• The Thin Air’s Top 100 Irish Tracks of 2018 (#50-1)

    December 22, 2018 - By 

    Christ on a rickety sleigh, was this tough. But truth be told – it’s rarely easy. As we scramble to bang heads and attempt to assimilate, order and re-order the absolute deluge of excellence that has met our ears over the previous twelve months, it’s instantly clear that there will be some notable omissions. It’s equal parts unavoidable and unfortunate, but more significantly, it’s glowing testament to what we’re dealing with in every pocket of this island. Of course, we can’t – nor wish to – conclusively say this is “the best year for Irish music in recent memory” (the…

  • The Thin Air’s Top 50 Irish Releases of 2018 (#25-1)

    December 14, 2018 - By 

    Each December, when we sit down to compile, order (and re-order) our end-of-year lists, a few familiar patterns emerge: though an undeniable bastion of forward-moving sound – and despite what the UK’s more kneejerk music press have been sold as of late – Dublin is not Ireland; there’s always enough feature-length curios released across the calendar year to warrant, if we were so audacious, a Top 200 Releases; and, more than ever, the self-released EP continues to hold its own in the face of even the most monied, PR-wielded long-player. This year was no different. In fact, it was a textbook…

  • The Thin Air’s Top 50 Irish Releases of 2018 (#50-26)

    December 13, 2018 - By 

    Each December, when we sit down to compile, order (and re-order) our end-of-year lists, a few familiar patterns emerge: though an undeniable bastion of forward-moving sound – and despite what the UK’s more kneejerk music press have been sold as of late – Dublin is not Ireland; there’s always enough feature-length curios released across the calendar year to warrant, if we were so audacious, a Top 200 Releases; and, more than ever, the self-released EP continues to hold its own in the face of even the most monied, PR-wielded long-player. This year was no different. Delve into #50 to #26…

  • The Thin Air’s Semi-Alternative Christmas Playlist

    December 10, 2018 - By 

    To celebrate our collective itchy feet awaiting the onset of socially acceptable daytime drinking, half-arsed cracker pulling and hastily-concocted post-pub sandwiches, here’s our annual Semi-Alternative Christmas Playlist – featuring everyone from Yo La Tengo, Big Star and Mazzy Star to The Fall, Mark Kozelek and Deerhoof.

  • The Thin Air’s Alternative Halloween Playlist

    October 30, 2018 - By 

    We’ve all been there: the Halloween soiree is well under away and ‘Don’t Fear The Reaper’ is on its third outing in two hours. As much as you totally nailed that leg solo the second time ’round, there’s a burning – nay, practically murderous – need for new tunes to see in Samhain in style. Pre-empt that happening all over again by taking advantage of our seventy-five track alternative Halloween Spotify playlist, featuring everyone from John Maus, Broadcast and The Cramps to Flying Lotus, Suicide and Tangerine Dream.

  • Playlist: TTA is 4

    May 2, 2017 - By 

    Today is our 4th birthday and to celebrate we have compiled a playlist of 40 of our favourite Irish tracks from the years we have been operational featuring Adebisi Shank, Sleep Thieves, Oh Boland, Girls Names, No Monster Club, Documenta, Bantum, Katie Kim and many more. Music and culture has exploded over the last four years here and we’ve been proud to cover that throughout. We’ll be relaunching The Thin Air magazine and website later in the year but in the meantime we’d like to thank our contributors, everyone who has supported us, picked up the magazine, clicked on the website,…

  • Interview: Paying Tribute to The Sad and Beautiful World of Sparklehorse

    March 27, 2017 - By 

    On Saturday, April 8 we will co-host a special, two-part event at The MAC as part of Belfast Film Festival celebrating the life and music of the sadly-missed Mark Linkous AKA Sparklehorse. Following a screening of Alex Crowton and Bobby Dass’ new documentary ‘The Sad & Beautiful World of Sparklehorse’, the evening will also feature a Q+A with the filmmakers, as well as a live, one-hour performance ‘A Night of Sparklehorse’ with Tom McShane, Peter Sumadh AKA The Mad Dalton, Richard Davis AKA Heliopause, Pixie Saytar, Jake Lennox and Brian Coney. Ahead of the one-off event, we chat with the organisers and…

  • Stream: The Thin Air’s Death Culture Blues #6

    January 6, 2017 - By 

    In the first installment of the show this year, we returned to Dublin Digital Radio last night for our weekly two-hour slot of experimental, cosmic and ambient sounds, Death Culture Blues. From Jack Rose to Windy & Carl, it was – as we might well be likely to say on several of these posts down the line – easily our favourite show thus far. Check out the full playlist and listen back via the DDR Mixcloud page below. 1. Jack Rose – Sun Dogs 2. The Makers – Don’t Challenge Me 3. Kariem Riggins – Bahia Dreamin 4. Temples –…

  • Stream: The Thin Air’s Death Culture Blues #4 on Dublin Digital Radio

    December 23, 2016 - By 

    Aired last night on Dublin Digital Radio from 8-10pm, this week’s Death Culture Blues was – would you believe – a Christmas special. It was. Featuring some lesser-known festive gems from the likes of Alan Vega, Quasi, Sun Ra, Frank Sidebottom and Merzbow, you can check out the full playlist and stream it back via DDR’s Mixcloud below. 1. The Vacant Lots – No More Christmas Blues 2. John Fahey – Joy To The World 3. Vince Guaraldi Trio – Christmas Time is Here 4. Alan Vega – No More Christmas Blues 5. Frank Sidebottom – Christmas Is Really Fantastic…

  • The Thin Air and Moving On Music present: Damo Suzuki (CAN) with Blue Whale and Robocobra Quartet

    December 9, 2016 - By 

    Presented by The Thin Air and Moving On Music, the legendary Damo Suzuki, vocalist of pioneering Krautrock group CAN, will return to Belfast for a fully improvised show with experimental rock maestros Blue Whale, and Californian improviser, sound artist, inventor and writer, Paul Stapleton. Support on the night comes from one of the country’s very best bands, Robocobra Quartet. This is set to be an unmissable event for anyone with even a passing interest in experimental and improvised music. Featuring “an assembly of sound carriers to communicate with each other and the audience”, Damo Suzuki has performed as ‘Damo Suzuki’s…