Although Blue States is not widely known, the mere mention of the group's musical niche is enough to raise interest in Moscow. And this attention - no doubt about it - is deserved.

The city's enthusiasts are treated in this day and age to artists striving to add creativity to sampled music, with the ability to go farther than the bluntness of trip-hop or quickly made easy-listening.

The project's architect - Englishman Andy Dragazis - spends half of the year in his ancestral Greece. Blue States' 2000 album was met with rave reviews and straight away brought up comparisons with the then-up-and-coming Air and Aphex Twin.

The only problem is that "Nothing Changes Under the Sun" is the group's first, and so far only, album. Worth mentioning also is Dragazis' previous work with The Future Sounds of London, another important name for music connoisseurs in the city. And, all told, that's about enough references for people to show up at Sixteen Tons on May 11 at 11 p.m. Even without actually knowing who Blue States is.