• Monday Mixtape: Elma Orkestra & Ryan Vail

    August 12, 2019 - By 

    In the latest installment of Monday Mixtape, Eoin O’Callaghan aka Elma Orkestra and Ryan Vail – a duo who has recently released one of the Irish albums of the year in Borders – select some of the tracks made an imprint on writing and recording of the project. Catch Borders, live, at the following upcoming shows: Stendhal Festival – 16th August Electric Picnic – 30th August Max Richter – On The Nature of Daylight (Entropy) This has been one of our favourite tunes to date. We’ve been listening to it since its release many years ago. Most recognise it from the…

  • Monday Mixtape: Electric Octopus

    July 12, 2019 - By 

    Next month, Belfast psych-jam maestros Electric Octopus stop off in Dublin, Belfast and Derry for three unmissable shows with Freiburg four-piece Sound of Smoke. Ahead of that, guitarist Tyrell Black, bassist Dale Hughes and drummer Guy Hetherington select and wax lyrical about some of their all-time favourite tracks, including Alice Coltrane, Thom Yorke, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and more. Derek Trucks Band – Sahib Teri Bandi Besides the fact that Derek Trucks and the song are just straight up great. The energy that comes from it is incredible! It builds and weaves in so many ways and the slide guitar…

  • Monday Mixtape: HEX HUE

    June 24, 2019 - By 

    In the latest installment of Monday Mixtape, Belfast musician Katie Richardson aka HEX HUE selects a mixture of old and new favourite tracks, from Lykke Li to Christine and the Queens, that have “fed into the HEX HUE story in different ways”. So Sad So Sexy – Lykke Li Lykke Li was the first Scandinavian artist I really remember notably hearing loving. I love how much her sound has changed over the years and she has been a big influence on me – partly just by introducing me to a Geographical world of music that I have consistently fallen more and more…

  • Monday Mixtape: Bullitt selects Soul Jazz Records

    May 13, 2019 - By 

    This Saturday, May 18, the Bullitt Courtyard will host a summer sound system from esteemed label Soul Jazz Records. The label was founded in London in 1992, with the idea to draw “cross cultural connections” between soul, jazz and reggae through compilation albums. Almost 3 decades on, Soul Jazz has expanded its style and breadth – still releasing landmark retrospectives, but also sending contemporary, underground vibrations into the world. Pete and Scott will be your musical guides at Bullitt, playing across funk, soul, jazz, ska, reggae, dancehall, Latin, disco, punk, hip-hop, house, electro, UK & worldwide beats. Here, Bullitt resident DJ Jonny Carberry selects 20 of his…

  • Monday Mixtape: Glass Wings

    September 2, 2018 - By 

    Ahead of its release in October Belfast-based singer-songwriter Stephen Jones AKA Glass Wings reveals the artists and tracks that made an imprint on his forthcoming debut album, Everything and Nothing. I’m under no obligation to be cool in these choices right? Sit back and relax as I take you on a tour of some of the greatest melodicists who inspired me in the making of this album. Hiatus Kaiyote – By Fire I’m always a little suspect of people who say they have a favourite band. But if pressed, Hiatus Kaiyote might have it for me. I’ve been lucky enough…

  • Monday Mixtape: Athens of the North

    May 21, 2018 - By 

    Athens of the North is a mighty reissue label that specialises in rare soul, funk, disco, Brazilian and boogie. Their releases consistently charm and surprise us at The Thin Air, and we love how they make sense on modern dancefloors. For this edition of Monday Mixtape, Gareth Sommerville from the label selects a few things you might hear this Friday 25 May, when he and his pal Lel Palfrey DJ at Bullitt’s sunny courtyard. Get to know. Ethel Beatty ‘I Know You Care’ Arranged and produced by the genius that is Roy Ayers. This is a great early doors tune/scene…

  • Monday Mixtape: Jeffrey Lewis

    April 30, 2018 - By 

    Ahead of a solo acoustic Irish tour from May 5-11 (full details here) New York musician and illustrator Jeffrey Lewis selects some of his all-time favourite tracks, including The Fall, Focus and Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers. Ish Marquez – Gin is Not My Friend Ish Marquez, best underground soul singer from the Bronx streets! Sam Cooke meets Kurt Cobain on NYC subway at 3am in 1976 and they make up songs till dawn and sing to the sunrise on a tenement rooftop until the cops shut them down, and it just might sound like Ish Marquez. I used…

  • Monday Mixtape: The Hot Sprockets

    April 9, 2018 - By 

    We asked Dublin indie-soul maestros The Hot Sprockets to share some tunes that inspired them during the making and recording of their latest album ‘Dream Mover’ which was released last week. As a band lately, we’ve really opened our horizons as to where we can go as musicians these batch of songs and artists had a huge influence on our sound and mindset for Dream Mover. Some are direct production references and others for their stylistic and instrumental approach. Enjoy! DREAM MOVER by The Hot Sprockets

  • Monday Mixtape: Rian Trench

    February 26, 2018 - By 

    In the latest installment of Monday Mixtape, Dublin-based musician and producer Rian Trench reveals some of his favourite tracks. These are songs which, in his words, reflects his tendency to listen to music either on the aggressive or the subdued side of the fence. Photo by SCAN Current Value – Running German D&B legend. The first track from his 2008 EP – “Revealing the Concealed”. All four tracks on this play out like variations on the same idea, but this is somehow the most distilled. “Fear” is a close second. Scratches an itch I didn’t know I had. Brutal genius. Kyle…

  • Monday Mixtape: Joshua Burnside

    September 4, 2017 - By 

    Having come good on years of promise with his long-awaited debut album, Ephrata, back in May, Comber experimental folk musician Joshua Burnside reveals a selection of his all-time favourite tracks, including Luke Kelly, The Microphones, Sam Amidon, The Books. The Microphones – I Want The Wind To Blow I love the production on this track – the way the guitars are panned, the heavy compression, the distant drums, and how Phil Elverum holds some words for so long that they become sort of suspended in time. The Books – Free Translator This is a great track by The Books and it’s interesting…