• The Thin Air’s Top 100 Irish Tracks of 2016 (#49-1)

    December 22, 2016 - By 

    Well, there we have it: twelve months, innumerable tracks, and – despite the mild trauma it has incurred having to do it all over again – our top 100 Irish tracks of the year. It wasn’t easy but we got there, y’know? Go here for #100-75 and here for #74-50. Your move, 2017. 49. Roisin Murphy – Ten Miles High 48. Ships – Around This World 47. Jealous of the Birds – Tonight I Feel Like Kafka 46. R51 – Elephant 45. Hiva Oa – Seskinore mk ll (part 1) by Hiva Oa 44. Galants – Evergreen 43. Saint Sister…

  • Vault Lines: Ciaran Lavery

    December 19, 2016 - By 

    Ahead of playing a special one-off show with strings at Belfast’s The MAC tonight (Monday, December 19), Aghagallon singer-songwriter Ciaran Lavery waxes lyrical on his love of a lesser-known Luke Kelly gem, ‘The Sun Is Burning’. I’m somewhere between 14-16 years old and I’m standing in the kitchen of my house. Luke Kelly is playing. We grew up with some version of Luke Kelly and The Dubliners’ Greatest Hits or collection of songs to as far back as I can remember.  I’m not sure if I understood the depth of the music or lyrics but I do know that I…

  • The Thin Air’s Top 100 Irish Tracks of 2016 (#100-75)

    December 16, 2016 - By 

    As much as the whole process can skim close to the torturous, few things in this er, business rival the sheer satisfaction of sifting through a full year of music in order to attempt to carve out some semblance of a Top 100. And whilst descending, close-ended lists of this kind are almost exclusively arbitrary exercises nullified by good ol’ subjectivity, there’s something intrinsically important about taking a broader snapshot of music released in the twelve months just gone, offering up our very own take on what stood out best, strongest, and most emphatically of all. Make no mistake, it’s been a…

  • Stream: The Thin Air’s Death Culture Blues #3 on Dublin Digital Radio

    December 16, 2016 - By 

    Despite a little technological hitch, we returned with Death Culture Blues on Dublin Digital Radio last night spinning two hours of psychedelic, experimental and ambient sounds in the varied vein of Füxa, William Basinski and The For Carnation. Check out the full playlist (which, it seems, features no less than four umlauts) and listen back to the show in full via DDR’s Mixcloud below. Death Culture Blues returns to Dublin Digital Radio on Thursday, December 22 from 8-10pm. 1. Silver Apples – Ruby 2. Bruce Haack – Party Machine 3. Amon Düül – Yeti (Improvisation) 4. Michael Turtle – Spooky Boogie…

  • Stream: The Thin Air’s Death Culture Blues #2 on Dublin Digital Radio

    December 9, 2016 - By 

    Having kicked off with its inaugural outing last week, we returned with Death Culture Blues on the new-fangled – and most excellent – Dublin Digital Radio last night from 8-10pm. And as with show #1, the order of the evening was experimental and cosmically-inclined sounds, featuring everyone from Mica Levi, Documenta and Wet Hair to Alice Coltrane, Bardo Pond and Maximum Joy. Check out the full playlist for show #2 and stream it in full below. 1. Broadcast – Pendulum 2. Tonstartsbandht – Black Country 3. Isotope 217 – Solaris 4. PVT – Community 5. Maija Sofia – Dreamscape 6. Mica Levi –…

  • Stream: The Thin Air’s Death Culture Blues #1 on Dublin Digital Radio

    December 5, 2016 - By 

    When it launched back in October, we really liked the sound of Dublin Digital Radio’s broadcast manifesto of “providing a quality platform for the various communities striving to create a socially and culturally progressive city in a landscape netted with political stasis and tepid bureaucracy”. Now, a couple of months later, we’re very pleased to present a stream of the first instalment of Death Culture Blues, our brand new, two hour weekly show on DDR, presented by TTA editor Brian Coney and featuring the very best in experimental, ambient and cosmic sounds, including some of our favourite Irish artists at…

  • Irish Tour: Ash

    November 14, 2016 - By 

    Downpatrick alt-rock legends Ash performing as part of their 1977 anniversary tour at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre and Belfast’s Mandela Hall. Photos by Moira Reilly and Alan Maguire, words by Justin McDaid. The Olympia Theatre, Dublin Photos: Moira Reilly 1977, now, just seems like one of those albums that slots into the drawer in the mental filing cabinet marked ‘halcyon days’. It’s hard to believe that Ash’s debut album proper is a spritely twenty years old – not much older than Tim Wheeler, Mark Hamilton and Rick McMurray were when they released it; ignited by the roar of a TIE Fighter and…

  • Track Record: Jess Kav (BARQ)

    October 8, 2016 - By 

    Dublin musician and BARQ frontwoman Jess Kav handpicks a selection of records that have left an indelible imprint on her music and life, including Chaka Khan, Jape, Ella Fitzgerald and Flying Lotus. Photos by Moira Reilly. Hiatus Kaiyote – Choose Your Weapon Future-Soul deliciousness from Australia or, to quote them, “polyrhythimic, multidimensional gangsta shit”. The album kicks you in the face with glitchy vocals and operatic intensity from the first song ‘By Fire’. Nai Palm’s voice can hold so much sass and vulnerability simultaneously, god I fucking love her. I feel like she’s life-coaching me with her lyrics. Listen out…

  • Stream: Bad Sea – Solid Air

    September 27, 2016 - By 

    The debut single from Dublin’s Ciara Thompson AKA CMAT and Alan Farrell AKA Bad Sea, ‘Solid Air’ is a wistful quality that evokes nostalgic memories of hazy summer days. With the slightest tinge of sadness, CMAT’s soft voice is dulcet and bright against guitar and synth, combining to make a song that doesn’t leave your head, and leaves you wanting more. It’s an exciting start from the pair who, having been steadily building up this moment via sets at the likes of Castlepalooza and Working Class Heroes, as well as recently supporting Mitski in the Workmans. Stream the track – produced by Oli…

  • 10 Years of CF Records

    July 29, 2016 - By 

    Sea Pinks‘ main man and CF Records founder Neil Brogan reflects upon 10  years of the Belfast-based independent record label. Ten years ago I was living in London and at something of a loose end. In my boredom I thought it might be fun to start up a label. This was in the distant era of Myspace supremacy. It seems quaint to think of it now but it was the first time DIY bands and labels from all over the place started to connect online and for a brief moment it felt kind of liberating. I was excessively shy about my…