Blog: State Magazine

"Scary rhyming man, him scares me. Danger. Drummer man is beast monster too, hard hitting pummel thing, is scary and such. Danger." Of all the thousands of words uttered about Death Grips in the past few months – in blogs, music magazines, radio shows, Twitter feeds, podcasts, the New York Times – this YouTube comment from a certain 'ProlapsedCranium' nails it. Everyone's losing the plot trying to describe the Sacramento trio, but we can all agree on one thing – they're a sort of brutal rap/noise/industrial concoction; hip-hop with no real lineage, more Wolf [...]

Director: Constance Marks Cast: Kevin Clash, Elmo Certificate: PG Running Time: 76 minutes Directed by Constance Marks, Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey documents the life and times of Sesame Street puppeteer Kevin Clash. Released in the same week as Joss Whedon's Avengers Assemble , this heart-warming documentary proves that in the right hand, a glove puppet can still conjure as much magic and entertainment as your average Hollywood blockbuster. Traditionally documentaries succeed on the strength of their subjects and here Marks introduces two of [...]

Maximo Park have got a new release coming out June 11th called The National Health on V2 . 'Hips and Lips' is the second single off the album, a dark electronic-filled track, with agressive guitars and a cold vocal performance from Paul Smith. Listen on Soundcloud below.

If dedication really is what you need if you want to be the best, it's no wonder that the Popical Island collective have risen to such exalted status in a short space of time. Joining the community of like minded musicians seems akin to becoming part of a cult, rejecting family and friends in the name of constantly inventive alternative pop music. Thus when Pádraig Cooney from Land Lovers found himself laid up at home following an operation what else would he do but write an album and who else would he get to record it than members [...]

Ben Folds Five will play Vicar Street in Dublin November 26th. This is the first time the band's original members line-up (Ben Folds, Darren Jessee, Robert Sledge) play in Dublin since they separated in 1999. Tickets go on sale at 10am Friday 4th May on Ticketmaster priced €43.05.

For some, Rufus Wainwright will always be a master of dramatics. He is their coruscating vision in the darkness, possessing a voice that cannot help but flood every syllable with such high emotion that he leaves you clinging helplessly to the wreckage of melody waiting for the gale force to subside. Such furiously bombastic feelings were bled dry after the punishing grief-soaked tribute to his late mother All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu that it was psychologically impossible for Rufus to wring out any further midnight melancholia. He has now emerged blinking into [...]

Barcelona's Primavera Sound Festival , which takes place May 30th to June 3rd, has made a tradition of having a huge line-up, and live music shows outside El Parc Del Forum, the main site . This year will be no different with many acts playing in bars and restaurants of the city: Xavier Baró , Renaldo & Clara , Steven Munar & The Miracle Band , Grushenka , Eh! , The Lions Constellation , GRTS, Her Only Presence , Gudar , Eliah Smith , Partido , Elvira , [...]

A quirky quintet with a penchant for atypical time signatures and jerky pop tunes, Dutch Uncles are carving a name for themselves amongst the current wash of Manchester bands. Following the release of their second album, 2011's Cadenza , the band started to get more attention, as they toured extensively, mainly in the UK but including shows in Ireland. And now they're back again, this time for the inaugural Camden Crawl Dublin . We caught up with them to find out what's in store. First of all, what's with the name? [...]

Derry is to welcome a new digital festival this summer in the shape of Culture Tech , August 29th to September 1st. As part of the city's term as UK City of Culture 2013 , the event will take place over four days with film screenings, digital arts installations, public workshop, digital game tournament and live music performances. Many of the festival events are free. The music line-up is yet to be announced, but tickets are available now from the Culture Tech website priced £39.

French electronic band M83 just announced a gig at Mandela Hall in Belfast June 26th. Tickets are on sale Monday 30th April at 9am from Ticketmaster outlets, Queens student Union, and Ticketmaster.ie priced £22.50.

British icons The Charlatans are headlining Castlepalooza Music & Arts Festival , which takes place at Charleville Castle, Tullamore August 3rd to 5th. Other acts have been announced such as Ghostpoet , Solar Bears , Jape and King Charles . The full line up is: The Charlatans, Ghostpoet, Solar Bears, Jape, Donal Dineen's Parish Project, Mmoths, Little Green Cars, King Charles, Jon Phonics, Hush War Cry, Young Wonder, Le Galaxie, Monto, Reid, Toby Kaar, Bouts, Katie Kim, Diamond Dagger, Cloud Castle Lake, Tu-Ki, The Ambience Affair; The Altered Hours; Arman [...]

