The summer sun beats down on the two dozen or so of us gathered by the river in the countryside outside Macroom, Co. Cork while in the tall grass musicians take turns to serenade us with only acoustic guitars and the lapping water as accompaniment. Welcome to The River Sessions, a sort of off venue […]
It’s a Wednesday night in Dublin and, man, it sure is hot. There’s no chance of cooling down however as we delve into the sauna-like conditions of The Button Factory to catch American musician Scott Hansen aka Tycho showcasing some tracks from his latest album Awake. Support tonight comes from German electronic legend Ulrich Schnauss […]
If you were to ask me where my favourite place in Ireland is I would have no hesitation in saying the Aran Islands. After spending some time on all three islands last summer with temperatures close to 30 degrees and kicking myself that I didn’t go to the first Drop Everything event in 2012 there […]
Back in medieval times swinging bells were used to notify people of fires, storms, wars and the like. A ringing of bells from the lowest to the highest note for example indicated that an attack had taken place. The use of bells in music originated in The Low Countries in the 16th century but in […]
Who here has ever heard of St Lucia’s Day? Unless you’re from Scandinavia or Italy there’s a good chance that you’ve never heard of it. This year it fell on Friday, 13th December. Not being religious types, State bypassed the venerations and headed straight for the main course of industrial electro with whatever-you’re-having-yourself-as-long-as-you-wear-black type of […]
Think festival in Denmark and Roskilde is what comes to mind, right? Well, while that may be the best known of the Danish festivals, it’s not the only one. Far from it. Spot Festival in Denmark’s second city of Aarhus is currently in its 19th year. It’s a showcase of all things Danish with a […]
If you thought that the festival season started with Camden Crawl or Forbidden Fruit then we’ve got news for you. There’s a new player in town in the shape of Phase One Electronic Music & Arts Festival in Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim. In the spirit of adventure and trying out all things new State goes along […]
Flying into Icelandic airspace while listening to some soothing sounds on the in-flight entertainment system, a peek out the window reveals the Northern Lights dancing on the horizon. Such are the perks of flying up here at this time of year. Having attended Iceland Airwaves back in November and heard that there was a new […]
Emmett Mullaney takes the trip to the Faroe Islands, a constituent country of Denmark, north of Scotland for an intimate festival experience. THURSDAY Landing in Vagar Airport on the Faroe Islands on an unusually sunny Thursday afternoon a taxi whisks us through the magnificent lush green countryside dotted with towering mountains, islands and fjords, to […]