• Interview: Solar Bears

    March 21, 2014 - By 

    Ahead of their Thin Air show at Belfast’s Voodoo this Saturday night (March 22), Brian Coney talks to John Kowalski from Dublin electronic duo Solar Bears about the evolution of their sound, the imprint of cinema on their music-making and how things are going in the process of piecing together album number three. Hi John. You’re currently in the process of making your third album. How have things been progressing over the last couple of months? Really good thanks. We are deviating a lot and making sure we are covering new ground, which is our preference. At the moment there…

  • Gig of the week: Solar Bears, Ryan Vail, Blue Whale @ Voodoo

    March 18, 2014 - By 

    We hope we’re not accused of too much bias with this one but… our gig of the week for March 17-24 is our next showcase at Belfast’s Voodoo Bar on Saturday, March 22. Supported by Belfast jazz-punk masters Blue Whale and fast-rising Derry electronic duo Ryan Vail, Dublin electronic pair Solar Bears – currently in the process of writing their third studio album – will make their long-awaited return to Belfast with a headlining DJ set. Doors are at 8.30pm, door tax is £8 (pay at the door) and the first 10 people through the door get a poster from the…

  • Stream: Solar Bears – Interzone

    February 26, 2014 - By 

    Ahead of headlining our forthcoming night at Voodoo Belfast on Saturday March 22, Dublin electronic duo Solar Bears have a new track titled ‘Interzone’. Taken from the pair’s forthcoming third studio album – the follow-up to last year’s Supermigration – the track is an homage to American actor and director Dennis Hopper Go here for the event page for our Solar bears show next month. Stream ‘Interzone’ via Soundcloud below. Photo by Dorje De Burgh.

  • The Thin Air Presents: Solar Bears, Ryan Vail and Blue Whale @ Voodoo

    January 6, 2014 - By 

    Oh boy, are we excited for this one! Currently writing material for their third album, Dublin electronic duo Solar Bears will headline our next showcase at Belfast’s Voodoo Bar on Saturday, March 22. Having released the exquisite Supermigration last year and recently signed a published deal with Warp, the two-piece’s DJ set will follow sets from Derry electronic twosome Ryan Vail and Belfast-based jazz-punk quartet Blue Whale – two of the finest acts of their respective genres currently based in Northern Ireland. Doors at 8.30pm, door tax is £8.00 (pay at the door). Go here for the Facebook event page…

  • The Thin Air’s Top 100 Irish Tracks of 2013 (35-1)

    December 30, 2013 - By 

    Sixty-five increasingly exceptional songs in, we’re pleased to round up our first ever countdown of the Top 100 Irish Tracks of the year. Truth be told, this list could have been much, much longesear – such was the extent and quality of the output from our homegrown musical talent over the last twelve months. From unassuming bedroom artists treading the often very thin line between absolute anonymity and mass recognition to genre-defining, decades-spanning bands that fall comfortably under “legendary” status, we’ve been very happily bombarded with some truly extraordinary Irish music over the last year. Until next time… listen, enjoy…

  • Watch: Sunken Foal – Cutty’s Advice

    September 30, 2013 - By 

    Taken from his forthcoming new album Friday Syndrome Volume 2, Dublin-based electronic producer Dunk Murphy AKA Sunken Foal has unveiled the video to his new track, ‘Cutty’s Advice’. The follow up to his debut album, Fallen Arches, the first volume of Friday Syndrome was released last July to a strong critical reception. Friday Syndrome Volume 2 is expected to be released at some stage in November. Sunken Foal will support Solar Bears at Whelans, Dublin on Friday, October 4. Go here for the chance to win a pair of tickets to the show. Watch the video for ‘Cutty’s Advice’ below.

  • Solar Bears

    June 3, 2013 - By 

    Earlier this year, Dublin/Wicklow duo Solar Bears released their second album, Supermigration. The record built on the template they set out on their debut album She Was Coloured In – a blend of nostalgic electronica, psychedelia, Krautrock and sci-fi themes – while reshaping and refining it, tapping into their pop tendencies and working with guest vocalists for the first time. Chris Jones spoke to John Kowalski and Rian Trench over email to find out more about the record and where the band might be headed next. How did you feel the first album went in terms of execution and reception,…

  • Solar Bears – Supermigration

    May 3, 2013 - By 

    Despite having moved out of their bedrooms and into a professional studio to record the follow up to 2010’s She Was Coloured In, Irish duo Solar Bears are in no mood for reinvention on their second LP. Indeed, with John Kowalski and Rian Trench having spent a considerable amount of time since their debut perfecting their live set, much of Supermigration is focused on refining their psychedelic,  ambient-pop style- and what a style it’s become. The duo’s shared love for science-fiction films and krautrock-inspired electronica is as prevalent as ever and, perhaps most impressively, as seamless. It’s hard to tell…