• Premiere: Nylophone – Shy One

    January 27, 2021 - By 

    Wicklow-based artist Niall Woods aka Nylophone marked his arrival last year with well-received singles ‘Summer Feeling’ and ‘Let’s Go Driving’. A few months on, Woods has returned with ‘Shy One’, a deftly-produced dose of indie-folk whose lyrics are based off W.B Yeats’ ‘To an Isle in the Water’. It’s an approach that works wonders here. Featuring finger-picked guitar by Jonny Dillon aka Automatic Tasty and percussion/production by TTA favourite Rian Trench of Solar Bears & Panik Attaks, it’s a wonderfully bucolic offering that, in Woods’ own words, centres on “a longing and a desire to escape from something or somewhere.” Have a first listen…

  • The Thin Air Tracks of the Week: J Mascis, Solar Bears, Thee Oh Sees, Enemies etc.

    October 6, 2016 - By 

    You know, we got thinking: three years in, it’s really about time that we started herding up our very favourite tracks – Irish and international – and putting them in one place, each and every week. That very obvious thought developed into a very simple plan (ten or so positively must-hear tracks every Thursday) and here we are. This is it. You are here. Dig below. Enemies – ‘itsallwaves’ RIP Enemies. Don’t miss their farewell show at Vicar Street in December. J Mascis – ‘Waltz 2’ (Elliott Smith cover) It probably shouldn’t work but it does. Go here, man. Crystal…

  • Solar Bears Announce Split, Release Final Track ‘Across Yesteryear’

    October 4, 2016 - By 

    Hands down one of the country’s most consistently compelling and forward-moving electronic acts, Dublin duo John Kowalski and Rian Trench AKA Solar Bears have announced they have split after 8 years and 3 albums. Very kindly cushioning the blow, the pair have simultaneously unveiled their final single effort, ‘Across Yesteryear’, a track betraying a distinctly psych-folk aesthetic that proves, even at the eleventh hour, Trench and Kowalski were always breaking through new terrain. Speaking of their split, the band said, “We have decided to call it a day after 8 years together. Thank you to everyone that listened and came to…

  • Solar Bears @ Lavery’s, Belfast

    March 21, 2016 - By 

    Gigantic at Lavery’s is a Belfast institution. For over a decade now it’s been a valuable club night for those of us who would rather spend a Friday night dancing to LCD Soundsystem or The Juan MacLean over the more typically pedestrian fare on offer in most clubs of a weekend. It’s also been refreshing for its tendency over the years to play material by local artists alongside the usual international acts, so the recent monthly gig nights at the club have been an inspired move. Not to mention, with music industry release dates now standardised to Fridays on both…

  • Stream: Solar Bears – Gravity Calling

    March 2, 2016 - By 

    This time last month we were rather giddily raving about Solar Bears‘ ‘Wild Flowers’, a track we said seen the Dublin duo “as prismatic and sorcerous as ever”. Very much following in that vein, ‘Gravity Calling’ is the latest track to be streamed from their forthcoming third album, Advancement, which drops via Sunday Best Recordings on March 18. Inducing yet another neon-lit netherworld of lambent retro-futurism, it’s a superbly synth-driven, soundtrack-like four minutes of flawless mastery from the twosome. Solar Bears play Belfast’s Lavery’s on Friday, March 18. Pre-order Advancement here.

  • Watch: Solar Bears – Wild Flowers

    February 2, 2016 - By 

    A sublime three-minute of quick cuts and ecstatic late-summer intoxication, Michael Robinson’s video for ‘Wild Flowers’ by Dublin duo Solar Bears is the culmination of months of shooting footage on both 16mm and 8mm film in the Mid-Atlantic region of America. Running parallel with the track’s conjuring of an clarion dreamland far beyond, its footage wonderfully juts around a veritable Shangri-La of perfect Summertime abandon. Musically, the track more than delivers; Solar Bears through and through, its bubbling, synth-heavy electronica is as prismatic and sorcerous as ever. With fresh warping textures emerging and warping on every bar, it feels as much a swift exploration as its visuals.…

  • Solar Bears’ Top Five Sci-Fi Films

    January 27, 2016 - By 

    Heavily informed by their nigh on savant-like love of film and film soundtracks, it’s no surprise the oeuvre of Dublin electronic duo Solar Bears to date has betrayed a decidedly filmic scope and air. With their stellar forthcoming third album, Advancement, very much continuing in said vivid vein, John Kowalski from the duo selects his top five Sci-Fi films, focusing on both the visual and musical. Photo by Dorje De Burgh. Je T’Aime, Je T’Aime (Alain Resnais, 1968) A tale of splintered timelines and despair full of haunting choral music by Penderecki. Echoes running side by side before diverting on tangents. From…

  • Watch: New Solar Bears Album Trailer

    January 12, 2016 - By 

    Having had the head down over the last while, Dublin electronic duo John Kowalski and Rian Trench AKA Solar Bears have unveiled a trailer for their hugely anticipated third album, Advancement. Set for release via Rob Da Bank’s Sunday Best Recordings in March 18, the album – which took a year to make – was recorded in various locations and, according to the label, “[emphasises] the sonic quality of different spaces, plus incorporating and manipulating indigenous instruments to “[mirror] the widespread decay of the natural world.” Sounds pretty sweet, eh? Peer further behind the veil via the album trailer below. Photo by Dorje De Burgh

  • Monday Mixtape: John Kowalski (Solar Bears)

    September 14, 2015 - By 

    Having just received test pressings for their forthcoming third album, Dublin electronic twosome Solar Bears are on the brink of re-confirming their reputation as one of our very finest outfits (not that necessarily needs doing, of course). Ahead of some more announcements, John Kowalski from the duo delivers this week’s wonderfully diverse, suitably esoteric Monday Mixtape, featuring tracks from Plaid/BDP, The Emotions, Claude Marbehant, The Remarkable Earth Making Machine and more. Photos by SCAN

  • Stream: Solar Bears – Last To Leave Morning Dawn

    May 14, 2014 - By 

    Dublin electronic two -piece Solar Bearshave released ‘Last To Leave Morning Dawn’, a brand new track taken that might well feature on their forthcoming third studio album. Titled from cult 1973 surf film called Crystal Voyager, the three minute track shows a definite progression in the duo’s approach, melding samples with bobbing bass work, shimmering synth arpeggios and splatterings of cymbals. Emerging from a brooding, Broadcast-esque intro, the song surges forth for three minutes, fading out and leaving the listener wondering if it will find its place on the forthcoming full-length, which is still being recorded in The Meadow, located…