• In Review: Choice Music Prize 2014

    March 1, 2014 - By 

    Now in its ninth year, perhaps the most pleasing thing about the Choice Music Prize – the undoubted impact of ten grand in a talented act’s bank account aside – is the chance to slow the pace and take a languid gander at just how much is good about the modern Irish music scene. The annual debate on those who lost out highlights encouraging depth (see Enemies, Nanu Nanu, Axis Of and God Is An Astronaut this year), and – as smaller past winners Julie Feeney, Super Extra Bonus Party, Jape and Adrian Crowley can attest – the award does…

  • In Photos: Choice Music Prize 2014

    February 28, 2014 - By 

    Never one to miss out on the action, our photographer Shaun Neary was in attendance at this year’s Choice Music Prize at Dublin’s Vicar Street last night, February 27. Featuring shots of all the six performances, acceptance speeches, introductions and everything in between, check out his wonderful photo set from throughout the night below.

  • Villagers scoop Choice Music Prize

    February 28, 2014 - By 

    Four years on from just missing out to the prize to Two Door Cinema Club, Dublin indie-folk act Villagers have walked away with the 2014 Choice Music Prize for their second studio album, {Awayland}. Thanking the judges for liking his “weird little songs”, the band’s frontman Conor O’Brien accepted the award and a cheque for €10,000 having performed earlier in the night alongside six of the nominated ten acts. Check out Shaun Neary’s photos from the ceremony – including all the performances – here.

  • Watch: Villagers – Occupy Your Mind

    February 7, 2014 - By 

    “In the advent of the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, please find attached a song written for you, your mother, your father and your gay brothers and sisters in Russia.” So reads a Facebook post by Dublin band Villagers, words that accompany the video to their Muse-esque new single, ‘Occupy Your Mind.’ Directed by Alden Volney, the video features the band’s main man Conor O’Brien sat on a theatre stage as luminous, scattered lights beamed onto his face, a faceless captor of sorts overseeing proceedings in the distance. Debuted on Zane Lowe’s BBC Radio 1 show last night, the single follows on from…

  • 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…

  • Villagers set to headline Harvest festival

    July 22, 2013 - By 

    As exclusively revealed on BBC Radio Ulster programme Across The Line, Dublin band Villagers have been announced as headliners of the inaugural Harvest Music Festival in Ards on Saturday, August 31. The festival – taking place at Grey Abbey House – will also feature performances from Hayseed Dixie, Duke Special, Gareth Dunlop, Farriers and Emerald Armada amongst others. Tickets for the festival’s debut showcase – the centrepiece of the ‘Ards 1613’ festival – are available to purchase here, priced at £20.00 (children under 12 go free).