• The Thin Air Top 100 Irish Tracks of 2014 (74-01)

    January 1, 2015 - By 

    In the second (admittedly rather hefty) part of a two part feature, we count down our Top 100 Irish Tracks of 2014, from #74 to #01. Delve in. Go here to check out the first part of the countdown. 74. BeeMickSee – We Took A Dive Featuring his best friend and collaborator Paul Danver, ‘We Took A Dive’ by Belfast-based rapper Brendan Seamus AKA BeeMickSee tells the “tale of my harrowing relocation to Belfast in the mid 90s” and features on the The Belfast Yank. We Took a Dive by Bee Mick See 73. Droids – Burn Down Another rampant, riff-fuelled throwdown…

  • Merry Christmas from The Thin Air!

    December 22, 2014 - By 

    We are officially taking our Christmas holidays and we will return fully on 12th January 2015. We’d like to say a big thank you to all our dear readers and most importantly our fantastic contributors who have made the website and our print magazine what it is today. We also welcome new members to join our team in shaping what The Thin Air will be in the future. So from three Nordies, a Dub, one Cark bai and ein Berliner… MERRY CHRISTMAS! Illustration by Digital Beast Top row: Brian Coney (Editor), Andrew Lemon (Reviews Editor), Stuart Bell (Art Director) Bottom row: Stevie…

  • Front of House: Conor Friel

    December 22, 2014 - By 

    We’re pleased to present a new regular feature, Front of House, in which we will be chatting with the people behind the scenes who bring live music to life. Sound engineers, lighting technicians, roadies, tour managers to name a few will all be delving into what goes into their job and the bands they work with. First up is Conor Friel, a sound engineer working primarily in the Button Factory in Dublin. Photos by Shaun Neary. Hi Conor! Can you tell us about yourself? My name is Conor Friel, I am a Front Of House Audio Engineer. I am completely freelance so I…

  • Rave New World (19/12)

    December 19, 2014 - By 

    In the grand second weekly installment of Rave New World, Antoin Lindsay and Aidan Hanratty delve into very best new electronic tracks and mixes of the week, as well as unmissable upcoming nights and releases over the festive period. Gigs The Respected Beggars Present: Dego with Kaidi @ The Menagerie, Belfast – Friday December 19 Get down to The Menagerie tonight for The Respected Beggars’ Christmas party where they’re having Dego and Kaidi provide vibes all night. Dego is probably best known as being one half of the legendary 4Hero and hasn’t played in Belfast since 1991, so this should be a special one.…

  • Cork Heads: Dog Day Media

    December 19, 2014 - By 

    Dog Day Media are a fast growing media production company based in Cork city. They are best known for their viral videos where they sent a jar of Ballymaloe relish into space and their Kearys road trip around Ireland. In the latest installment of Cork Heads, photographer Brid O’Donovan shoots the guys in their working environment and discusses the company thus far. The Birth of Dog Day Media Alex: We all know each other from west Cork. Billy, William and Eoin grew up there and I go down there every summer. I’ve a house there all my life. We all…

  • The Gift of Self-Worth: Something All Musicians Can Afford.

    December 17, 2014 - By 

    It was a Sunday, almost a year after I’d last released any recorded music with any of the projects that I’m involved with. So, I suppose I was technically out of ‘work’ another full year. “Mum, Dad, I’ve something to tell you,” I nervously stated to my parents over banoffee pie at the dinner table. “I suppose I’m thirty-two now and I should have come to this realisation a long time ago. I suppose I wasn’t being honest with myself – I was too busy enjoying the weekends and the hedonism of ‘the scene’ and well, the community has always…

  • Track Record: Bantum

    December 15, 2014 - By 

    Dublin-based Corkman Ruairi Lynch AKA Bantum has a fine taste in music. “But where’s your proof?!” we hear you cry. And cry you shall. Our response is the following piece. Read and delve in unison. Photos by Tara Thomas. Metallica – Master Of Puppets I keep going back to this album. I don’t listen to as much metal as I used to but this will always stick with me. As relentlessly fast and heavy as this album was, it made space for melody here and there, and some of the arrangements were just insane. Playing along to that album really helped…

  • The Thin Air Top 100 Irish Tracks of 2014 (100-75)

    December 30, 2014 - By 

    Twelve months, a billion tracks (probably) and a ridiculously impressive crop of new, emerging musical talent the island of Ireland over: yes, 2014 was been very generous indeed on the ol’ new music front. In a year when (the altogether sonically disparate) Girl Band and SOAK signed with Rough Trade, Adebisi Shank broke hearts in parting ways and Hozier “did a Kodaline” by going positively stratospheric – more on that later – innumerable lesser-known acts have also been slogging away in the garage, creating some of the very best sounds here or anywhere else on the face on the planet. In the first of a two-part feature,…

  • Rave New World (12/12)

    December 12, 2014 - By 

    In the first weekly installment of Rave New World (Huxley would’ve approved, right?) Antoin Lindsay and Aidan Hanratty delve into very best new electronic tracks and mixes of the week, as well as unmissable upcoming nights and releases. Get diggin’. Gigs Twitch Present: Levon Vincent at Mandela Hall, Saturday, December 13 In Belfast all roads lead to Twitch on Saturday where, in a slight change to their usual venue in The Bunatee, they have house maestro Levon Vincent playing in the Mandela Hall. Anyone who was lucky enough to catch Belfast boys Bicep there earlier in the year will attest…