Send "Alina Simone " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 Alina Simone lives in Brooklyn but was born in Ukraine, a fact that her work tends to confront either directly or not at all. There was the 2008 album Everyone is Crying Out to Me, Beware, where Simone covered songs by the Siberian folk-punk singer Yanka Dyagileva. There is Simone's new memoir, You Must Go and Win, which addresses "the lure of a mythical Russian home" she left as an infant as well as the foibles of the American music industry. And on her new album, Make Your Own Danger, there's a song about Baba Yaga, the legendary Slavic witch whose house walks around on chicken legs. Under its gypsy veneer, it reminds me a bit of the Smashing Pumpkins' "Disarm", which is telling.The American music business can be a precarious place for homegrown artists with foreign roots, and Simone has generally seemed leery of fetishizing her heritage for American markets. She seems to deploy her background with a mixture of personal interest and business savvy. On Make Your Own Danger, Eastern European folk tropes are pretty scarce, and mainly function as a bit of marketable window dressing for the music Simone really seems to love, vintage alt-rock. This is someone who gave her 2005 debut EP the supremely "1990s" title of Prettier in the Dark, and who inherits a tradition that PJ Harvey defined in the 90s and Shannon Wright carried on in the 2000s: strong, intense women with smoldering voices set to melodious yet slashing music. Simone may dream of that mythical Ukrainian home, but she expresses herself in the language of crunchy rhythm guitars, chiming leads, and confessional vocals that has soundtracked her American life....full text |
| Albumreviews |
| Born in Kharkov, Ukraine, the daughter of political refugees and raised in the suburbs of Boston, Alina moved to Austin after art school and started off singing on Sixth Street. Her debut album, Placelessness (2007) earned both national airplay and critical acclaim. Her last album Everyone is Crying Out To Me, Beware was sung in Russian and covered the music of Siberian punk-folk singer Yanka Dyagileva. Produced by Steve Revitte (Liars, Beastie Boys, Black Dice), Make Your Own Danger is Simone’s lushest and most fully realized work to date, with exotic touches that include flute, autoharp, horns, Brazilian drumming and vocal loops. Simone’s first collection of personal essays, You Must Go and Win, will also be published by Faber and Faber / FSG in June 2011 simultaneously with the new album....full text |
| Insound |
| Born in Kharkov, Ukraine, Alina Simone came to the US as a daughter of political refugees after her father refused recruitment by the KGB and was blacklisted. Raised in the suburbs of Massachusetts, she moved to Austin, Texas after graduating from art school and started off singing in the doorway of an abandoned bar on Sixth Street. She quickly became known for her sparse instrumentation and raw and powerful delivery. After the release of her debut album, Placelessness (2007), Simone earned both national airplay and critical acclaim. Her 2008 album, Everyone is Crying Out to Me, Beware, covered the music of Yanka Dyagileva, the late Siberian folk-punk icon. Make Your Own Danger promises to be Alina Simone's lushest and most fully realized work to date, with exotic touches that include flute, autoharp, horns, Brazilian drumming, and vocal loops....full text |
Alina Simone lyrics
|
| |||||||
