• Inbound: Bagels

    January 5, 2016 - By 

    Dublin’s Bagels have got no time to waste. Having spent the guts of half a decade honing their craft, the group are ready to make 2016 their year. Having recently released their first single, The Cast of Cheers inflected ‘To An End’, we had wee sit down with the band’s own Adam Redmond to talk about influences, the trappings of youth and the group’s curious choice of name. Words by Will Murphy. How long has it been since your first started playing together? It’s been the best part of five years now. Jaysus, aren’t we old. We started when we…

  • The Thin Air’s Top 50 Irish Releases of 2015 (30-1)

    December 31, 2015 - By 

    In the third and final installment of the feature, we count down from 30 to 21 in our annual Top 50 Irish Releases of 2015. Miss the first two installments? Check them out here and here. 30. Morning Veils – Her Kind Released at the tail-end of 2015, Her Kind by Cork outfit Morning Veils was a deserved late addition to the top-end of our countdown. We said: “Her Kind is a release that channels bedroom solipsism, backwashed thoughts and psychic corners in perfectly phantasmal fashion. Comprised of members including Elaine Howley of The Altered Hours and Roslyn Steer, the band’s brilliantly burrowing brand…

  • End of Year: Best Films of 2015

    December 25, 2015 - By 

    Reflecting on the last twelve months, it is really inspiring to see the calibre of films which were released in 2015. There were duds and failures, of course, but there was much good that even this expanded list of the 25 best pictures has a few glaring omissions. Any year where the visual delights of A Girl Walks Home Alone At Midnight, the frank honesty of Diary of a Teenage Girl or humanizing power of Montage of Heck and Amy are not the best in show then it is a damn fine year. We’ve seen some of the best science fiction over…

  • Irish Tour: Ash

    December 22, 2015 - By 

    In the latest installment of Irish Tour, we go on the road to capture NI alt-rock royalty Ash in Dublin, Galway and Belfast. Words by Conor Callanan, photos by Isabel Thomas, Sean McCormack and Alan Maguire. Olympia Theatre, Dublin It’s hard to believe that Downpatrick’s favourite sons Ash have reached the twenty-third year of their career. It doesn’t seem all that long ago when the teenage trio of Tim Wheeler, Rick McMurray and Mark Hamilton appeared on Top of the Pops, had some of their earliest tracks appear in US movies, and got to record a live album in one of Australia’s…

  • The Thin Air’s Top 50 Irish Releases of 2015 (30-1)

    December 31, 2015 - By 

    In the third and final installment of the feature, we count down from 30 to 21 in our annual Top 50 Irish Releases of 2015. Miss the first two installments? Check them out here and here. 30. Morning Veils – Her Kind Released at the tail-end of 2015, Her Kind by Cork outfit Morning Veils was a deserved late addition to the top-end of our countdown. We said: “Her Kind a release that channels bedroom solipsism, backwashed thoughts and psychic corners in perfectly phantasmal fashion. Comprised of members including Elaine Howley of The Altered Hours and Roslyn Steer, the band’s brilliantly burrowing bonerand of…

  • Rave New World (18/12)

    December 18, 2015 - By 

    As the year draws to a close, Antoin Lindsay and Aidan Hanratty return for their latest look at the very best electronic gigs, tracks and mixes of the week. GIGS The Emigrant Disco with Space Dimension Controller at Bar Tengu, Dublin Saturday 19 December Shock World Service and The Locals come together to welcome everyone home for Christmas. Space Dimension Controller is the big name, but everyone on the bill is a solid party-rocker. AH Twitch Present: Steffi & Virginia at Mandela Hall, Belfast Saturday 19 December Now familiar faces at Twitch, Steffi and Virginia are both big fans of…

  • Best Film Scores of 2015

    December 17, 2015 - By 

    In the first of a series looking at 2015 in film, David Turpin reveals his thoughts on his favourite film scores of the year that was. The Duke of Burgundy – Cat’s Eyes Peter Strickland’s The Duke of Burgundy was my film of the year – a peerlessly kinky erotic fantasy that was also a wise and humane commentary on the limitations of fetishism.  The score, by Cat’s Eyes (a collaboration between soprano Rachel Zeffira and The Horrors’ Faris Badwan), performed a similar trick – repurposing the gauzy sounds of 70s Eurotrash erotica for more than mere pastiche.  The haunting blankness…

  • The Thin Air’s Top 50 Irish Releases of 2015 (40-31)

    December 17, 2015 - By 

    Following on from Monday’s first installment, we continue our countdown of our Top 50 Irish Releases of 2015, featuring glorious returns, new-fangled heroes. Go here to check out 50-41. 40. Lakker – Tundra “You should listen to it loudly, and try to get swept away by it.” So aptly concluded Pitchfork’s review of Tundra, the second album – and debut R&S full-length release – from Berlin-based Dublin electronic duo Lakker in a decade. Released back in May, it proved an immersive ten-track release inspired by No U-Turn Records, Arvo Part, Merzbow and early Human League. Now that’s a dinner party we’d pay good money to…

  • Star Wars: As If Millions of Voices Suddenly Cried Out In Terror…

    December 15, 2015 - By 

    I don’t know if you were aware, but Star Wars is coming back. Yes, lightsabers will soon be in vogue, talking back to front will be cool again, it will, and random acts of violence against guys in white armour will be totally ok. The original films form a crucial building block of my childhood, and like many people of a certain age, Star Wars is so omnipresent that it’s become very difficult to imagine a world without it. For a whole generation of kids (and adults) this will be their first opportunity to experience something new, a long time…

  • Inbound: Apartments

    December 15, 2015 - By 

    Belfast’s very own two-piece emo/punk band Apartments are a rare breed in the music scene around Northern Ireland. Hosting influences from many underground bands in the punk scene, there a few bands across Ireland that mix the apathetic lyricism, the emotive vocal delivery and the fast paced, aggressive tones of the two piece. The duo have two releases behind them, the latter being a 6-track EP entitled Rush and have been slowly winning people over with their honest, almost self-depreciating music. We caught up with the pair recently to find out about their background, their plans and the music scene…