Merja Kokkonen (born 19 May 1979), better known by her stage name Islaja, is a singer-songwriter and musician from

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, Finland. Besides her solo career, she is a member of free improv and

psychedelic folk Psychedelic folk (sometimes acid folk or freak folk) is a loosely defined form of psychedelic music that originated in the 1960s. It retains the largely acoustic instrumentation of contemporary folk music, folk, but adds musical elements common ...

bands Avarus,

Kemialliset Ystävät Kemialliset Ystävät (Finnish for "Chemical Friends") is the name of a recording project of musician Jan Anderzén of Tampere, Finland. Anderzén began recording under the name in 1995 and although he has enlisted numerous musicians over the years ...

, and the trio Hertta Lussu Ässä. She has been compared to

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...

Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, guitarist and songwriter who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Until his departure in 1968, he was Pink Floyd's frontman and primary songwriter, ...

, and

Nico Christa Päffgen (; 16 October 1938 – 18 July 1988), known by her stage name Nico, was a German singer, songwriter, actress, and model. Nico had roles in several films, including Federico Fellini's '' La Dolce Vita'' (1960) and Andy Warhol's ...

. Her music is psychedelic and intimate using a large variety of instruments. She is a

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments, often but not exclusively at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as woodwind doubler, doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and mor ...

. As of 2017, she is based in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Discography

* ''Meritie'' (Fonal, 2004) * ''Palaa aurinkoon'' (Fonal, 2005) * ''Ulual Yyy'' (Fonal, 2007) * ''Blaze Mountain Recordings'' (Ecstatic Peace, 2008) * ''Keraaminen Pää'' (Fonal, 2010) * ''S U U'' (Monika Enterprise, 2014) * ''Tarrantulla'' (Svart Records, 2017) * ''Angel Tape'' (Other Power, 2023)

Also appears on

*''Beginner's Guide to Scandinavia'' (3CD, Nascente 2011)

Images

File:Islaja.jpg, Islaja, 2006 File:Islaja2.jpg, Islaja, 2006

References

External links

Islaja siteInterview, Drowned in Sound, 22 September 2008
1979 births Living people 21st-century Finnish women singers Finnish women songwriters Musicians from Helsinki Psychedelic folk musicians Women in electronic music Writers from Helsinki Finnish expatriates in Germany {{Finland-singer-stub