Since the release of their debut EP Trailer in 1994 – which turned out to be an immediate success for Tim Wheeler, Mark Hamilton and Rick McMurray – Ash have gone from strength-to=strength worldwide for the…

  • Wassailing Away: An Interview with James Yorkston

    September 18, 2014 - By 

    Just before James Yorkston began his tour around Ireland to celebrate the release of his latest album The Cellardyke Recording and Wassailing Society, Deirdre O’Brien caught up with the softly spoken Scotsman to discuss everything from his very content life of simple domesticity to working with KT Tunstall and the recording process that lead to such an intimate sounding record. The talent of James Yorkston really is something special to behold and the talent of the singer/songwriter/author/artist is so impressive; every album you listen to of his, every gig you attend feels like you’ve been made privy to a well…

  • Angel Olsen @ Whelan’s

    June 10, 2014 - By 

    Angel Olsen takes to the stage of Whelan’s on the first leg of a three date tour of Ireland surrounded by a three-piece backing band to a highly anticipatory Dublin audience. The Missouri born singer has taken quite a jump forward in popularity this year with the release of her second album, Burn Your Fire for No Witness, which has established Olsen as not only a force to be reckoned with, but also the aforementioned release as an early contender for standout album of the year. You get the impression that the album has both cemented her talent and credibility…

  • Röyksopp & Robyn – Do It Again

    June 5, 2014 - By 

    The coming together of Röyksopp and Robyn on Do It Again is a pretty perfect collaboration that seems like such a natural progression for the two acts. The sound they produce as a unit is quite different from what they create as separate acts. Combined, they have made something altogether new, that could best be described as a melding together of electro, dance and a little pop thrown in for good measure. Röyksopp and Robyn previously worked together in 2009 on the track ‘The Girl with the Robot’, and this five track mini album is just the right length for…

  • Beck – Morning Phase

    March 6, 2014 - By 

    Morning Phase represents the welcome return of Beck with this his twelfth LP, but also a welcome return of an old sound with this record being pitched as a companion piece to 2002’s critically acclaimed Sea Change. Morning Phase is bathed from the outset in a light that Sea Change was not, and how could it be? The previous was said to have been written in the week following the breakup of a nine year relationship for the prolific musician. Where Sea Change dwells quite beautifully in raw, lonely heartbreak, Morning Phase is a very new day. Now, twelve years…

  • Bombay Bicycle Club – So Long, See You Tomorrow

    February 14, 2014 - By 

    Bombay Bicycle Club are an admirably prolific outfit, with So Long, See You Tomorrow completing  the band’s meteoric journey up the British charts; their fourth album since 2009 going straight in at number one. The album is certainly their most experimental to date and features everything from a very Bollywood-style intro on ‘Feel’ to synth and electro tracks scattered throughout the album. If Bombay fans of old were expecting an album rooted in more of an acoustic feel they will be very disappointed or will have to adapt quickly, but, then again, adapting to a change in tack from this…

  • PINS – Girls Like Us

    September 22, 2013 - By 

    Prepare to embrace PINS, because everyone else will. Before you lies something quite special. The four-piece, all-female line up has struck a gold many bands can only dream of. The gold in question is finding the perfect fit in each other and just the right musical formula: the 14 tracks on their debut LP Girls Like Us is a striking mix of pop perfection and obvious musical talent. Lead by vocalist and guitarist Faith Holgate, the Manchester-native designed to have a four-piece girls only band, in part, because of the closeness four girls can achieve when it’s just girls. And…