• The Thin Air’s Top 100 Irish Tracks of 2013 (100-75)

    It’s that time of year again: End Of Year” lists are steadily rolling in from every conceivable direction, many of us are still debating the BBC Sound of… verdict for next year and we’re all silently pondering our own favourite albums and EPs of the last twelve months. Closer to home, it’s been yet another ridiculously impressive year for Irish music, both North and South. Since January 1, right up until the writing of this article (December 10), a single week hasn’t gone by that wasn’t soundtracked in some way by the very best in new, homegrown music. As such –…

  • Gig of the week: Astralnaut, Dutch Schultz, Bellos

    This week’s Thin Air gig of the week is surely one of the heaviest Radar line-ups at Belfast’s QUBSU to date. Headlined by fast-rising sludge-doom overlords Astralnaut (above), the three-band bill on Thursday, October 17 also features the riff-fuelled talents of the ever blistering Dutch Schultz and one of the country’s best breakthrough bands of the year, alt-rock three-piece Bellos. Check out our Live Session with Bellos here, our recent interview with Astralnaut here and the video for Dutch Schultz’s fantastic ‘Year Of The Mule’ here. See below for the Radar poster for the show.  

  • TTA Session #001: Bellos

    It might go without saying but we’re pant-wettingly passionate about local music here at the Thin Air. Just another side to our collective desire to get the very best in homegrown talent out there and duly recognised, we are pleased to kickstart The Thin Air Live Sessions in the company of Belfast-based alt-rock three-piece Bellos. Fronted by Luke Bowen (once described as having “the best scream in Northern Irish music”), the band have gone from strength to strength over the last few months having released their self-titled debut EP back in June. In July we interviewed the band as part…

  • Twenty Months, Twelve Photos, One Glass Eye

    If you’re a regular gig-goer in Belfast, chances are you will at least know amateur music photographer Diarmuid Kennedy to see. Having worked tirelessly on his own initiative to capture  pretty much every single local gig worth going to over the last twenty months, he has very kindly selected a dozen of his favourite distinctive black-and-white photographs during this period, offering a snapshot of a small but thriving scene and the thoughts of a true champion of homegrown live music. Take it away, Diarmuid. “It is very flattering to be asked to select my favourite photographs for Thin Air.  I am a complete amateur…

  • A Fight You Can’t Win, Dutch Schultz, Bellos @ Voodoo, Belfast

    The massively talented Diarmuid Kennedy captured Edinburgh alt-rock quartet A Fight You Can’t Win stop off at Belfast’s Voodoo Bar recently in what turned out to be an unforgettable show (particularly for an otherwise unremarkable Sunday night). With the Matthew Bakewell-fronted foursome delivering a storming – highly entertaining – set, the equally riff-fuelled wrath of Bellos and Dutch Schultz proved themselves to be perfect support at either end of the travelling band’s raucous set. Check out Diarmuid’s photos below!

  • Inbound: Bellos

    In the third installment of the Inbound, we chat to Luke Bowen, frontman with Belfast-based alternative three-piece Bellos to discuss the band’s early beginnings, influences and the band’s plans for the next few months. ___ You formed last year. How did the band come about? Where you all friends beforehand and what motivated you to get the band together? “Aidan and I had just moved into our first house together. There was a deal in the off license for a bottle of Buckfast and six cans of beer for a tenner, so we obliged, got messed up and started listening to…