Alina Simone (born Alina Vilenkin) is an American musician and writer. She is best known for her original songwriting, her album of cover songs by Russian punk poet

Yanka Dyagileva Yana Stanislavovna "Yanka" Dyagileva (; 4 September 1966 – 1991) was a Russian poet and singer-songwriter and one of the most popular figures of her time in Russia's underground punk scene. She both played solo and performed with others, incl ...

, and her collection of autobiographical essays ''You Must Go And Win''. She also blogs for

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

Early life

Simone was born in

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

, then part of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, now

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. She came to the United States at a young age as the daughter of political refugees (her father, theoretical physicist

Alexander Vilenkin Alexander Vilenkin (; ; born 13 May 1949) is the Leonard Jane Holmes Bernstein Professor of Evolutionary Science and Director of the Institute of Cosmology at Tufts University. A theoretical physicist who has been working in the field of cosmolo ...

was blacklisted for 'refusal to cooperate' after resisting recruitment into the

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

). She was raised in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

where she attended art school, focusing on photography.

Career

After graduating, she moved to

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

where she began busking in doorways, performing her own songs. Her debut ep, Prettier in the Dark, was released in 2005, followed by an LP, Placelessness in 2007. Simone relocated to Brooklyn, and in 2008 released ''Everyone is Crying Out to Me, Beware'', a collection of songs by the late Russian singer-songwriter,

. This was followed by the dual 2011 releases of another collection of Simone's own songs, ''Make Your Own Danger'', and her first book, ''You Must Go and Win''. She is also the author of the novel ''Note to Self'' to be released in June 2013. In March 2016 she released the book '' Madonnaland'', an essay piece about American singer

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

and Simone's own analysis of music and pop culture.

Critical response

Simone's recordings reached a new level of prominence with ''Everyone is Crying Out to Me, Beware''. Most response was positive. ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' magazine called it "a strange, hypnotic celebration of a defiant soul. (7/10)". ''You Must Go And Win'', Simone's first book, was likewise well received, with

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

calling it "vibrant, taut and humorous" and

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

saying "Simone ably juggles the philosophical and the comical, her genuine enthusiasm for arcane subject matter as contagious as the fleas in her long ago apartment."

Discography

* '' Prettier in the Dark'' (Fractured Discs, 2005) * '' Placelessness'' (54º40' Or Fight!, 2007) * '' Everyone Is Crying Out to Me, Beware'' (54º40' Or Fight!, 2008) * ''Alina Simone /

The Black Swans The Black Swans are an American indie rock band. Jerry DeCicca (vocals and acoustic guitar) and Noel Sayre (viola and violin) form the core of the band. Their debut, '' Who Will Walk in the Darkness with You?'' features Milan Karcic (electric ...

– Snowfall & Starlight / Country Cookie No. 3 (7", Ltd)'' (Sunken Treasure Records, 2009) * ''Raw Demos (2002–2008)'' (Self-Released, 2011) * ''

Make Your Own Danger ''Make Your Own Danger'' is the fourth full-length album by singer-songwriter Alina Simone Alina Simone (born Alina Vilenkin) is an American musician and writer. She is best known for her original songwriting, her album of cover songs by Russian ...

'' (Pentar Records, 2011)

References

External links

Opinionator.blogs.nytimes.comAlinasimone.com – official websiteSpin.comKirkusreviews.comPublishersweekly.comAmerican Robotnik
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simone, Alina Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Celebrity biographers Soviet emigrants to the United States American bloggers American women bloggers Writers from Massachusetts 21st-century American essayists 21st-century American women Singer-songwriters from Massachusetts