Search Results for: Sean Kelly

  • The Thin Air’s Essential 25 Films of 2017

    December 22, 2017 - By 

    End of year rankings obscure as much as they reveal, so we’re keeping it loose for the film countdown. Each of our regular film writers submitted picks for the year’s best in cinema, as well as a ‘wildcard’ pick that deserved more attention. The resulting list of 25 films embraces the art-house and the blockbuster, showcasing stunning work from Ireland, the UK, America and elsewhere, across a healthy range of genres and styles. The films are unnumbered and presented in random order. This rundown only begins to capture the breadth of cinematic experiences offered by the year; please take it as an…

  • Irish Tour: Future Islands and Sacred Paws

    July 10, 2017 - By 

    Future Islands with support from Sacred Paws live in Dublin, Galway and Cork. Words by Kelly Doherty and Paula Murphy, photos by Sean McCormack and Alan Maguire. Cork Opera House It’s been a long time since Future Islands first played to an Irish crowd of 14 people and it wouldn’t be a far jump to say that in the intervening years they’ve become somewhat indie darlings on this island and the sold out Cork crowd is more than happy to spend Independence Day with their favourite American exports. Before they take the stage, we’re treated to a blinder of a…

  • Picture This: Sean Lynch @ Douglas Hyde Gallery

    March 9, 2017 - By 

    Sean Lynch – A Walk Through Time (Image courtesy of the artist and Douglas Hyde Gallery)  What: A Walk Through Time // What Is An Apparatus? Where: Douglas Hyde Gallery When: February 17th – April 5th Words: Aidan Kelly Murphy History, and the narrative arcs that flow through it, is rarely presented to us for review, instead it is often curated. ‘History is written by the winners’, is a phrase often used to illustrate this manipulation of stories and events; but even a quick delve into the origins of this quote reveals multiple attributions to Winston Churchill, Napoleon Bonaparte and…

  • Martin A. Egan Tribute Gig

    February 2, 2017 - By 

    In November 2015 we lost a wonderful and powerful presence on the Irish music and literature scenes, Martin A. Egan – singer, songwriter, poet, artist and all-round visionary. On March 3 at the Bello Bar in Dublin, some of Martin‘s friends and family will get together to pay tribute to him with music and words. The event will also serve as a launch for Martin‘s magnificent final album, A Man in Full. The line-up for the event will include Carol Keogh, Brian Conniffe, Brian Damage & Krysstal, Will Merriman, Tommy Keane, Ben Prevo, Sean Millar, Davóg Rynne, Robin James Hurt, Ruairi…

  • “I hate to stay still and pat myself on the back”: An Interview With Ciaran Lavery

    October 3, 2016 - By 

    Having spent the last few years steadily carving out his standing as one of the country’s most-loved and increasingly established solo artists, Aghagallon singer-songwriter Ciaran Lavery commands sensitivity and candour like very few songsmiths, Irish or otherwise. Despite confirming his arrival with his sublime debut album Not Nearly Dark and Kosher EP in 2013 and 2014 respectively, it was Sea Legs, his collaborative mini-album with Derry producer Ryan Vail, that positively underscored Lavery’s knack and versatility as artist that has often said he has zero desire to be solely filed under “acoustic guitar-wielding singer-songwriter”. But it’s Lavery’s second full-length album…

  • Picture This: Your National Visual Arts Guide – Easter Weekend

    March 18, 2016 - By 

    The theme of 1916 and the centenary of The Rising rings loudly in the shows currently on display in Ireland’s galleries. You can see a full itinerary of cultural events associated with the celebrations here. This cultural behemoth can be all encompassing so if you looking for a break from this or for something a little different, below are a selection of excellent shows currently on around Ireland. Words by Aidan Kelly Murphy. What: AFFECTIVE ENTITIES Where: CIT Wandesford Quay Gallery, Cork When: 5th to 26th March As part of their Make 2016 Symposium: Objects and Revolution, CIT invited a…

  • Front of House: Louise McElvanna (CQAF)

    May 19, 2015 - By 

    In the latest installment of Front of House, Brian Coney chats to Louise McElvanna, Event Manager at the likes of Open House Festival, Belfast Festival at Queens and the recent Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival. Photos by Sara Marsden. Hi Louise. You’ve just finished working at this year’s Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival. First off, any highlights? Hello The Thin Air. It’s always a mad 11-day whirlwind. There were so many highlights for me, but The Staves show was amazing, I just love them. I’m considering applying for the position of fourth Stave, but I’m not actually sure there’s a vacancy going! It was also…

  • Track Record: Brian Kelly (So Cow)

    March 10, 2015 - By 

    In this installment of Track Record we head to the little blue house in Galway to hang out with Brian Kelly  from So Cow to chat about the records that influence his daily life. Photos by Sean McCormack Disclaimer: These are not my ten favourite albums of all time, though I’d say four of them would be on that list. These are the ten records I play most when cooking, sweeping or pottering about. They are the go-tos. I have about 180 LPs on my shelves, or Two Ikeas worth, as is the official measurement. About 100 or these are honest-to-goodness purchases made…

  • Track Record: Vinyl Love @ Quarter Block Party

    February 24, 2015 - By 

    Brid O’Donovan chatted with Stevie on the Sunday of Quarter Block Party and he was hosting Vinyl Love in Gulpd Cafe.  They were about six hours into a ten hour set of twenty five DJs playing 7 7” records. A few hours earlier the wonderful Siobhan Kane of Young Hearts Run Free chaired a panel discussion titled Life Has Surface Noise. Daragh O Halloran, Peter Twomey, Justin Grounds and Stevie Grainger shared with us their memories of growing up with the records they hooked to their veins. Justin spoke beautifully about how music connects us to our time and Siobhan…

  • 15 For ’15: Oh Boland

    January 5, 2015 - By 

    Set to feature in physical form in our forthcoming January magazine, we continue 15 for ’15, a feature looking at fifteen Irish acts we’re absolutely convinced are going places in 2015. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll going to be previewing each of those acts, accompanied by words from our writers and an original photograph by our wonderful team of photographers. Next up is Galway garage-pop trio Oh Boland. Photo by Sean McCormack. What with ‘garage rock/pop’ being one of the three/four musical styles currently en vogue, Tuam’s Oh Boland are likely to leap on most of these ‘to watch’ lists as a matter…