• In Search of Space: Exploring The Fringes of The Mind With Hawkwind

    May 6, 2015 - By 

    As Hawkwind’s first four years on record are collated on a new 11cd boxed set, This is Your Captain Speaking… Your Captain is Dead, Steven Rainey delves into the murky world of space rock, and discovers much more than simply a band responsible for unleashing Lemmy on the cosmos. At the end of Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey, astronaut Dr David Bowman is pulled into a vortex, going on a journey into the infinite, a kaleidoscopic assault on the senses that could mean everything or nothing. Both Kubrick and writer Arthur C. Clarke weren’t exactly in hurry…

  • Visual Arts Outlook (05/05)

    May 5, 2015 - By 

    The Venice Biennale opens this week so the irish contingent has travelled to support Sean Lynch in his opening of Adventure Capital which will this year be housed at The Irish Pavillion in the Arsenale. Lynch’s work can be seen until the 22nd of November, so there is plenty of time to get to Venice and see it. The MAC opens its second guest curated show this Thursday. Gregory McCartney presents I Will Go There, Take Me Home, the work of Adrian Ghenie, Pieter Hugo and Olaf Brzeski. The opening is from 7pm. Finally, don’t forget that Late Night Art…

  • Bookmark: Una Mullally

    May 6, 2015 - By 

    In this installment of Bookmark we spend some time with Una Mullally, a journalist with The Irish Times and a recently published author, while she discusses her favourite and most influential books. Photos by Abigail Denniston. Tales Of The City – Armistead Maupin I don’t read much fiction, but these books had a big impact on me and on my aspirations to explore writing fiction. They’re so smart and nifty and more-ish. Fun Home – Alison Bechdel This is a work of genius. The ground Bechdel breaks with Fun Home is monumental, both with the form she pioneers and the subject…

  • Hefty Fog: Director’s Cvlt

    May 5, 2015 - By 

    Just when you think that the stick has finally broken, after its loyal years of splintering across the body of the dead horse, someone comes along with a claw hammer and changes the game entirely. The story of Norwegian Black Metal has been told numerous times over numerous formats, in books, magazines, documentaries, Youtube parodies – it is the one story in the history of heavy metal that seems to resonate with everyone, fans or otherwise. The murder, the arson, the music, but mostly the murder, are all what sets it apart from the usual Led Zeppelin fishmongering of rock…

  • Monday Mixtape: Doug Martsch (Built to Spill)

    May 4, 2015 - By 

    This week’s Monday Mixtape is brought to you from none other than Doug Martsch, who is a big hero to us here at The Thin Air. Doug is the frontman of Built To Spill and they’ve just released their latest album Untethered Moon. Check out some of his favourite tunes below. Slam Dunk – Dying Breed These guys are from Canada. I think they’re on tour with The Arcades of Fire now.   The Warm Hair – Tell Me What I’m Living For, If I Don’t Want To Live Anymore Sometimes I think The Freebird is talking about me in…

  • Deep Down South: YESEquality, Moonstomps, & Math-Metal Mayhem

    May 4, 2015 - By 

    With May 22nd approaching, the marriage equality referendum is getting nearer, and YESEquality Cork is stepping up its campaign with a selection of events and rallies all over the city and county. Here are but a few of what’s been announced/confirmed so far, bearing in mind there’s a tonne of good stuff lined up for next week also. We’ll update this column during the week with more info as we have it. Tomorrow night kicks off proceedings with an open-mic night in a location to be announced (exciting!), while Wednesday night sees a public meeting in Youghal, at the Walter…

  • Dublin Gay Theatre Festival Preview: Bird

    May 2, 2015 - By 

    Just before a major move of show from South Africa to Dublin, playwright and performer Marnitz van Deventer chats to us about the impact of past relationships, story-telling as the heart of performance, and bringing a South African flavour to Dublin’s International Gay Theatre Festival. Hi Martniz. Can you tell me a little bit about Bird and the creative process behind the show? Sure.  Bird is actually a story of the self before, during, and after a relationship.  I guess the story started three years ago when I was in a relationship with somebody, and I fell head-over-heels in love…

  • Dublin Gay Theatre Festival Preview: Graham J. Norton

    May 2, 2015 - By 

    Preparing for a triumphant return to the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival, Graham J. Norton talks to us about his lifelong work as a classical singer, drastic changes in life and career, and the steps he took leading to the formation of the Orpheus Blues and Graham J Does Cabaret. Hi Graham. So how did you go about forming the act Graham J Does Cabaret?  How long have you been training as a singer? Well I’ve trained as a singer since I was four, and I have been, for many, many years, a classical singer, performing in operas.  But I’ve…

  • Dublin Gay Theatre Festival Preview: Going Up

    May 2, 2015 - By 

    Amid chaotic preparations in shipping out from NYC to Dublin, playwright Penny Jackson sits down with us to discuss her success as a writer both on and offstage, the lead-up to the debut of her brand new show Going Up at this year’s Dublin Gay Theatre Festival, and how she believes in the power of theatre to foster social change. Hi Penny. How’s everything going with preparations for Going Up? Fantastic.  The script was just published online—newyorktheatre.com—people are reading it, plenty of great responses.  I have a lot of fans here in New York, and I would love to have…