Alina Simone

Whereas other singer-songwriters simply strum away, Alina Simone possesses an uncanny knack for suggesting rhythms and arrangements. You can practically hear other instruments around her guitar and voice, even though they're not there, which makes Simone a joy to watch. For this show, she focuses on late Siberian underground folk-punk icon Yanka Dyagileva. Throughout her short, erratic career, Dyagileva crisscrossed Russia as an itinerant, usually performing at informal venues. She left behind mostly rough bootleg recordings, but her legacy gets a renewed lease on Simone's new tribute album, Everyone Is Crying Out to Me, Beware.