Lali Puna

After the 1998 breakup of her previous band, the Munich-based L.B. Page, Korea-born vocalist Valerie Trebeljahr formed the experimental electro-pop group Lali Puna. Although Lali Puna was intended to be a solo project, it took on a membership that, throughout the years, included the involvement of Markus Acher (the Notwist, Tied + Tickled Trio), Florian Zimmer, Christian Heiss, and Christoff Brandner (also of Tied + Tickled Trio). The group's first release, "The Safe Side," was a single issued on Belgium's (K-RAA-K)³ in 1998, supported later that year by a performance at the Jimmy Gimme More festival in Munchen, Germany. Another short-form release, "Snooze," as well as the full-length Tridecorder — the latter appearing on Berlin's Morr Music label — were issued in 1999. Scary World Theory (2001) and the surprisingly guitar-driven Faking the Books (2004) cemented the group's status as Morr Music's flagship act. I Thought I Was Over That, a double-disc compilation of stray tracks and remixes, was released in 2005, but the fourth proper Lali Puna album, Our Inventions, did not surface until 2010. ~ Andy Kellman & Kerry L. Smith, Rovi