• Picture This: The Night @ The Model

    March 29, 2017 - By 

    Alexandra Hopf – The Night Image courtesy of Heike Thiele What: The Night Where: The Model, Sligo When: 24th February – 16th April Words: Rebecca Kennedy It would be unwise to assume that the physical size of an exhibition space would act as a limitation to the quality of work it beholds. Seen as the majority of assumptions spring forth from our subconscious, it is oddly fitting to hold such presumptions when visiting Alexandra Hopf’s exhibition, The Night in The Model, Sligo. With motifs ranging from psychoanalysis, surrealism, modernism and the construction of art history & mythology, this capsule exhibition escapes it confines and embodies…

  • Album Premiere: Our Krypton Son – Fleas & Diamonds

    March 10, 2017 - By 

    Four years ago Derry songsmith Chris McConaghy AKA Our Krypton Son released one of the all-time great Irish debut solo albums. A self-titled release, it traversed an extraordinary palette of heart-wrung balladry and fervent, at times quite remarkable pop majesty. Today McConaghy returns with its highly-anticipated follow-up, Fleas & Diamonds. A wonderfully refined release – in both senses of the word – it betrays the hallmarks of an artist whose knack for weaving exquisite, emotionally potent songwriting with crushingly resonant lyrics is unparalleled on this island at present. Conceived over two days, from a tent pitched in an abandoned building on…

  • Playlist: Choice Music Prize 2017

    March 7, 2017 - By 

    On Thursday evening, the 12th annual award will once again celebrate and acknowledge the best in Irish recorded music, with one winning act walking away with €10,000 on the night. Set to be chosen by a panel of twelve Irish music media professionals and industry experts, the following ten releases will vie for the prize: All Tvvins – IIVV (Warner Music) Bantum – Move (Self Released) Wallis Bird – Home (Mount Silver/Caroline International) The Divine Comedy – Foreverland (Divine Comedy Records) Lisa Hannigan – At Swim (Hoop Recordings) Katie Kim – Salt (Art For Blind Records) James Vincent McMorrow –…

  • Premiere: WASPS – Future Endeavours

    March 1, 2017 - By 

    Having bonded over their love of North Coast post-rock machine And So I Watch You From Afar, Belfast-based “math-punk” duo Charlie Cairns and Danny McClelland WASPS released their debut single, ‘Godzilla is Dead’ back in December. Three months on, the pair are back with ‘Future Endeaours’, a three minute burst fusing almost ballad-like heart with zealous, intricate instrumentalism. The single is released on March 17 and launched at their first headline show at Voodoo in Belfast on March 18. Have a first listen below.

  • Picture This: Meanwhile @ CIT Wandesford Quay

    February 22, 2017 - By 

    What: Meanwhile Where: CIT Wandesford Quay When: February 3rd – February 25th Words: Judt Fisher “This exhibition is a celebration,”  said Catherine Fehily, head of CIT Crawford College of Art and Design as she opened the new show Meanwhile in the Wandesford Quay Gallery.  “These artists have succeeded in combining creative thought with critical intelligence, resilience and tenacity resulting in D.I.Y-led productivity and action, and we are proud.” Meanwhile is curated by Aideen Quirke and shows work from artists who graduated from  Crawford College of Art and Design between 2008-2013. These artists through their work, the organisations they have founded and events they have organised…

  • First Acts Revealed for Castlepalooza 2017

    February 14, 2017 - By 

    With many more acts yet to be announced, Girl Band (an Irish festival exclusive, we’re told), Wild Beasts, David Kitt and Waze & Odyssey are amongst the first names set to play this year’s Castlepalooza when it returns to Charleville Castle in Tullamore across August 4-6, Shit Robot, I Have a Tribe, Heroes in Hiding, King Bones and Lumo Club are also amongst the first names. Elsewhere, Colm O’Regan, Kevin McGahern, PJ Gallagher and Deirdre O’Kane are the first comedy acts confirmed for the Laughter Lab. Tickets are now available to buy, ranging from €59 to €119.

  • Picture This: Gut Instinct @ Glucksman Gallery

    February 1, 2017 - By 

    Thomas Rentmeister – Untitled (detail)  (Image Courtesy of Tomas Tyner / University College Cork) What: Gut Instinct: Art, Food and Feeling Where: Glucksman Gallery, Cork When: 25th November 2016 – 19th March 2017 Words: Judy Fisher “The gut is the seat of all feeling,” – Suzy Kassem This is the basic premise being explored by the artists in Gut Instinct: Art, Food and Feeling the current show at the Glucksman Gallery. The exhibition is a visceral display of our emotional relationships  with food in the light of recent discoveries by neuroscientist John Cryan of the UCC and his colleagues at the APC Microbiome…

  • Picture This: Reconstructing Memory @ The Model

    February 8, 2017 - By 

    Cléa van der Grijn – Reconstructing Memory (Image Courtesy of Heike Thiele) What: Reconstructing Memory Where: The Model, Sligo When: 17th Decmber 2016 – 2nd April 2017 Words: Rebecca Kennedy Irish artist Cléa van der Grijn has spent nearly a decade meditating on our society’s response to death and loss. From 2008’s Momentos to her new show, Reconstructing Memory, in Sligo’s The Model, the artist has harbored a fixation with death and loss – a fixation that has nourished her creative process. Reconstructing Memory is an exhibition that examines the disparities between the cultural responses to death in both Ireland and Mexico. Irish culture has an…

  • Stream: The Thin Air’s Death Culture Blues #5 on Dublin Digital Radio

    December 30, 2016 - By 

    In case you missed it or on the off-chance you fancy a second listen, the fifth – and our personal favourite – installment of Death Culture Blues, our weekly show of experimental, cosmic and ambient sounds on Dublin Digital Radio, is available to listen back now.  Check it and this week’s playlist – featuring everyone from Radioactive Man to Robocobra Quartet – below. 1. Radioactive Man – Go Ahead London 2. A Band Called O – Coasting 3. Video Liszt – Fade In Hong Kong 4. Maximum Joy – Let It Take You There 5. Katie Kim – Ghosts 6.…

  • Stream: The Thin Air’s Death Culture Blues #4 on Dublin Digital Radio

    December 23, 2016 - By 

    Aired last night on Dublin Digital Radio from 8-10pm, this week’s Death Culture Blues was – would you believe – a Christmas special. It was. Featuring some lesser-known festive gems from the likes of Alan Vega, Quasi, Sun Ra, Frank Sidebottom and Merzbow, you can check out the full playlist and stream it back via DDR’s Mixcloud below. 1. The Vacant Lots – No More Christmas Blues 2. John Fahey – Joy To The World 3. Vince Guaraldi Trio – Christmas Time is Here 4. Alan Vega – No More Christmas Blues 5. Frank Sidebottom – Christmas Is Really Fantastic…