Orange Alert's Music Minute

Finnish artist Laura Naukkarinen (a.k.a Lau Nau) sings dreamy folk tales that explore the farthest reaches of sonic imagination. Her debut album Kuutarha (on Chicago's Locust Music, 2005) was delicate and exotic, but on her sophomore release Nukkuu (Finnish for Sleeps) there is a new found warmth. Recording in the off hours, hiding away in the attic or empty den while her newborn son slept, Laura found the love of a child inspirational and dreamlike. Her sound follow suit as she weaves found sound and hazy electronic around her soft Finnish lyrics.

Nukkuu will be released on May 13th on Chicago's Locust Music, and would be a fine addition to any collection containing Dead Can Dance, El Perro Del Mar, or John Cage.

Listen to: Lue Kartalta (mp3)

Speaking of delicate and breathy, the time has come to see Lykke Li and El Perro Del Mar live in concert! Come on you know you want to:

May 6 - Johnny Brenda's - Philadelphia, PA
May 7 - Joe's Pub - New York, NY
May 8 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY
May 9 - Middle East - Boston, MA
May 10 - Lambi - Montreal, Quebec
May 11 - Mod Club - Toronto, Ontario
May 12 - Schuba's - Chicago, IL
May 14 - Red Room - Vancouver, British Columbia
May 15 - Triple Door, Seattle, WA
May 16 - Dough Fir - Portland, OR
May 18 - Bimbo's - San Francisco, CA
May 19 - El Rey Theatre - Los Angeles, CA

Listen to: El Perro Del Mar - Glory to the World (mp3) and Lykke Li - Dance, Dance, Dance (mp3)

Brendan Losch update:

At the beginning of the year I mention that Chicago's Brendan Losch was attempting to record a song a week for an entire year. Well, he has stuck to his plan thus far, and he also just released his second full-length album, Until We Meet Again.

He will also be appearing on June 23rd at Schuba's with Cotton Jones Basket Ride. Oh, and don't forget to check out frequently updated music blog, Count Me Out. It is one of the best music blogs in Chicago!

Listen to: We Wish We Knew (mp3)

Believe it or not I had actually fallen out of love with music for a few years. I believe it was between 1998 and 2003. It wasn't really out of love, but I did look a way for awhile. One of sounds that brought my back what of Her Space Holiday. 2003 marked the release of The Young Machines and my love affair with the music of Marc Bianchi.

Just announced this past month was the release date of his new album xoxo, panda and the new kid revival and a free concert her in Chicago at the Empty Bottle on May 5th (that's tomorrow night!!).

This is from Marc's myspace blog post:

"two and a half years in the making, the album is a far departure from previous hsh releases. no samples, no electronics, just a pile of instruments and a never ending will to create. "xoxo, panda and the new kid revival" was recorded partially in marc’s "no more good ideas" home studio, and partially at john vanderslice’s "tiny telephone studios" with the wonderful tim mooney. there are also guest appearances on the album by caitlin love, kenneth holland, and hanni el khatib."

"These Modern Socks are making sci-fi geeks everywhere cool again. For example, their sophomore release "Picking a Lock at the Speed of Light" is a concept album about taking a girl to space. And not since the sexual of tension of Han Solo and Princess Leia in The Empire Strikes Back has space travel sounded so good."

Not only does These Modern Socks take a girl into space they nearly take their listeners along with. Filling the speakers with funky glitch and electro-bubbles, what is folk-pop are heart suddenly fizzes with delight.

Listen to: Where I Came From (mp3)