Islaja & Lau NauIslaja & Lau Nau

Islaja / Lau Nau / Antti Tolvi Japan Tour 2010

LIVE: Islaja, Lau Nau, Antti Tolvi, HELLL, meso meso





Inquireis: Yacca / pdis / Inpartmaint Inc. (Tel: 03-5457-3264)

Artist information:

Islaja

Islaja is Merja Kokkonen, a visual artist and musician living and working in Berlin, Germany. Her debut album Meritie (Fonal, 2004) gained praise in international music media such as The Wire, Dusted Magazine and WFMU. The follow up release Palaa Aurinkoon (Fonal 2005) caused even more excitement and created quite a stir. 2007 saw the release of her third album Ulual yyy (Fonal 2006) and released a live cd "Blaze Mountain Recordings" on Ecstatic Peace label. Her latest album is called Keraaminen Paa and is released on Fonal Records September 14th 2010. Islaja records her music at home using a rainbow of instruments to accompany her personal vocal delivery sang in Finnish. She has already played numerous large festivals including Eurosonic, by:Larm, Sonar, Itsenaisyysyo at the B2 club in Moscow, Russia and All Tomorrows Parties 200 curated by Thurston Moore. Animal Collective invited Islaja to play a two week support tour with them in Europe. Islaja is also a member of Hertta Lussu Assa, a free folk super trio with Lau Nau and Kuupuu.
islaja.com
myspace

lau nau

Lau Nau is free spirited Finnish artist Laura Naukkarinen. Since the release of her celebrated debut full length Kuutarha on Chicago’s Locust Music in 2005. Lau Nau has enjoyed considerable recognition for her intimate and playful blend of ethnic tinged folk songs with intuitive sounds conjured from familiar and exotic sound sources. Lau Nau's albums Kuutarha (2005) and Nukkuu (2008) have made many year end best of lists and achieved recognition as an “important record” (Dusted), a “tremendously powerful statement” (Brainwashed) that “begs to become many a listener’s point of fixation, source of meditation and object of adoration" (lost at sea). In their 8.0 review, Pitchfork praised Lau Nau’s unique combination of edginess and warmth on Kuutarha: “(Lau Nau) manages to take a million-and-one risks while keeping things subtle, understated, aesthetically intriguing and emotionally resonant", echoing a generally held sentiment among critics and fans alike that Lau Nau had tapped into something uniquely foreign yet emotionally rich, vital and rewarding.
myspace

Antti Tolvi

Antti Tolvi was born in Panelia, in the west coast of Finland, June 3. 1977, and raised at a farm. There he started to do music with his brothers. In 2000-2001 he studied classical Indian music in Varanasi, and there all these free or avantgarde or noise or whatever musics opened for me. Soon when he returned from India, he started free jazz quartet Rauhan Orkesteri, where he was playing soprano saxophone. After playing intensive many years free jazz we moved to Kemiö island, to countryside with his partner Laura Naukkarinen (Lau Nau) and he started to make more and more solo music. And in very remote / silence place, music started to become totally opposite from Rauhan Orkesteri’s chaos and speed. Harmonies, overtones, going into
sound, no ends, no starts, from nothing comes something, just perfect, peace.
myspace

HELLL

HELLL is a drone/avant-folk band consisting of Sakiyo Tobita of The medium necks; Jason Funk and Jeff Fuccillo of Irving Krow Trio/Hochenkeit; Tetsuro Yasunaga of minamo; and ASUNA aka Naoyuki Arashi. The group will soon be releasing a cassette tape on ASUNA's new label Waiting For The Tapes, and an album on U-Sound Archive, the label run by Tom Greenwood of Jackie-O Motherfucker.
myspace

méso méso

meso meso is a Tokyo based female musician Yumiko's solo project. She is also the member of Shugo Tokumaru's band and playing accordion and other small instruments in the band. Influenced by children's songs, especially songs which have melancholic atmosphere, she wove various acoustic instruments like pianos, accordions, acoustic guitars, melodicas, lots of toys and her characteristic child-like whispered vocal and created sweet, fragile and unprotected folk songs.She released the debut album "mitten" on Lacies' Records and the 2nd album "spoon" on Yacca.
meso meso official site
myspace