Alina Simone profile picture

Alina Simone

everyone's prettier in the dark

About Me


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FOR EUROPEAN BOOKING: Monica Melissano [email protected] (southern Europe) and Emmanuel Colliard [email protected] (northern Europe)
FOR US BOOKING CONTACT: [email protected]

I was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine and grew up in the suburbs of Massachusetts. I never sang in public until I moved to Austin, Texas where I started playing in the doorway of an abandoned bar near the corner of 6th and Congress. My music is about people that bring you to the brink of joy and despair and about having epiphanies in the most ordinary places.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 5/15/2005
Band Website: alinasimone.com
Band Members: John Lynch: Drums, Chris Barrey: Guitars, Organ, and lots of other stuff
Influences: Yanka Dyagileva, Kino, Auktyon, Alyosha Dmitrievich, Leonid Utesov, Alan Lomax field recordings, Black Ox Orkestar, Fat Possum records, Hildegard Von Bingen and Gnarls Barkley
Sounds Like: "something about Simone’s directness...claws at the heartstrings in a way her idols and peers haven’t in years." --PAPER THIN WALLS

"Her familiar yet distinct pipes curl around minor chord melodies like smoke, and on the closer “Country of Two” prove as capable of carrying a full-on rock assault as they are of gnarled, noir indie folk." --POP MATTERS

"a sprightly Ukrainian-born, suburban-Boston-raised songwriter with a richly textured voice, celebrates the release of her new album "Placelessness," which evokes but does not mimic many of the pop milestones of the past decade, including the fractured beats of Radiohead and the exuberance of Björk.
--THE NEW YORKER

"Simone’s singing is sometimes raw and yelping like Harvey’s, sometimes faltering like Chan Marshall’s, always treading a surefooted path through a black briar patch of guitars...that make it sound as much like early 1990s Dischord (think a more polished Slant 6) as early 90s Harvey (think Rid of Me)."
--PITCHFORK

"Placelessness has the stripped-down sound of a burgeoning indie artist bearing herself to a small, dark room of unseen admirers. Simone, with her second album, seems poised to claw her rightful place among the guitar-heavy rock goddessess of the world."
VENUS

Record Label: USA: 54º40' or Fight! France: Travelling Music
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Donewaiting.com SXSW Band Profile

includes some funny reflections on my comi-tragic misadventures last year:http://donewaiting.com/2008/02/28/sxsw-recommendation-a lina-simone/xoxoa
Posted by Alina Simone on Sat, 01 Mar 2008 04:07:00 PST

WXPN ’My Morning Download’ and Rolling Stone Russia

WXPN in Philadelphia has a nice blurb + song post from my forthcoming album, 'Everyone is Crying Out to Me, Beware.'http://wxpn.blogspot.com/2008/02/my-morning-download -22208-alina-simone.htmlRolling ...
Posted by Alina Simone on Fri, 22 Feb 2008 08:54:00 PST

An honest interview with my friend Emily...

My friend Emily out in Portland has started a blog with her roommate/bandmate John and has posted an interview with me. Emily asked some really honest and interesting questions, but also went out of h...
Posted by Alina Simone on Wed, 20 Feb 2008 09:30:00 PST

Independent Weekly feature, album review by Grayson Currin and Coke Machine Glow

Feature article by Lisa Sorg for the Independent Weekly:Alina Simone's PlacelessnessUkrainian-born, Carrboro-based singer-songwriter finds a home on her debutAlina Simone's spartan living room mirrors...
Posted by Alina Simone on Wed, 26 Sep 2007 04:14:00 PST

Reviews from Venus, Chicago Press and other stuff

Venus Review for Placelessness:8 out of 10What might first smack of a formidable Cat Power imitation progresses into a tidy, well-paced album that seductively yanks away the pesky institution of "abab...
Posted by Alina Simone on Sat, 08 Sep 2007 09:50:00 PST

Subpop Comedian Eugene Mirman interviews me for LargeHeartedBoy

Eugene and I went to Elementary School together. Here is our cute, little interview:http://www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/archive/2007/0 8/eugene_mirman_i.htmlxoxoalina
Posted by Alina Simone on Wed, 22 Aug 2007 12:33:00 PST

The New Yorker

Aug 28: Alina Simone, a sprightly Ukrainian-born, suburban-Boston-raised songwriter with a richly textured voice, celebrates the release of her new album, "Placelessness," which evokes but does not mi...
Posted by Alina Simone on Mon, 20 Aug 2007 09:56:00 PST

Pitchfork track review for Saw Edged Grass!

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/download/44033-alina-s imone-saw-edged-grass-mp3streamOne feels wary of comparing female singers of a certain disposition to P.J. Harvey and Cat Power there's a m...
Posted by Alina Simone on Wed, 25 Jul 2007 02:02:00 PST

Said the Gramophone, Paper Thin Walls, Riverfront Times

some more advanced press for Placelessness...PAPER THIN WALLSJuly 18, 2007track review for "Pacifica"by Joseph Martin"Old news: We're living in a world where half our singing/songwriting ladies are ca...
Posted by Alina Simone on Thu, 19 Jul 2007 11:21:00 PST

Placelessness is now available directly from the label...

You can now order a copy of Placelessness directly from my label: www.fiftyfourfortyorfight.com.After August 21st, you can order it from all kinds of other places too.xoxoalina
Posted by Alina Simone on Tue, 17 Jul 2007 06:26:00 PST