Maillist
FOCUS ON: Islaja
- Official Website >>
- Label: Ecstatic Peace >>
- Genre: Experimental
ISLAJA is Merja Kokkonen, a visual artist and musician from Helsinki, Finland.
She’s been releasing records on Finnish label Fonal since 2004. The first one, Meritie, introduced her lovely sense of musical wonder to the world and garnered excited praise from the more astute ears at The Wire (UK) and Dusted Magazine (USA). The 2nd release Palaa Aurinkoon was equally boss and brought ISLAJA to North America with compatriot Finnish folk experimentalists Lau Nau and Kuupuu where she mesmerized audiences with a captivating minimalism of sweet singing and small toy and hand-made instruments played by herself and companion Jukka Raisanen. In 2007 she released her third album Ulual yyy which expanded her sound into further psychedelic paths. Since then ISLAJA has played numerous large festivals including Eurosonic, Sonar and the 2006 All Tomorrows Parties/Nightmare Before Christmas curated by Thurston Moore. Animal Collective invited ISLAJA to play a two week support tour with them in Europe.
