Afgelopen week was Groningen de muzikale hoofdstad van Europa met de EuroSonic Noorderslag conferentie/festival combinatie. Eclectro is op uitnodiging van FirestartersNL afgereisd naar Groningen om de Vodafone Firestarters panels te beluisteren; discussiepanels die sinds vorig jaar op festivals en evenementen te vinden zijn en in het teken van muziek en innovatie staan. Eén van de panels stond in het teken van artiesten en merkbinding. Hoe ga je als artiest om met het meedoen in reclames, of promotie maken voor een merk? Sterker nog, moet je daar uberhaupt aan beginnen? Om deze vraag [...]

AAAAAAAAaaaaand we're back! With a bunch of new contributors, you'll get to know them in the next couple of weeks. A whole lot of new Christmas albums and tracks are released already, or about to be released. We're picking the cream from the crop, starting with a fantastic rumbling coverversion of Let it Snow by Dutch rockmeisters De Staat . This is from an album called So this is Christmas!, featuring only Dutch artists either covering Christmas-classics or doing original tracks. Find it here on Spotify. [...]

The sun always seems to shine at Europavox, and it's appreciated more than ever this year after the wind and rain we've left behind in Dublin. Apart from the weather, though, the festival has changed somewhat from 2010. Thumbing through the festival programme for the umpteenth time on the long train journey from Paris to Clermont-Ferrand on Thursday, it's clear the organisers have had a rethink about how they choose their headliners. Last year was top-heavy with names like Peter Doherty, Richard Hawley and Peter Hook; all veterans and, in the case of the latter two, perhaps too far removed [...]
State ventures back to the French city of Clermont-Ferrand this week for the 2011 edition of one of our favourite festivals – Europavox . The boutique event prides itself in showcasing the best in emerging European music talent, whilst also drawing more established acts from across the continent. Apart from the live performances, the festival also gathers together music journalists and industry professionals from each of the 27 EU member states for a series of conferences and workshops, with the aim of improving support structures for artists and creating pan-European contact networks for booking agents, PR and promoters. [...]

Peanut's Playground is my bi-weekly verbal diarrhea. Every other Wednesday I plan to ramble about stuff I like (in my typically screwed up version of English) and hope you will like too. And in case you don't... mweh . The general consensus about Dutch music is that it sucks. Ok maybe not the general consensus, since there are a lot of people who don't give a crap about Dutch music in general! Whatever the public might thin,k my own opinion on Dutch music is well known. With the exception of a few great artists [...]
Alleen al op basis van het eerste overrompelende kwartiertje van nieuw album Machinery verdient Nijmeegse rockband-met-eigen-twist De Staat in plekje in onze eigen beste-album-eregalerij die de... Download your favourite album at The Mood Indicator

Absolutely Not Three the-weekend-is-almost-here-sav e-me-Jebus reasons to head over to Pancho's tonight: 1. Chicago experimental rockers Argo Navis headline this Chicago versus Holland showcase at Pancho's. Argo Navis could make psychedelic groove rockers Mars Volta blush from how many different influences - from Latin ambient beats, dub and prog rock - the band incorporates into its sound. On the rare occurrence where there are vocals, if the track "Mega-Notes" is any indication, the band is an expert at recreating Jim [...]
Tweede single van de nieuwe plaat Machinery die onlangs verschenen is.
Europavox , the aunnual music festival and industry convention held in the French city of Clermont-Ferrand, has revealed the first acts to be confirmed for this year's event. Each year, Europavox brings together leading lights from music scenes right across Europe, including Ireland, with Le Galaxie now being despatched from Dublin to rock the socks off the French festivalgoers. The line-up so far: Catherine Ringer, Morning Parade, Zaz, Boys Noize, Ben L'Oncle Soul, Aaron, Gotan Project, Selah Sue, Cocoon, Chinese Man, Thomas Dybdahl, La Femme, Rita Redshoes, The Deland Orchestra, PPE, Rubik, De Staat, Susanne [...]
After following a link per the suggestion of a reader from Twitter, De Staat has since pricked my curosity. The band is from Holland and has already seen a lot of success back in their home country, winning the prestigious 3VOOR12 AWARD 2009 for best album in the Netherlands, and was voted Best Album of 2009 in Live XS Magazine for their album, Wait For Evolution . After re-releasing WFE internationally, they are taking to North America to see if they can experience the same kind of success with their [...]

De Staat was born as a one-man showcase for Dutch singer, musician, and composer Torre Florim, who single-mindedly and handedly wrote, played, and produced the band's debut album Wait For Evolution . Now a fully-functional live unit, De Staat is back with the recently-released Machinery , the first single of which, Sweatshop , simultaneously celebrates and condemns the mind-numbing, soul-sucking workaday existence that passes for living today. This of it as a update to Working In The Coalmine as imagined by The B-52s; you [...]

Here are the videos that caught the Devil's eye this week... Quiet Lights Break Trouble Wait Break Trouble Wait from Quiet Lights on Vimeo . Franklin Forest Sword Forest Sword from toma dutter on Vimeo . You Animals What A Shame, Lorraine [...]
Iets later dan normaal, maar hij is weer bijgewerkt met nieuwe, hippe muziek: de tiplijst van ASPmusic op Spotify. Deze week met James Vincent McMorrow , The Crookes , Francis International Airport en meer…
Wat mij eigenlijk verbaasde was dat de mensen achter Excelsior Recordings het op de Twittert en FeestBoek niet hadden over de nieuwe release van De Staat. Mij was even ontgaan dat de band voor de release van hun nieuwe album...

Dutch rockers De Staat offer a free track form their digital 4 tracks EP Here's De Staat will be released September 28th in the US only. An American club is tour is imminent, with a confirmed CMJ appearance in New York. MP3: De Staat - Habibi Live date: 10/21 - Ace of Clubs (CMJ), New York, NY » destaat.net
In September 2007 De Staat found its perfect line-up. With Tim van Delft on drums, the Croatian Vedran Mircetic on guitar, Jop van Summeren on bass and Rocco Bell on keys, beatring and cowbell, there's no question that Torre Florim has a diverse company on his side. A powerful five-headed coalition, showing its love for the old roots music, though not afraid to put that in a new and refreshing

In de Vooruit zijn er binnenkort weer enkele interessante gratis caféconcerten. Vorig jaar zag ik in diezelfde formule nog het fantastische Shearwater aan het werk . Nu geef ik alvast deze 2 tips mee : donderdag 19 maart om 22u : De Staat Deze band [...]