• Magic and Loss: A Tribute to Lou Reed

    October 28, 2015 - By 

    Two years ago, the musical world lost one of its own gentle giants.  Lou Reed, the Brooklyn-born poet, musician, and artist, died of liver disease at the age of 71, leaving behind a profoundly lasting legacy that’s transformed countless lives, careers, and artistic endeavours.  Some of the 20th century’s most iconic artists cite Reed as a notable influence.  And yet the waves made by this larger-than-life presence often go unnoticed by modern music consumers.  Taking risks held a constant stay throughout the corpus of Reed’s work, lending an evolutionary quality to decades of his music, and likewise influencing decades of…

  • Playlist: Mercury Music Prize 2015

    October 16, 2015 - By 

    From Wolf Alice, Slaves and Jamie XX to Ghostpoet, Aphex Twin and our very own SOAK, the 2015 Mercury prize shortlist is a typically diverse affair once more this year. With this year’s prize held in association with BBC Music, the winner will be announced on Friday, November 20. Our money’s on Jamie XX but, of course, we’d be delighted to see SOAK take it. In the meantime, check out our Mercury Music Prize 2015 playlist below.

  • Playlist: 10 Must-See Acts at Hard Working Class Heroes 2015

    September 30, 2015 - By 

    On the eve of the return of the country’s leading celebration of homegrown, independent music, Hard Working Class Heroes, we have compiled a list of 10 comprehensively unmissable acts to catch across Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Go here for the full schedule. Everything Shook Argento Nights EP by Everything Shook Arborist Twisted Arrow ft. Kim Deal by arborist Inni-K The King has Two Horse’s Ears by Inni-K The Altered Hours Silences Participant Bit Slow by Participant Elastic Sleep Slip by Elastic Sleep I Have a Tribe SlowPlaceLikeHome Best Boy Grip Sharks by BestBoyGrip

  • Playlist: 30 Unmissable Acts at Electric Picnic 2015

    September 3, 2015 - By 

    Befitting tradition, this year’s Electric Picnic is set to be another weekend-long congregation of some of the very best sights and sounds. From the Little Big Tent and Rankins Wood to Electric Arena and the Body & Soul stages, every corner will reveal a cornucopia of the beautiful and brash, restrained and rapturous, up-and-coming and positively established. Having ran our eye over this year’s line-up a few times, we reckon the following thirty acts are worthy of the collective title “unmissable”.  Have a listen and make sure to check them all out if you’re lucky enough to be gracing Stradbally Estate this…

  • Low Profile: Odd Waves @ The Woodworkers

    April 29, 2015 - By 

    Belfast DJ Jonny Carberry offers an aural (and descriptive) insight into Low Profile, his regular night at Belfast’s new-fangled Woodworkers. The night takes place every third Saturday of the month. Here’s an idea of what to expect from Low Profile at the Woodworkers (as you pretend to study their fancy beer board). Shout our to Lavery’s: from electronic oscillations to Balearic feelings, via shoegaze, post-punk, hip-hop and soul, it’s offering some really ace music. Durutti Column – Future Perfect The very first song played at Low Profile. Partly for the rather optimistic title but mainly because it’s gentle and now (despite…

  • From Book to Band: A World Book Day Playlist

    March 5, 2015 - By 

    “There is no friend as loyal as a book.” The astute words of Ernest Hemingway – and there’s a fair chance he wasn’t wrong. To coincide with this year’s World Book Day, we’ve set aside our latest read – Murakami’s South of the Border, West of the Sun, if you must know – to compile a ten-track playlist featured artists named after novels, including The Fall, Pylon, Soft Machine, The Blue Nile and The Art of Noise. Delve in to the literarily-leaning sonic wielders so.

  • Playlist For Kanye: Beck’s 20 Best Songs

    February 10, 2015 - By 

    Kanye, we’re gon’ let you finish but Beck is easily one of the most innovative, exciting and singular artists of our generation. We love you, Kanye, we really do, but Mr. Hansen has consistently churned out some of the most downright exceptional sounds – party-starting jams, neo-psychedelic throwdowns and brooding odes –  over twelve studio albums, three EPs, forty singles, fourteen soundtracks and thirty-nine genre-spanning  collaborations. He’s good, Kanye – he’s very good – and to prove it, if you’ve got the time in your very busy schedule, here’s a playlist comprised of Beck’s 20 best songs. It took us ages…

  • Monday Mixtape: Ciaran Lavery

    January 19, 2015 - By 

    Tipped by many – including yours truly – to do incredible things in 2015, Aghagallon singer-songwriter Ciaran Lavery selects and talks about ten of his all-time favourite songs for this week’s Monday Mixtape. Missed last week’s with And So I Watch You From Afar guitarist/A Bad Cavalier main man Niall Kennedy? Check that out here. “I had a lot of fun compiling this list.  Growing up I was a huge hip-hop enthusiast, which isn’t easy for a scrawny ginger kid from the country. Aghagallon was never a hot bed of gangsterism (that’s a word, right?) but I’ve been drawn to and always have…

  • The Thin Air Halloween Playlist

    October 31, 2014 - By 

    Without any hint of exaggeration, we love, honour and observe Hallowe’en more than pretty much anything else here at The Thin Air? Easter? Pah! Christmas? Pffft! We laugh in the face your cheap crackers, familial small talk and ceaseless indigestion. Yes, for us, Samhain eve is where it is well and truly at. And to commemorate that fact, our Autumnally-inclined editorial team have very happily selected three of their favourite Hallowe’en songs each. Read, listen and go forth into the night. Brian Coney – Editor Graham Coxon – Bonfires Conjuring some truly wonderful images of late-on-Halloween-night solitude, ‘Bonfires’ by Graham…

  • Stream: A Yes Playlist

    September 18, 2014 - By 

    Very obviously completely unrelated to anything that is happening, anywhere in the world, pertaining to politics, nationalism and all things in between, we’ve decided to compile a ten-track Yes playlist, featuring affirmatively-inclined tracks by the likes of Tune-Yards, Mogwai, Elliott Smith, Beck and Surfer Blood. Stream that below once you’ve finished admiring the strawberry above.