Maria Juur (born 15 March 1988), better known by her

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Maria Minerva, is an

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

musician.

Artistry

Maria Minerva's music is described by critics as a blend of avant pop, electronic dance, and experimental genres. Critics have described Maria Minerva's vocal style as dreamy, mysterious, or Lynchian, but also as casual and slightly off-key, receiving comparisons to Blossom Dearie,

Brigitte Bardot Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a French former actress, singer, and model as well as an animal rights activist. Famous for portraying characters with Hedonism, hedonistic life ...

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 ...

, and Billie Ray Martin. She has cited Cosey Fanni Tutti, Laetitia Sadier,

Kim Gordon Kim Althea Gordon (born April 28, 1953) is an American musician, singer and songwriter best known as the bassist, guitarist, and vocalist of alternative rock band Sonic Youth. Born in Rochester, New York, she was raised in Los Angeles, Califor ...

Laurie Anderson Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson (born June 5, 1947) is an American avant-garde artist, musician and filmmaker whose work encompasses performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and sculpting,Amirkhanian, Cha ...

, and Cabaret Voltaire as influences.

Critical Reception

Maria Minerva is amongst the most internationally acclaimed Estonian electronic artists of the 2010s. She is the recipient of two Estonian Music Awards. Her releases have received critical acclaim from music publications such as

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

and

The Fader ''The Fader'' is a magazine established in 1999 as an outlet for Cornerstone Agency, a marketing and public relations firm established by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. History and work It is owned by T ...

. One of Maria Minerva's early supporters was the influential pop critic

Simon Reynolds Simon Reynolds (born 19 June 1963) is an English music journalist and author who began his career at ''Melody Maker'' in the mid-1980s. He subsequently worked as a freelancer and published a number of books on music and popular culture. Reynold ...

. She was named as one of the seminal Los Angeles artists by

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

and appeared on Estonian World's annual "Top 12 Most Outstanding Estonian Women in the World" list.

Collaboration with Cherushii

Chelsea Faith a.k.a. Cherushii was one of the 36 victims of the 2016 Oakland warehouse fire. In 2019, the EP ''Cherushii & Maria Minerva'' was released, which had been nearly completed before Cherushii died and includes repurposed tracks from previous Cherushii releases.

Personal Life

Maria developed an interest in electronic dance music and began attending club nights in Tallinn as a young teenager. She graduated from the

Estonian Academy of Arts The Estonian Academy of Arts (Estonian language, Estonian: ''Eesti Kunstiakadeemia'', EKA) is the only public university in Estonia providing higher education in art, design, architecture, Media (communication), media, art history and conservation ...

and

Goldsmiths, University of London Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by ...

, where she studied with British cultural theorist and music critic

Mark Fisher Mark Fisher (11 July 1968 – 13 January 2017), also known under his blogging alias k-punk, was an English writer, music critic, political and cultural theorist, philosopher, and teacher based in the Department of Visual Cultures at Golds ...

. She is the daughter of the Estonian humorist, writer, and media personality Mart Juur. Maria Minerva is a naturalized United States citizen.

Other

While studying Art History at the Estonian Academy of Arts, Maria Minerva authored the first-ever Estonian-language research paper on

sound art Sound art is an artistic activity in which sound is utilized as a primary Time-based media, time-based Artistic medium, medium or material. Like many genres of contemporary art, sound art may be interdisciplinary in nature, or be used in Cross-genr ...

, with an emphasis on the history of sound art in Estonia. Maria Minerva appeared as herself in the 2013 musical documentary ''Silk''. She starred as the Estonian Jazz and pop singer Marju Kuut in the 2021 documentary ''u.Q.'' Maria Minerva has worked with and remixed many other artists, including Cities Aviv, Maria Chavez, Mark Van Hoen and

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styles across rock, dr ...

. She has collaborated with visual artists Pakui Hardware,

Phil Collins (artist) Phil Collins (born 1970) is an English artist and Turner prize nominee. He is mainly known for video art, often featuring teenagers. A prominent example of his work is ''They Shoot Horses'' (2004), consisting of two videos, each lasting seven ...

and poet Vanessa Place. Formerly, she hosted a show on LA's community radio station Dublab, where she interviewed fellow musicians such as

Nite Jewel Ramona Gonzalez (known professionally as Nite Jewel) is an American singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California that is currently based in Oakland. Biography Ramona Gonzalez began as Nite Jewel in 2008 as the result of her juggling music with ...

and

Yves Tumor Sean Lee Bowie (born February 14, 1990), best known by the recording alias Yves Tumor, is an American musician and producer of experimental music, born in Miami, Florida, and currently based in Turin, Italy. To date, they have released fiv ...

Discography

LPs

* ''Tallinn At Dawn'' CS (Not Not Fun, 2011) * ''Cabaret Cixous'' CD/LP (Not Not Fun, 2011) * ''The Integration LP'' with LA Vampires (Not Not Fun, 2012) * ''Will Happiness Find Me?'' CD/LP (Not Not Fun, 2012) * ''Histrionic'' LP (Not Not Fun, 2014) * ''Soft Power'', CS (100% Silk, 2020)

EPs

* ''Noble Savage'' 12" EP (100% Silk, 2011) * ''Sacred and Profane Love'' 12" EP (100% Silk, 2011) * ''Nii hea'' with Ajukaja, 10" Single (Pudru Kuul, 2012) * ''Bless'' 12" EP (100% Silk, 2013) * ''C U Again'' with Ajukaja, 12" EP (Pudru Kuul, 2014) * ''S/T'' with Cherushii, 12" EP (100% Silk, 2019)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Minerva, Maria 1988 births Living people Estonian women musicians Nu-disco musicians Musicians from Tallinn Women in electronic music 21st-century Estonian musicians Tallinn French School alumni Outsider house musicians