• 17 for ’17: Damola

    January 27, 2017 - By 

    Nigeria, Jamaica and Ireland mightn’t be known as hip-hop hotspots, but it’s these unexpected influences that seem to characterise Damola’s music. He cites listening to his parents’ Jamaican music as a child in Nigeria as his earliest influence, although he didn’t start performing until he was a teenager in Dublin, making up raps to impress his friends. Since 2014 he’s been releasing tracks and videos with the Backshed Inc. collective, allowing him the freedom to develop his increasingly idiosyncratic sound. Last year’s ‘Workflow’, in both it’s production and hard-hitting, rhythmic flow, owed a lot to the earlier work of Kendrick…

  • 17 For ’17: Fears

    January 23, 2017 - By 

    There’s something otherworldly about Constance Keane, and her solo project, Fears. The music here is remove from what Keane was making as the drummer of the feminist/animal welfare punk group M(h)aol, though keeping that distinctive dark tone. Her latest single Blood, a follow-up to 2015’s Priorities is a journey through alternative pop, with dark and looming synths and minimalist vocals, reminiscent of both BANKS and FKA Twigs. Produced and written by Constance, and mastered by Huntley Miller (Bon Iver, Tallest Man on Earth, The Staves) the track wouldn’t be unusual to hear on a John Carpenter soundtrack, or indeed in…

  • 17 For ’17: New Pagans

    January 19, 2017 - By 

    While new bands are The Thin Air’s raison d’être, new bands full of familiar faces are always a particularly mouthwatering prospect. Featuring Cahir O’Doherty of Jetplane Landing/Fighting With Wire and Claire Miskimmin of Girls Names on guitar and bass respectively, along with Balkan Alien Sound’s Conor McAuley on drums and vocalist Lyndsey McDougall, New Pagans are a veritable supergroup of Irish talent to rival Miskimmin’s other side project, Cruising. With one double A-side single to their name so far featuring the tracks ‘I Could Die’ and ‘Lily Yeats’, the latter is a paean to one of the oft-forgotten sisters of…

  • 17 For ’17: Woven Skull

    January 17, 2017 - By 

    Including Woven Skull in our 17 for ’17 list feels like a little bit of a cheat, seeing as they have been producing music together since 2008. The trio have been lurking quietly in rural Leitrim, making music that is as rugged, gnarled and atmospherically captivating as the landscape they operate within. Utilising raw experimental sounds and field recordings from woods, hills and abandoned houses as textural enhancers has given Woven Skull’s output to date a depth of space and size that is exhilaratingly tense. While most of their releases up to this point have been collections of assembled field…

  • 17 For 17: Rocstrong

    January 16, 2017 - By 

    Andre Bangala, otherwise known as Rocstrong, has made a triumphant arrival, emerging with a vibrant sense of swagger and style that many artists seem to never quite grasp. Having grown up in Terenure, the Congo-born artist writes and co-produces all his own material which encompasses a truly unique sound that can only be described as an energetic and refreshing explosion of funk, soul, electro-pop and rock. Following on from his 2014 win in the Hot Press/Alcatel Big Break competition, the ever-cool newcomer dropped his debut extended play, SOWG just last Summer, which boldly told the music world he’d arrived on…

  • Monday Mixtape: Alana Henderson

    January 16, 2017 - By 

    In the latest installment of Monday Mixtape, fast-rising, Belfast-based cellist and songwriter Alana Henderson selects some of her all-time favourite songs from the likes of Nick Drake, Crooked Still and Ani DiFranco. Ane Brun – Big in Japan I love her reworking of this 80s hit. Her voice is so pure, it gives me chills. Nick Drake – Cello Song Had me at ‘cello’, but there’s more to it than just that. I don’t think anyone can match Nick Drake for gorgeous melancholy. The intimacy of the lyrics in ‘Cello Song’ is what really floors me. Arthur Russell – Wild Combination Arthur Russell,…

  • 88mph: David Bowie – Low

    January 14, 2017 - By 

    Bowie had faced his demons. He was running from L.A. and cocaine. He had decided to save his own life from drugs. His marriage was ending. He was wrangling legally with his former manager. He was escaping from the celebrity he had created. He dressed down and fitted in. He lived in anonymity. He hung out and worked with Iggy Pop. He painted. He rode a bike. For Low, Bowie invented no character for himself. He abandoned any hope of commercialism. He suffered from writer’s block. Low was both result and cure. He made the record imagining it would never…

  • Stream: The Thin Air’s Death Culture Blues #6

    January 6, 2017 - By 

    In the first installment of the show this year, we returned to Dublin Digital Radio last night for our weekly two-hour slot of experimental, cosmic and ambient sounds, Death Culture Blues. From Jack Rose to Windy & Carl, it was – as we might well be likely to say on several of these posts down the line – easily our favourite show thus far. Check out the full playlist and listen back via the DDR Mixcloud page below. 1. Jack Rose – Sun Dogs 2. The Makers – Don’t Challenge Me 3. Kariem Riggins – Bahia Dreamin 4. Temples –…

  • 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…