• Le Guess Who? 2016 @ Utrecht, NL

    It’s been a weird year for the ‘Boutique’ festival market, with ATP coming to an official end following a string of debacles, but in its tenth year, Utrecht’s Le Guess Who? somehow does it. Across four days, it ties together seldom-seen legends, a pocket of essential esoterica, and today’s most boundary-pushing acts, the lineup this year curated by Wilco, Suuns, Julia Holter & Savages. Utrecht is the sophisticated, civilised, more communal sister city of Amsterdam, located just half an hour south of the capital, and in a city with the Rietveld Schröderhuis built in 1924 it houses the kind of forward-thinking…

  • Gigs of the Week: Tim Hecker, Conan, Mos Def, Boxcutter, Callum Stewart

    Pigs of the bleak? Nope. Figs of the streak? Not a chance. Swigs of the geek? That doesn’t even make sense. What you were looking for – searching for, all these years – was this week’s installment of the ever-ingenuously titled Gigs of the Week. Inclined towards leaving the house and watching people perform music over the next few days? Read on and right on. Tim Hecker, Ellll @ Button Factory, Dublin – Thursday, November 20 Supported by Cork electronic noise artist Ellll (read about her in the November issue of our physical magazine here), Canadian ambient artist Tim Hecker (pictured)…

  • Stream: Tim Hecker – Amps, Drugs, Mellotron

    Experimental multi-instrumenalist and producer Tim Hecker has released an alternate version of his track ‘Amps, Drugs, Harmonium’ as part of the Adult Swim singles series. The re-imagining of the track, entitled ‘Amps, Drugs, Mellotron’ may seem foreign to the album from which it has been taken, (2013’s Virgins,) despite the original song being a moment of respite amid some of that years most cacophonous songs. This alternate version lowers in volume and tension more so than any other track from his starkly brilliant last album, though his fondness for drones and slow musical evolutions has not wavered. You can listen…

  • Recap: Tim Hecker, Frankie Rose, September Girls, etc.

    In the latest installment of our weekly recap of the best in brand new music just released right across the world, we eagerly traverse and contrast urgent Northern Irish punk rock, Canadian drone, kaleidoscopic English lo-fi, American garage rock, delirious Swedish synth-pop and all kinds of everything in between. As ever, if you want to get in touch about great new music – either yours or someone else’s – hit us up at newmusic@thethinair.net and we will get listening, stat. In the meantime, sit back and enjoy our top ten tracks of the week. ___ Mons Montis – Swept Swedish trio Herman Båverud Olsson,…