Body & Soul Festival , which takes place in the woodlands of Ballinglough Castle , Wesmeath 22-24th June just announced three more acts. Spiritualized , Django Django and Hollie Cook are joining artists like M83 and St Vincent on the current line-up. Also, for its third anniversary, Body & Soul Festival will be spreading over three nights for more music and surprises. Weekend tickets are available on Ticketmaster.ie priced €99

Alabama Shakes ' self-produced debut, recorded last year in Nashville's Bomb Shelter studio before there was such a big buzz about them, comes freighted with expectation. People I like, like them, and have talked them up: they've opened for Drive-By Truckers, and are currently on tour with Jack White. Much has been made of the analogue authenticity of their Muscle Shoals rock/soul lineage, and the fact that they hail from just up the road in Athens (Alabama, not Georgia) does this association no harm. So, can they carry the weight which is being placed on their young shoulders? [...]

Tomorrow sees the release of the second album from Marina & The Diamonds , the follow up to debut Family Jewels . Electra Heart finds the singer adding a dash of hi-energy pop to her dramatic song writing and includes the latest single 'Primadonna'. We have five copies to give away to State readers. Just tell us Marina's full name and send your answer plus name and address to giveaway@state.ie by 5pm on Friday 4th May. Good luck. Marina and The Diamonds - Primadonna on MUZU.TV [...]

Dublin electro-rock four piece Alias Empire , formerly known as Dry County, just released a new track called 'Pins' an out-take from their new album Safety In Numbers , which is coming out later this year. It's a turbulent disco-pop song soaked in electronic sounds with buzzing synth bass lines, vocoder and machines which go a bit crazy towards the end. You can listen and download 'Pins' on Alias Empire Website .

The idea behind Copenhagen's Frost festival is to have Danish bands play in unusual venues while also including international artists on the bill. The international acts do work as a draw when you see names such as Wilco on the posters around the city, but the smaller local acts and particularly the location-specific gigs themselves are the real gold. Under Byen (Under the City) were the opening night band in the Theatre Bremen. Their cinematic, ambient rock sound was played from behind a mesh screen with constant video projections from moving traffic to [...]

Trocaire Live is a special event taking place at the Grand Social this Saturday April 28th, aimed at showcasing Irish and World music as well as putting the spotlight on Trocaire's campaigning work to help people in the world's poorest places. The night will feature performances from Irish headline acts Katie Kim , Fred , The Hot Sprockets but also Manila Rhythm from the Philippines, Dembe Troupe dancers from Uganda, and Talking Drums from Nigeria. There will be food from the Middle-East prepared by the Silk Road Café. [...]

Spiritualized , it is often remarked, tend to polarise opinion. Few people just 'like them', or 'think they're alright'. More usually, they are either eulogised as avatars of transcendental bliss who manage to marry core values rock'n'roll and dirty ass garage blues with flights of orchestral and gospel choir sumptuousness, all done through a psychedelic filter that is part bright '60s wide-eyed naïveté and part darker '80s industrial drone; or they are purveyors of turgid, bombastic, repetitious, junky fodder, pawning ideas, riffs and arrangements that were already clichéd first-time around on to an ignorant, stoned, uncritical and unsuspecting audience, too [...]

There's sometimes a fine line between bold experimental music and inconsistent pretentious noisy gibberish. Brooklyn-based trio Black Dice have always been balanced between those two sides of the same coin. On Mr. Impossible , they clearly went for the latter, discarding any attempt at creativity, dynamics, or even remote progression in their tracks. Most of this album sounds like the neverending agony of a dying keyboard, a broken drum machine and sampled vocals compressed to the point you can't understand a single word. Take 'Outer Body Drifter', a techno-ish industrial jam. It starts with a big [...]

As you can't help have noticed, the Camden Crawl Dublin is just around the corner and - as well as the main festival - there's a healthy programme of free fringe events on the Saturday night (12th May). The likes of Tara Masterson Hally, Swords and Simon Bird will all be appearing around town, but our focus will be on the Globe, where State will be hosting Yeh Deadlies , The Notas (pictured) and No Monster Club . It all kicks off at 6pm and you can join the Facebook event here .