State

So I went to the State launch last night. Nice room with plenty of whiskey and loads and loads of music industry and journo heads (was hanging out with Lili, YoCo, Tiger, Anthony, Dee my sis, Sarah, RoRo, Screamer, Louise and Derek from Phantom, Bernie, Aoife McIndieHour, Rick, Cait, Nadine, Sinead, Dan Friction, Michael, Fiona McC from the Times, Jenny, Tanya, Cormac, Dan D, Nialler9 and FLApes and others - basically it was kind of like the Choice Music Prize drinkies all over again.)

So the mag looks and feels great. Design is spot on and although I haven't read it cover to cover, the standard of writing and photography seems very good.

A couple of things; writing about music is both a very serious and hilarious occupation, so humour is important. Obviously when a magazine is taking its initial tentative steps, it's not going to be a barrel of laughs. There are nods to a mainstream audience all over the place (which is obviously necessary to sell copies, yo); Mario Rosenstock, Adele, Mr Stipe, The Kooks getting the main album review. And I don't really understand the colourdy review system (but that's probably because it's before noon.) There are shit loads of album reviews which is great, and the Ham Sandwich feature is excellent. Jenna's column is VG but the '50 Words On' feature is a perfect opportunity to be biting and smartarsed lost.

So yeah, am looking forward to the rest of it - B+ so far.

I was speaking to a journalist this morning who said the reason he stopped buying Uncut etc is because "they kept putting old fuckers on the cover" and was lumping in Michael Stipe to this 'old fucker' category, which I have to agree with. It's not like REM are breaking ground in '08. So I hope State pushes 'it' regarding their cover stars.

And I was talking to a friend last night who was saying the only way it will survive (at €5.50) is if it is seen as a cool thing to have in your hand or on you coffee table. With Mongrel and Foggy Notions biting the dust (the latter dying just in print form) it might be able to fill that vacuum (although there is another cooler-than-cool freesheet on the way.) Certainly, Hotpress is seen as a magazine to hide rather than display, so if State can tap into that cool, then it will do well. So no more baldies on the cover then (even though, that said, the design of the cover and the photo are both excellent.)

In conclusion: (1) poor fucking State. Because people are so interested in it, it's going to end up being reviewed more than the bands it covers by twats like me. (2) best of luck to everyone involved with it, and well done!

Lili has some photees from the launch, along with this one of my sis Dee and I.