Itta - 11

Itta

I stumbled upon South Korean musician Itta through her work with laptop/noise artist Marqido, who share a project together called 10. Both musicians have solo work as well, which is how I came to find Itta's debut full-length, '11'. Itta instantly appealed to me with her child-like carefree spirit; the early vids I watched with her and Marqido left an endearing mark, even if the music itself was often scattershot.

Marqido

And scattershot is a good way to describe Itta's solo music -- she plays basically any instrument she can get her hands on, including a sizable number of toys and oddities. Itta sings as well, a sort of adolescent innocence that holds together the other spontaneity of her music. '11' is ordered & separated in such a way that the album gets progressively longer with each song; the earlier moments of the album leave you with little surprise -- but when Itta gets more room to play so to speak, even the most critical of listener will feel Itta picking the locks with her unconventional approach. Might not be for everyone, might not click after one listen, but I'd be surprised if Itta's lasting impression is anything but endearing.

"Iyagi (Talking)"

11 +++++++++++ mind the graves