Alina Simone

Okay, I'll admit to being just a bit smitten with Ms. Simone and her music lately. In particular her latest album "Everyone is Crying out to me, Beware". That's not her picture on the cover BTW; it is a picture of the late Russian punk-folk poet and musician Yanka Dyagileva, who drowned under mysterious circumstances in 1991. At the time of her death none of her substantial body of work had ever been officially released, although since then some of her music has been remastered and released in various forms. Most of it is still hard to find, although if you click here you can download a lot of her songs (legally I believe, although it will help if you know a little Russian).

What I find most interesting about Ms. Simone's interpretations is that she takes what are mostly rather raw, punk-leaning tunes and turns them into really gorgeous folk songs with tasteful instrumentation and just the right touch of emotion. Okay, at times Simone goes a bit over-the-top, but that's okay as far as I'm concerned. She captures something infinitely mournful and yet beautiful about Yanka's music on this album, and I recommend it very highly to anyone who is interested in contemporary Russian music, or just folk songs with well-orchestrated arrangements.

I was so taken by her singing that I bought two of her other CDs, 'prettier in the dark' and 'placelessness' (both labeled in lower-case on the artwork so I'm listing them that way here as well). These aren't quite as wonderful as 'Everyone..', but Ms. Simone has a very comfortable and appealing voice so you'll probably enjoy her singing anyway. I think I read somewhere she's working on some Britney Spears covers; can't wait to hear what that sounds like [LOL].

One more plus for Ms. Simone: I sent her an email to let her know I had bought her Yanka CD and loved it. She replied the very next day, which I thought was pretty cool.

One last thing - all the songs on 'Everyone..' are sung in Russian, but really that won't put you off at all - it's the arrangements and Ms. Simone's voice that carry this music anyway.

Some of the songs below are from that album; the rest are mostly from her other two albums. I would particularly recommend "Half of my Kingdom" (love the horns!).

Enjoy!