Alice Russell touring U.S.

I've been on a sixties soul kick for a while and I thought how it's too bad the few singers who are still alive rarely seem to play Chicago. Thanks to Dennis I was reminded that there are still young singers who can throw down some deep soul that'll rock a house, especially a small cozy room like Schuba's. A lot of people probably OD'd on British soul from Amy Winehouse, Adele and Duffy, largely weak stuff. Russell sweeps them all aside with a shakeuva tailfeather. Listen to her cover of "Crazy," (Gnarls Barkley version, not Patsy Cline). She builds up an incredible amount of tension in a gospelish, acapella style that never releases. It's pretty awesome. Her cover of "Seven Nation Army" is fun too, but I can't figure out how to include more than one song here.

Her U.S. tour kicks off tomorrow night in Washington D.C. at Bohemian Caverns, then winds through Philly, Cambridge, NYC (Mar 8), Pittsburgh, Detroit, Chicago (Mar 13), Mpls, Madison, and then Austin for several days for the SXSW festival. She then goes to Hollywood, Costa Mesa, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland.

Another soul singer I'd been digging is Stephanie McKay, who's currently touring Europe. Here's one of my favorite cuts, "Jackson Avenue," from her most recent album, which was released in the UK, even though she's from the Bronx, and was part of Brooklyn Funk Essentials. Portishead's Geoff Barrow produced her first album.