• The Thin Air Podcast: Junior Brother

    January 1, 2020 - By 

    The premiere episode of The Thin Air Podcast Season 2 features Kerry’s finest singer-songwriter Junior Brother.  With his debut album Pull The Right Rope recently named The Thin Air 2019 album of the year, Ronan Kealy speaks to Danny Carroll about the song’s origin and recording process.  We also hear from the song’s producer Chris Barry (Ailfionn Studios), as well as cellist Claire Kinsella (Lemoncello). Ahead of episodes from TPM, Girl Band, Careerist, Just Mustard and SOAK, stream episode 1 of Season 2 below. Music Featured: 1. The Back Of Her (2018) 2. Hungover At Mass (2017) 3. You Make A Fine Picture…

  • The Thin Air’s Top 75 Irish Releases of 2019

    December 24, 2019 - By 

    Spanning albums, EPs, compilations, reissues, live albums and mixtapes, from every corner of the island, here’s the 75 best Irish releases of 2019. Onwards. #75-41 75. Talos – Iridiscent Iridescent by Talos 74. Danny Madigan – Teletron Teletron by Danny Madigan 73. Lonesome George – Stumble Day 72. Leo Miyagee – Ffdlc 71. Jonny Dillon – Songs For A One​-​String Guitar Songs For A One-String Guitar by Jonny Dillon 70. Anna Mieke – Idle Mind Idle Mind by Anna Mieke 69. Cailín – In My Soul Potboiler No. 3: Cailín – In My Soul by Cailín 68. Jafaris – Stride…

  • The Thin Air’s Top 100 Tracks of 2019 (#25-1)

    December 19, 2019 - By 

    Whittling what has been a frankly exceptional year in Irish music down to a square 100 tracks was never going to be easy. It never is, after all. We say it every year and yet it genuinely bears repeating: the last 12 months have been something else. In fact, don’t be surprised if we roll out a Top 200 next year. Of course, end-of-year lists like these might well seem inherently arbitrary on the surface (it is, after all, not a competition) but scrolling through – seeing the sheer variety and scope and intent and vision of acts from all across the…

  • The Thin Air’s Top 100 Tracks of 2019 (#50-26)

    December 18, 2019 - By 

    In the second of a four-part series, we continue our island-spanning, genre-leaping countdown of the best Irish tracks released in 2019, from the spectral chamber pop of Rachael Lavelle to the masterful indie sway of Tandem Felix. Catch up on #100-76 and #75-51. 50. Rachael Lavelle – Perpetual Party 49. Zeropunkt – Bitch Nails Bitch Nails (free download) by ZEROPUNKT 48. Like Chandeliers – Scars 47. Rachael Boyd – Blind Spot 46. Kitt Philippa – Fahrenheit 45. Cherym – Abigail Abigail by CHERYM 44. Jordan Adetunji – Questions 43. Tau – Craw 42. James Joys – Fugitive Wound Fugitive Wound…

  • The Thin Air’s Top 100 Tracks of 2019 (#75-51)

    December 17, 2019 - By 

    In the second of a four-part series, we continue our island-spanning, genre-leaping countdown of the best Irish tracks released in 2019, from Belfast alt-pop trailblazer Rebekah Fitch to a truly stellar track courtesy of Ordnance Survey. Miss out on 100-76? Go here to catch up. 75. Rebekah Fitch – Poison 74. New Pagans – Charlie Has the Face of a Saint 73. Casavettes – Imposter Syndrome Imposter Syndrome by Casavettes 72. Not I – Please, No Kindness, Please 71. Sorbet – Born Purple (feat. mickeykiiatein) Born Purple by SORBET 70. Autre Monde – On The Record 69. His Father’s Voice – In…

  • The Thin Air’s Top 100 Tracks of 2019 (#100-76)

    December 16, 2019 - By 

    Ahead of our annual Top 50 Irish Releases of the Year (that is to say EPs, compilations, reissues & albums) list later this week, we’re counting down our Top 100 Irish Tracks of 2019 daily. While we always say it, we had a hard time cutting down the list – however, we hope this list will highlight the ongoing mission to promote island-wide solidarity between musicians and listeners alike, turning you on to something you otherwise might never have listened to, whether that be hip-hop loaded with kitchen sink realism, fist-clenched DIY LK indie rock, boundary-crushing experimental composition, or any flavour in between. And rather than giving the game away too soon, we’ve opted for the age-old descending option, starting with 100-76. Dig…

  • Q+A: Mature Cheddar @ Voodoo Belfast

    December 5, 2019 - By 

    Since launching back in 2014, Mature Cheddar has steadily held its reputation as one of Belfast’s most beloved club nights. With a very admirable emphasis on not taking itself too seriously (and, let’s face it, where’s the downside in that?) it proudly spins the very best in the ’80s and 90’s cheese every Saturday, upstairs in Voodoo on Fountain Street. But what sets it apart from other nights of its ilk? Why should you check it out? And what does the future for the night hold? We donned our favourite spandex and caught up with main man Niall Kennedy – also of And…

  • Mixtape Preview: Amazing Grace

    December 3, 2019 - By 

    “If you watch modern music documentaries, you have all these talking heads who explain it and lead you by the hand through the whole thing, but in this, the music envelopes you, there’s no chat.” These words by Joe Boyd, one of the producers on Aretha Franklin concert film, Amazing Grace, sums up, with incision and pure, matter-of-fact concision, what sets it apart in one fell swoop. Originally directed by the Oscar-winning Sydney Pollack, and later predominantly realised by producer Alan Elliott, it is an experience that is revelatory in all the right places. Capturing the Queen of Soul as…

  • Album Premiere: Jogging – Whole Heart

    October 31, 2019 - By 

    We’ve premiered our fair share of albums here on The Thin Air, but – if truth be told – we’re struggling to recall one that we’ve loved so much, and so quickly, as Whole Heart by Dublin three-piece Jogging. The long-awaited follow-up to 2012’s Take Courage, it’s an emphatic (and rather heavier) ten-track return from Darren Craig, Gerard Mangan and Ronan Jackson. Out today via one of the country’s finest imprints, Out On a Limb, the album was engineered and produced by John “Spud” Murphy and Ian Chestnutt at Guerrilla Sound Studios in Dublin at the start of the year. To mark…