• Group Zero – Structures and Light

    February 1, 2017 - By 

    With his primary project currently working on album number 4, Girls Names frontman Cathal Cully is to release his debut solo effort, Structures and Light under his Group Zero pseudonym. Released on February 17 on Touch Sensitive Records, like his bandmate Philip Quinn’s Gross Net electronic side-project, it projects the flip-side of their post-punk day-job, instead channelling the shadowy intensity along the lines of Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire, without ever approaching an over-reliance on nostalgia or pastiche. As Touch Sensitive & Cully himself say: The genesis of this newly discovered musical freedom coincided with a viewing of ‘Pyramid of Light’ by Heinz Mack from the post-war Dusseldorf based…

  • Fecking Bahamas – V. Ireland

    February 1, 2017 - By 

    To say Ireland has an unusually rich track record in the realms of math-rock, post-rock and instrumental music would be something of an understatement. This is something Melbourne music website Fecking Bahamas (assumingly named after the latter-day Don Caballero song ‘Palms Trees In the Fecking Bahamas’) have copped onto, manifesting in V. Ireland, a new, 21 track compilation featuring tracks from the likes of And So I Watch You From Afar, The Redneck Manifesto and Abebisi Shank to lesser-known but no less sorcerous sonic conquistadors in We Are Knives, Val Normal and Psychojet. Their fifth-region specific compilation and their first release…

  • Stream: New Pagans – Worker’s Song/Ode To None

    January 30, 2017 - By 

    One of our featured acts in 17 For ’17, New Pagans, have just released two new tracks following their debut tunes in September of last year. The band is one of NI music royalty, featuring Girls Names & Cruising‘s Claire Miskimmin, Jetplane Landing, Goons & Fighting With Wire‘s Cahir O’Doherty – whose trademark memorable alt. rock riffing is on display – as well as vocalist Lyndsey McDougall and Conor McAuley on drums. The band have yet to perform live, but by their sound and aesthetic so far – with each song featuring unique artwork from the band – New Pagans forms the bridge teased…

  • Album Premiere: Nomadic Rituals – Marking The Day

    January 12, 2017 - By 

    We’re over the moon – and indeed, the universe and its eventual demise – to premiere the gargantuan second album from one of the heaviest bands on this rock, Belfast-based heavy primal doom trio Nomadic Rituals. In the band’s own words: “‘Marking the Day’ was created as a concept album envisioning the birth and death of the cosmos, and ultimately focusing upon our subsequent place within it. From the formation of physical matter and structure of the universe; to the division of the first single cells and the evolution of the dominant species; to the final and inevitable heat death of the entire…

  • Admission for One: A Companion Piece to Robocobra Quartet’s Music For All Occasions

    December 16, 2016 - By 

    A conversation The Thin Air’s Stevie Lennox had with Chris Ryan that delves further into Robocobra Quartet’s process, including authorship, membership of the band, the philosophy of creativity or ‘good art’, punk rock, some stories regarding how the lyrical content of the album came about, as well as a little ‘Phil Collins in-the-studio’ self-indulgence. Photos by Ruth Kelly Art is defined by those who have achieved autarky in their process, and if drummer, vocalist, composer and producer Chris Ryan is the brain and beating heart of the idiosyncratic avant-punk collective Robocobra Quartet, he’s fully aware the remaining organs and limbs…

  • EP Stream: Gnarkats – Waves Collide

    December 8, 2016 - By 

    Belfast-based indie rockers Gnarkats have just released their debut EP proper, Waves Collide. With sonic touchstones including anthemic, yet stilted alt. rock in the vein classic Biffy Clyro or Foals, a touch of the sharp, hook-laden Bangor sound made famous by Two Door Cinema Club, through to the guitar-led tonal bliss of recent ASIWYFA, it’s a more carefully crafted follow-up to their garagey early tunes. Never short on atmosphere or tone, the EP was tellingly produced by Mojo Fury’s Michael Mormecha at Millbank Studios. With this behind them, the young foursome look to have an exciting year ahead. Stream Waves Collide below:

  • Exploding Eyes – Exploding Eyes

    December 7, 2016 - By 

    Dublin progressive psychedelic garage-rock trio Exploding Eyes release their eponymous debut album through US label Big Neck Records on December 9. Exploding Eyes was produced by Jim Diamond, who has worked on sonic titans like Dirtbombs, White Stripes & The Sonics. The LP is launched upstairs at Whelan’s on February 3, with support from psych-doomsters Wild Rocket and nugazers Galants, More details here. Prior to this, the band released two singles on Bandcamp. Channelling the likes of Hawkwind, Love & Pentagram, check out the album’s lead single, ‘Something Critical‘.

  • Le Guess Who? 2016 @ Utrecht, NL

    November 28, 2016 - By 

    It’s been a weird year for the ‘Boutique’ festival market, with ATP coming to an official end following a string of debacles, but in its tenth year, Utrecht’s Le Guess Who? somehow does it. Across four days, it ties together seldom-seen legends, a pocket of essential esoterica, and today’s most boundary-pushing acts, the lineup this year curated by Wilco, Suuns, Julia Holter & Savages. Utrecht is the sophisticated, civilised, more communal sister city of Amsterdam, located just half an hour south of the capital, and in a city with the Rietveld Schröderhuis built in 1924 it houses the kind of forward-thinking…

  • Premiere: Fears – Blood

    November 21, 2016 - By 

    Fears is the solo project of Constance Keane, drummer of Dublin feminist and animal welfare noise/post-punk quartet M(h)aol, and November 25 sees the release of new single ‘Blood’, following last year’s ‘Priorities‘, through her own label, Fears Records. In stark contrast to M(h)aol’s raw power, ‘Blood’ is an exercise in intense restraint and silently brooding alternative pop. Its brooding synth is evocative of the likes of John Carpenter (minus the timestamp), accompanied by claustrophobic, dissonant beats, with Constance’s lyrics and vocal performance lending the track the kind of somnambulist atmosphere to accompany a sleepless night. Ever the elusive entity, Fears’ first show takes place in Belfast on December 2 at a…

  • Arborist – Home Burial

    October 14, 2016 - By 

    Master craftsman Mark McCambridge finally releases his debut album, Home Burial, under the guise of indie-Americana outfit Arborist, on November 11. Drawing influence from the wise, heartfelt likes of Bill Callahan & Jason Molina in terms of eclectic-yet-familiar instrumentation paired with thoughtfully-penned personal songs, it also features an indie rock pairing with Kim Deal on last year’s single, ‘Twisted Arrow‘. Recorded at Start Together Studios with Arborist drummer Ben McCauley, the album is launched in Belfast at Mr Tom’s Lounge in Lavery’s on October 28, with support from Dublin indie outfit Tandem Felix. Stream ‘I Heard Him Leaving’, Arborist’s interesting gender-subverting play on traditional Americana: