• The Record: RuggedWood

    November 6, 2014 - By 

    In the latest installment of The Record, our photographer Tara Thomas both shoots and reports back from from folk-pop five-piece Ruggedwood recording in the studio. “Trying to capture the atmosphere of a band laying down tracks is a tough task but one I relished when spending time with RuggedWood in Nutshed Studios Clara Co. Offaly. I arrived to the rhythm of beating drums and made my way into the Control Room, which was pretty impressive. Here I found the members of RuggedWood – Johnny, Ronan, Jerome, Ted & Geoff – passing the time, strumming guitars, having banter and munching crisps, awaiting their turn in the isolation booth. The…

  • AAA: Enemies @ Olympia Theatre, Dublin

    November 1, 2014 - By 

    For this particular AAA (Access All Areas) we met with Enemies and got an exclusive access into the preparations for their supporting gig with The Antlers in the Olympia Theatre, Dublin. Our photographer Cashel O’Toole spent the evening documenting them loading in gear, setting up, soundchecking and chilling out ahead of the gig. Check out the gallery below for more.

  • AAA: The Riptide Movement & The Hot Sprockets @ Empire Music Hall, Belfast

    October 31, 2014 - By 

    We have a very special double AAA (Access All Areas) featuring two of the biggest acts in the country at the moment, The Riptide Movement and The Hot Sprockets. Our photographer Shaun Neary travelled up to Belfast and spent the entire evening with both bands as they prepared for their gig in the Empire Music Hall. Check out the comprehensive gallery below for how it all works out! View the entire gallery here:

  • The Thin Air Halloween Playlist

    October 31, 2014 - By 

    Without any hint of exaggeration, we love, honour and observe Hallowe’en more than pretty much anything else here at The Thin Air? Easter? Pah! Christmas? Pffft! We laugh in the face your cheap crackers, familial small talk and ceaseless indigestion. Yes, for us, Samhain eve is where it is well and truly at. And to commemorate that fact, our Autumnally-inclined editorial team have very happily selected three of their favourite Hallowe’en songs each. Read, listen and go forth into the night. Brian Coney – Editor Graham Coxon – Bonfires Conjuring some truly wonderful images of late-on-Halloween-night solitude, ‘Bonfires’ by Graham…

  • Classic Album: Prince & The Revolution – Parade (1986)

    October 30, 2014 - By 

    In no uncertain terms, Prince is one of the most important musicians of the 20th century. Between 1980 and 1988 he released a series of albums that are still startling in their invention, originality, and scope. As a pop star, he remains an enigma, and as a performer he is arguably unrivalled. However, the last twenty years have not been kind to him, and as he stages another attempt at grabbing the public’s interest with the simultaneous release of Plectrumelectrum and Art Official Age, we look back at his 1986 classic Parade, and wonder, where did it all go wrong?In many respects, Parade shouldn’t work. It’s the…

  • Remake/Remodel – When Cover Versions Go Weird

    October 28, 2014 - By 

    Doing a cover version is a tricky job, with the amount of creative effort required to make it work frequently outstripping the potential rewards. But sometimes, just sometimes, the elements lock into place, and the planets align, and we’re taken to a higher level of consciousness. The BBC have been running a campaign to find the best cover versions of all time, and the Flaming Lips have just unleashed their song by song reworking of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, but what about the ones that slipped through the cracks? This list might not be the best covers in the…

  • AAA: The Minutes & The Vincent(s) @ Whelan’s, Dublin

    October 28, 2014 - By 

    In this installment of AAA (Access All Areas) we go behind the scenes with indie gents The Minutes for their headline gig at Whelan’s in Dublin last Sunday night, with support from Cork’s finest death pop pioneers The Vincent(s). Our intrepid photographer Carlos Daly spent the evening with the lads as they set up their gear, soundchecked, setlisted, knocked back a few glasses of wine for good measure and put on an awesome show. Check out the comprehensive gallery below for a unique overview of the gig.

  • Sexual Objects: The Films of Walerian Borowczyk

    October 27, 2014 - By 

    Last month, UK distributor Arrow Films – known for their lavish DVD and BluRay reissues – released new editions of five extraordinary films by the Polish auteur Walerian Borowczyk.  Available as a box set (limited to 1,000 copies and now sold out), as well as individual discs, the beautifully remastered editions make this a perfect time to investigate Browczyk’s bizarre and beautiful oeuvre. Born in 1923, Borowczyk studied painting and lithography in Kraków before embarking on a career as an animator.  Working first in Poland and later in Paris, Borowczyk produced an incredible array of short animation pieces, including the…

  • AAA: The Frank and Walters @ Cork Opera House

    October 28, 2014 - By 

    Yet another Access All Areas feature? Sure go on! This time we head to Cork with our photographer Rory Coomey  for The Frank and Walters 25th Anniversary show. The guys pulled on their best orange shirts and rocked out to a sold out crowd in the Opera House. Check out the gallery below for more.

  • Track Record: Loah

    October 27, 2014 - By 

    In this installment of Track Record we meet Loah – alter-ego of Irish-Sierra Leonian singer Sallay Matu Garnett – at her lovely apartment in Dublin city centre while she selects her favourite and most inspiring albums from her record collection.  Massive Attack – Blue Lines “I love the intensity of Massive Attack and their live shows bring the same incredible energy which I strive for in my sets. ‘Unfinished Sympathy’ really expresses the freshness of this album.”   Patti Smith Group – Wave After Horses – which needs a whole article in itself) this is my favourite Patti Smith album. She moves seamlessly from prayer (‘Hymn’) to poetry…