• The Thin Air’s Top 50 Irish Releases of 2020

    December 20, 2020 - By 

    In years to come, when someone asks me what The Thin Air was and represented, I’ll likely direct them to features like the one you have just opened. Much like other publications of our ilk – Nialler9, The Last Mixed Tape, Goldenplec and others – we spend 52 weeks of the year relentlessly championing what truly makes Irish music special and, very occasionally, genuinely world-beating. We all do it in different ways, and to slightly different audiences, but the impetus and desire to shine a light on what we have is one and the very same. Although they’re almost never…

  • One of These Albums Will Win The NI Music Prize Tonight

    November 12, 2020 - By 

    Much like the RTÉ Choice Music Prize every year, the annual Northern Ireland Music Prize is almost always too close to call. This year is no different. Going online for the first time due to social distancing restrictions, this year’s shortlist is a luminous, no-filler reflection of the state of independent music in the North right now. From the Americana-tinged alt-folk of Mark McCambridge aka Arborist to the considered electronica of Phil Kieran; the shapeshifting indie rock of Belfast threesome Careerist, to the ruminative pop of Kitt Philippa, it’s a list that also features stellar albums from Our Krypton Son, Herb…

  • Remembering Lyndon Stephens (Sound of Belfast 2020)

    November 11, 2020 - By 

    One of the highlights of this year’s Sound of Belfast is a special online event celebrating the life and legacy of much-missed Belfast artist manager, label boss and mentor Lyndon Stephens. Taking place on November 11th, Remembering Lyndon Stephens will pay tribute to an industry titan and gentleman who left an indelible imprint on the landscape of Northern Irish music. Available to watch via the Oh Yeah Music Centre’s official YouTube page from 9.30pm, the event will feature a special set by Malojian with Christopher Coll and more. Sound of Belfast 2020 concludes with the Northern Ireland Music Prize on Thursday, November 12. Photo…

  • Stendhal Festival Unveil First Names For Unlocked Part 1

    July 4, 2020 - By 

    The first line-up announcement for the first-ever socially distant music festival in the history of Northern Ireland has been revealed. The first in a five-part series, Stendhal Unlocked part 1 will, pending the go-ahead in terms of COVID-19 restrictions, welcome the likes of And So I Watch You From Afar (pictured), Ciaran Lavery, Malojian, Amy Montgomery, ROE, Kíla, Ryan McMullan and many other artists to Ballymully Cottage in Limavady on August 21 and 22. Check out the current line-up for Part 1 below. With the second part of the line-up for event one, and the first half of the line-up for the second…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – July 3rd

    July 3, 2020 - By 

    It’s been a huge week, featuring new EPs from the likes of  MuRli, Arvo Party, And So I Watch You From Afar, Aislinn Logan and King Pallas, a bonus charity compilation of NI-based artists covering each other, as well as welcome returns from the likes of Fontaines DC, VerseChorusVerse, Gemma Dunleavy, Elaine Mai, Malojian, and many more. And in case you haven’t had it telegraphed by the independent acts of Ireland already today, Bandcamp are waiving all their takings until 8am on Saturday. MuRli – the CULTURE And So I Watch You From Afar – Odd Seal Successors by And So I Watch…

  • The Thin Air’s Top 100 Tracks of 2019 (#100-76)

    December 16, 2019 - By 

    Ahead of our annual Top 50 Irish Releases of the Year (that is to say EPs, compilations, reissues & albums) list later this week, we’re counting down our Top 100 Irish Tracks of 2019 daily. While we always say it, we had a hard time cutting down the list – however, we hope this list will highlight the ongoing mission to promote island-wide solidarity between musicians and listeners alike, turning you on to something you otherwise might never have listened to, whether that be hip-hop loaded with kitchen sink realism, fist-clenched DIY LK indie rock, boundary-crushing experimental composition, or any flavour in between. And rather than giving the game away too soon, we’ve opted for the age-old descending option, starting with 100-76. Dig…

  • Watch: Malojian – DIRT

    September 18, 2019 - By 

    It’s a truth universally acknowledged dark, strange times always yield the best art. Which conveniently bring us to the new single from one of the country’s very best singer-songwriters, Stevie Scullion aka Malojian. Honing in on the towering shitehawkery of Johnson, Trump & co., media corruption and more, it’s a masterful, major-keyed riposte to the worldly forces that conspire to make fretting, sleepless wrecks of us all. Featuring animations by Michael Winchester, check out Colm Laverty’s accompanying video for the unexpected but very happily-received new single below.

  • Jason Lytle w/ Malojian @ 1st Presbyterian Church, Belfast

    May 5, 2019 - By 

    Kudos to Malojian (below) for amassing such a considerable array of achievements in a relatively short period of time: touring all over the shop, winning over a legion of fans and recording four albums of hushed reverie – most notably, with big kahuna producer Steve Albini, whose sparse recoding style is fitting for Malojian’s meticulously thought out arrangements. Then, as we are told, there is the forthcoming record with Jason Lytle on which he has been working this past week. The omens and the muses are both very good, it seems. It is easy to see why. Malojian writes clever, engaging…

  • Teenage Fanclub w/ Malojian @ CQAF Marquee, Belfast

    May 3, 2019 - By 

    By anybody’s yardstick, guitar rock pioneers Teenage Fanclub have enjoyed an incredible career: to date, they have notched up thirty years of crafting albums of the loveliest melodic major key songwriting this side of California, not to mention supporting the revered likes of Nirvana, Radiohead and Frank Black along the way. No small feat, and even if you may not hear their name mentioned as often and as freely as it should be, chat to any random music fan and they will no doubt wax rhapsodic about the sonic wonders of Grand Prix or Songs From Northern Britain.  The fact that Death Cab…

  • Quiet Arch Fourth Birthday Party

    December 20, 2018 - By 

    Belfast independent label Quiet Arch celebrate their fourth birthday this year, and to celebrate, they’ll be holding a concert featuring some of their foremost artists at Belfast’s Elmwood Hall on December 21. The bill is as fittingly eclectic as the label itself, and NI Music Prize-winning singer-songwriter Joshua Burnside, Derry electronic wizard Ryan Vail with Arco String Quartet, power-pop/folk craftsman Malojian, indie-pop quartet Beauty Sleep, with spoken word artist & poet Stephen James Smith as compère for the night. Tickets, priced £12, are available from Ticketsource. Doors open at 8pm.