Enjoying Jason Charles Beck, aka Chilly Gonzales’ Ivory Tower… is a hell of a lot easier than trying to explain to someone who he is and why you like him. Thankfully the artist himself assists with the thought that his life may be “a B-movie shot by Tim Burton” in the rap version of ‘Never

You know those perfect weekends. They peak at the height of Saturday nights more often than not dancing to some golden pop, hanging with a random crew who for a few hours are the ONLY people in the world you want to be with. Then things slow a little, people gather to continue elsewhere and…

One of the best things about getting wasted on Friday night at Airwaves, is Saturday mornings Chill party at the Blue Lagoon. It’s big, outdoor geothermal pool of blue, sulphiric water – off-flow from a thermal powerplant in a lava field about 40 mins outside town. Busses pick up shadows of people from the hotels…

Fresh after a good night’s sleep, there’s actually a full day to wander the excellently pocket-sized town before the main shows start. The atmosphere in the town alone is a joy, with punters and bands alike all catching up and chatting over coffee or some early beers. Throughout the day there’s still plenty of off-schedule…

On the bus in from the airport to the Icelandic capital you notice that not only is the sky and land some mix of grey, but even the coloured houses dotted along the lava fields are all tinted in greying versions of some once bright colour. The colour in this town, thankfully, is all in…

Denmark’s DJ/producer/musician Anders Trentemøller has just released his second album Into The Great Wide Yonder and State… caught up with him in downtown Copenhagen a few hours before he boarded a tour bus for a month of gigs around Europe. Still fresh in our mind was his mind-blowing show at Roskilde in 2009 and the

Between 1994 and 1996 Underworld created something extremely hard to do once, never mind twice – they recorded two albums of electronic brilliance that have aged so, so well they may just be timeless. Dubnobasswithmyheadman and Second Toughest…… brought a real warmth and intelligence to what was essentially techno, while still able to produce dance

By way of a taster for State’s panel discussion ‘Does Music Need Design Anymore?’ at the Offset 2010 design event in the Grand Canal Theatre, Dublin this weekend here’s a quick look at the heavyweight design posse who have kindly agreed to take part. State’s art director Simon Roche will host the discussion at 4pm…

Just confirmed is the full line-up for the ultra-special State happening at the Offset 2010 design event. Our panel was hand-picked by State.ie’s art director Simon Roche with the aim of discussing the possible futures for designers in the realm of music. The idea for this panel discussion came from a State.ie interview with Shaughn…

After the shut-down amid crowd safety fears the night before, the festival website this morning reveals that the acts on the second day have been rescheduled to allow the event to close at 11.30pm instead of the 6.30am blow-out planned originally. Some acts have been cancelled (including Ireland’s Yes Cadets) but most have been pulled…

Now in it’s fifth year, this mini-festival gathers a number of international acts to play across it’s four stages spread out across the tarmac and in the hangars of Hitler’s old city airport – the majestic Tempelhof. This year they have cleverly got hold of Fever Ray, LCD Soundsystem and Robyn, all drawing big crowds…

Wolf Parade
The second best band in Canada rip straight into the better, older tunes from the off. As the rain finally purges itself from the clouds above the tent Wolf Parade raise an almost-full tent to a sing-along, air-punching team with a blazing ‘I’ll believe in Anything’ early on. ‘Cloud Shadow On The Mountain’…

There aren’t many tours that come with their own trailer and there aren’t many tours which take in relatively small venues that employ a theatrical production company to help build it. The plan for Jónsi’s first solo album tour is a cross between film, art, theatre with animation and, of course, the live music element.…

Originally part of a score for a contemporary ballet, a collaboration between the choreographer Wayne McGregor and artist Julian Opie, prolific composer/producer Max Richter has now expanded the music contained within Infra…. While classical in construction (string quintet, piano) Richter weaves many elements of found sounds into the album, and it’s the fuzzy sound