• 88mph: David Bowie – Low

    January 14, 2017 - By 

    Bowie had faced his demons. He was running from L.A. and cocaine. He had decided to save his own life from drugs. His marriage was ending. He was wrangling legally with his former manager. He was escaping from the celebrity he had created. He dressed down and fitted in. He lived in anonymity. He hung out and worked with Iggy Pop. He painted. He rode a bike. For Low, Bowie invented no character for himself. He abandoned any hope of commercialism. He suffered from writer’s block. Low was both result and cure. He made the record imagining it would never…

  • David Bowie – No Plan

    January 11, 2017 - By 

    She held out her trembling hand to K. and had him sit down beside her, she spoke with great difficulty, it was difficult to understand her, but what she said Final Sentence of Franz Kafka’s The Castle History is littered with the infinite possibilities teased at within the unfinished work of great artists who died before their time. Think of Elliott Smith’s From A Basement On A Hill, David Foster Wallace’s The Pale King or George Sluizer’s Dark Blood; all released in an awkwardly assembled form, stitched together from whatever fragments the artist had left behind. While they vary wildly…

  • Interview: Psychoanalysing The Man Who Fell To Earth with Dr. Eve Watson

    October 14, 2016 - By 

    This is the year when we lost one of the true greats, a man who defined the term enigma, tore up the manual of rock music when it was barely written and who continues to inspire freaks, free-spirits and anyone who hasn’t felt the need to fit in beyond his death. From the start of his career through to the remarkable epitaph that is Black Star, the man born David Jones has left behind a massive hole in the hearts and minds of music fans everywhere. Dr. Eve Watson is one such fan. Studying in the States saw her discover…

  • Adam Buxton’s Bug: David Bowie Special

    September 12, 2016 - By 

    Bona fide Bowie obsessive, Adam Buxton will bring his Bug show celebrating the music videos and other on-screen appearances of the Thin White Duke to Dublin’s Vicar Street on November 20. Having started back in April 2007 as a series of bi-monthly shows at BFI Southbank, Bug quickly became a phenomenon looking at global creativity in music videos. This show – set to take place less than a year after Bowie’s passing –  is a perfect opportunity to enjoy some key moments from David Bowie’s life and career on the big screen, as well as remember the indelible mark he made on our…

  • Free Download: Dott – Heroes for RSD 2016

    April 15, 2016 - By 

    Our favourite twee-pop band Dott have recorded their version of Heroes by David Bowie and to celebrate Record Store Day 2016 they are offering a free download of the track. Dott moved from Galway, Ireland to Toronto, Canada this year and have evolved into a two-piece band comprising of Anna and Evan. They have been experimenting with drum loops and home-recordings which will very soon culminate in the release of new material. In the meantime, they will perform at the Bowie Tribute Night in The Cracker Factory, New York on April 29

  • Cracked Actor: Needing David Bowie

    March 10, 2016 - By 

    Today marks the 2 month anniversary of David Bowie’s passing. Steven Rainey discusses his impact, as featured in Not Gospel in our current issue of The Thin Air magazine. Illustration by John Harrild. In 1993, David Bowie appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, performing his take on ‘Nite Flights’ by The Walker Brothers. Bowie is doffing his cap to one of his all-time inspirations, but he looks uncertain. He’s technically promoting Black Tie, White Noise, the first album to be released under the name ‘David Bowie’ in six years, but there’s more at stake; Bowie is testing the water…

  • David Bowie Tribute Night @ Limelight 1, Belfast

    January 21, 2016 - By 

    One of a number of special fundraisers spawned in the wake of his passing last week, Belfast’s Limelight 1 will celebrate the legacy of David Bowie with a special one-off event to raise money for the NI Cancer Fund for Children. Featuring Rebel Rebel – “Ireland’s premier Bowie tribute” – performing after a screening of Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell To Earth, the night will also feature host and DJ for the night Joe Lindsay, who will play the hits, obscurities, remixes, influences and influenced. Tickets go on sale on Friday, January 22 at 9am via here and here,…

  • Stream: Imploded View – Fame (David Bowie Cover)

    January 20, 2016 - By 

    One of a number of Irish artists heavily inspired by David Bowie, Longford producer Jerome McCormick AKA Imploded View has re-framed the former’s 1975 classic ‘Fame’ in the guise of playful, slow-burning electronica. On his Soundcloud page, McCormick said, “I could not believe the news when I heard about David Bowie’s departure. Such an inspirational artist, and while the world has lost a real heavyweight, the inspiration lives on. That said, there’s no denying that the world is a bit suckier without David Bowie in it. I did this remix as a tribute to one of my favourite artists…” Co-written with Carlos Alomar and…

  • Speed of Life: David Bowie

    January 11, 2016 - By 

    For a long time, it looked entirely likely that David Bowie’s final musical statement would be a number entitled ‘Funny Little Fat Man’, performed in an episode of Ricky Gervais’ comedy series exploring the underbelly of celebrity, Extras. Gervais was a massive Bowie fan (as was his character, Andy Millman), and in the scene, he struggles to hide his obvious delight that his idol is in on the joke, acerbically skewering Andy Millman (and by extension, Gervais) as an unfunny, unloveable loser, with the entire world joining in on the chorus. Bowie, in total contrast to Gervais, is imperial, every…

  • Playlist: David Bowie (1947-2016)

    January 11, 2016 - By 

    David Bowie died on Monday, 11 January 2016, two days after his sixty-ninth birthday, after an eighteen month battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife of 23 years, Iman, and two children, Duncan Jones and Alexandria Zahra Jones. He leaves behind what is undoubtedly one of most prolific, exciting and genuinely inspiring legacies in musical history. How do you write about David Bowie? In the end what is to be said that hasn’t already been said in the past five and half decades. Do you talk about his string of albums between 1970 and 1981 that is, and…