• No Good Trying: A Syd Barrett Playlist

    July 7, 2014 - By 

    “I wasn’t always this introverted. I think young people should have a lot of fun. But I never seem to have any.” So said Roger Keith “Syd” Barrett in an interview with Rolling Stone in 1971. Three years on from parting with Pink Floyd – a band he co-founded and named – Barrett had just released his second and final studio album, Barrett, before withdrawing from the limelight, a visionary, plagued genius; victim of psychedelic consumption. Tales of his heavy LSD use and notoriously erratic behaviour are well documented, agonisingly revealing the birth and decay of arguably psychedelia’s brightest star, a beatific songsmith, equally entrenched and liberated by his…

  • Fruit Tree: A Nick Drake Playlist

    June 19, 2014 - By 

    “Fame is but a fruit tree, so very unsound. It can never flourish, ’till its stock is in the ground. So men of fame, can never find a way, ‘Till time has flown, far from their dying day. Forgotten while you’re here, remembered for a while, A much updated ruin for a much outdated style.” So goes the now almost mythical opening lines to ‘Fruit Tree’ by English folk singer-songwriter Nick Drake, a song that perfectly encapsulates the peculiar phenomenon of posthumous fame and adulation. Although featuring on his 1969 debut album, Five Leaves Left – the first of three full-length albums he…

  • Me vs. You: An Alternative Valentine’s Day Playlist

    February 14, 2014 - By 

    That time of year is upon us again. The time when florists and chocolatiers hike up their prices and card makers try to make us feel somehow unfulfilled because we don’t have a significant other in our pathetic and worthless lives. And all in an attempt to guilt us out of our hard earned money in some fake show of affection. Well, I say fuck that. Take your soppy love songs and cringeworthy Hallmark sentiments and shove ’em where the sun don’t shine, baby! It is time for those of us who are single (by choice or not), for those of…

  • Spaceman: A Harry Nilsson Tribute Playlist

    January 15, 2014 - By 

    Twenty years ago today – in January 15, 1994 – the towering, thoroughly one-of-a-kind musical genius of one Harry Nilsson fizzled out for good in a home in Agoura Hills, California. At the age of just 52 years old, the New York singer-songwriter bid farewell to a plain that he documented and distilled so incisively and astutely not only via his extremely eclectic original compositions but also in his various collaborations and innumerable reworkings of music written by peers and legends alike. Perhaps most famous for a song that he did not write – the timeless ‘Everybody’s Talkin’ from Midnight Cowboy…

  • The Thin Air’s Winter Metal Playlist

    December 24, 2013 - By 

    The Thin Air (Semi)-Alternative Christmas playlist is a great alternative for people who want to celebrate Christmas musically without having to resort to the same tracks played over and over again in supermarkets and shopping centres, some of us would rather spend Christmas back in the forest – preferably on a mountain – sharpening our axes and waiting for society’s inevitable collapse. With regards to this, here are some albums for the Winter. Agalloch – The Mantle  A beautifully grey album from Agalloch (pictured, top), The Mantle needs to be listened to in its entirety in order to fully comprehend the…

  • Lou Reed: A Tribute Playlist

    October 27, 2013 - By 

    Arguably punk’s greatest ancestor, Velvet Underground founder and uncompromising solo artist and collaborator for the last five decades, Lou Reed has passed away the age of 71. One of the finest songwriters of the twentieth century (and, for many, beyond) his songs and art traversed genre, sentiment and style, dividing critics and fans from his 1972 self-titled effort right up his notoriously at odds collaboration with Metallica in 2011. From heroin and the NYC underground to Diet Coke and t’ai chi, Reed came a long way from the sixties, constantly re-affirming his right to be restless and fearlessly re-inventing his musical manifesto…

  • Playlist: National Poetry Day

    October 3, 2013 - By 

    We’re humongous fans of poetry here at The Thin Air. As far as we’re concerned, the very best poetry is far superior to a very good song or album – the syllabic genius of a handful of rhyming conquistadors down the ages faring in a realm of incisive mastery that has little to no parallel in any other sphere of the arts. As it so happens, today is National Poetry Day and as we are also humongous fans of lovingly-assembled Spotify playlists of pretty much anything under the recordable sun, we have compiled a fifteen-track playlist of poetry (and music containing…

  • Chasin’ The Trane: A John Coltrane Playlist

    September 23, 2013 - By 

    On what would have been his 87th birthday, the towering musical stature of American jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane could not be any more set in stone. One of a small handful amount of musicians to irrevocably transform the landscape of a music contemporary music – both during his lifetime and down the years through the sheer influence and clout of his legacy – he embodied a revolutionary spirit that permeating the length and breadth of his staggering back catalogue as a sessionist, collaborator, bandleader and solo artist. To pay small tribute to the man and his music, we have…

  • An A-Z Playlist of Grand Theft Auto

    September 17, 2013 - By 

    With the release of arguably the most anticipated video game of a generation, Grand Theft Auto V, Shannon Delores O’Neill casts a nostalgic ear back at some of the best music from GTA – a series that vividly captures the sounds of the era in which each game is set, from the pop and funk of Vice City to the alt-rock and hip hop of San Andreas. And what better to do that than with an A-Z Spotify playlist kicking off with Alice In Chains and ending with Zapp & Roger (“who?” we hear you cry)? NB: don’t forget to do…

  • Hard Working Class Heroes 2013: 10 must-see acts

    September 5, 2013 - By 

    Set to take place from Thursday to Saturday 5 October, Hard Working Class Heroes – hands down the country’s leading independent music showcase – is soon set to take place right across Dublin. Over three days and nights, 101 acts will perform at 7 venues across the city for the annual event, now in its eleventh year. From Northern Irish singer-songwriters Joshua Burnside and Little Rivers to Dublin noise pop-quartet September Girls and Cork psych-rock band The Altered Hours, the very best of the country’s musical talent is represented right across the board. Go here to check our the full schedule for…