I'm not sure what he meant by links. Did he mean that the songs don't relate to each other or that they actually stop during her live performance?

What people would call lack of charisma is her charisma, her entire presence is very cohesive and leaves no room for anyone to pay attention to anything other than the music.

I wasn't so amazed when I heard the album but seeing her perform live was something else.

While she played with other louder try-hard bands and some people may have preferred those, even in her most silence moments she was a million times more powerful than most bands out there.

Her music is about passion and tragedy it'd be odd if she did that smiling.

By no link I meant pauses allowing you to do whatever you like while a musician grabs a new guitar; if you're not convinced, well, a pause might not help. And you barely enjoy the silence, since there ain't much of that in a concert. Besides, she didn't seem to demand silence to keep people in the mood (there's not that many different moods there), she just went on.

By no smile my mind was on the other girl, Mally, mostly. The drummer enjoyed the show and tried to make eye contact with his partners, which is a good point in my book (watching people create some quality thing together).

I read and heard so many positive things, I wanted to let you know you could say you're disappointed when you are.

I'd never be disappointed with any one of those things.
I'm there for the music.
If some people are not interested, they don't need to do anything to keep them entertained. It's not a play.
She doesn't have to demand silence, the audience should remain silent out of respect.

Yeah, i don't know why there has be to such an emphasis on the apparent fact that she's shy. Judging by the interviews i've read and heard, i don't have complaints about her personality, i like it. Now, just in the same way a good host can obtain an extroverted and valuable interview despite the so-called shy nature of their subject's personality (refer to Anna Calvi's interview with Jason Bentley for the KCRW session and then compare to the KEXP one, to get my point if needed to); the way an audience (or even just a part of it) acts or behaves at a show, must also affect and/or influence the mood of the performers, and thus the show. Maybe the conditions weren't the most ideal that night for something that could be considered the peak of quality on both parts? Anyway, she definitely smiles, and otherwise interacts in some limit both with the audience and her bandmates, judging by some recordings out there (as proven by the performance webcast by arte.tv, for instance).

Smiling is overrated.

But I don't see why people should even comment on an artist's personality, as if it's her obligation to act nice and entertaining. She makes music and that's all she's giving. She owes nothing to the audience.

In her case, I think those complaints have to be from people who misunderstand what her music is all about. It's full of silences, it's raw, moody and minimal so it makes no sense to expect her to behave in the opposite way.

Also, apparently her stage persona is a play on the flamenco dancer sort of thing? Except that she's dressed as the man.

New single, "Desire", is out in 7" format in a limited run. The official video clip is over at bitchdork:
http://www.pitchfork.com/tv/#/music-...i/2754-desire/
I fucking love it. In some places, it seems like something that would come out of David Lynch's mind on the "Twin Peaks" era.

Got it, bye

Anna Calvi's performance for UK's Channel 4's Sessions From Abbey Road, recorded last month, was finally broadcast last night alongside an acoustic set by Blondie. Here are some photos of Anna that were taken by Tom Bunning:
http://livefromabbeyroad.tumblr.com/...alvi-annacalvi

The full episode can be streamed here (unless you are, like myself, in a third world country, or at least outside of the UK):
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/l...ad/4od#3203648

Blondie's set is available as a PAL DVD at dime. I hope someone captured Anna Calvi's performance as well, and i pray for a torrent to make the rounds soon. If anyone watched this show, and could post the set-list (i've been unable to find it so far) to help me nourish bigger expectations, i would be very appreciative. Thanks.

http://www.soluzionisemplici.net/anna-calvi/

ihihihihihi

yes!

Thank you so much for posting this.

Glad you like it hbj!
It's a nice small interview, even if the questions aren't the sharpest thinkable (does this make sense?).

The interviewer asked her the so common question about her shyness or introversion. Anna must be already tired of being asked that one yet she answered in a polite and clear manner. That's the only question i disliked on that interview.

Hopefully someone asks a question and gets an answer that would shed some light in regards to David Lynch being a possible influence on Anna Calvi's music and aesthetic. I see knox agrees with me on my little observation on the "Desire" video, maybe some others do too, so i don't think it's just my mind playing tricks on me. If it's not Lynch's influence what's present in there, i'd like to see her spilling the beans anyway.

Oh definitely.
The video is totally Lynch.
I had no doubt about it while seeing her live.
I was thinking blue velvet/el club silencio/julee cruise the entire time.

Is it just me but... isn't asking a shy person about their shyness just rude? and kind of stupid?

She definitely has a great voice. Need to hear some more songs.

chicka, in case you are interested, you can download a Pro-shot DVD of Anna Calvi's performance at Canal + in France last February from Megaupload here:
http://www.sonicyouth.com/gossip/sho...postcount=2022

A while ago i uploaded tomzero's capture of Anna's performance at KEXP FM Studios in Seattle on June 1st. The download link is still active:
http://www.sonicyouth.com/gossip/sho...postcount=1983


Anna Calvi's soundcloud page is worth of a visit if you'd like to listen to some more tunes. You can stream audio of the "Desire" 7" single, the "Blackout" single, the KCRW session she recently did for Morning Becomes Eclectic, the "Jezebel/Moulinette" single, and the debut album in its entirety. I think there were demos for "Blackout" and "First We Kiss", but it seems those have been removed:
http://soundcloud.com/annacalvi/sets

I was desperately waiting for this one:

Anna Calvi - 'Live from Abbey Road' Channel 4 TV UK, (3 song PAL DVD)
Uploaded by PontiacB

Bump.


Some words Anna said at some point in which her interest in film is evident:

I see my songs as mini films; I want to take the listener into another world for the space of a song. I always want to create a real sense of atmosphere. It is really important to me that the music dictates the story as much as the lyrics do - much like a film score. Both musically and visually I want to evoke a sense of passion, I'm interested in portraying romance which at the same time feels mysterious and sometimes dark; the songs often summon a sense of outside danger, of forces which you can't control, at the same time within a landscape which sounds beautiful".

I finally found a video in which she refers to artists that she considers her influences in this aspect of her music: David Lynch, Gus Van Sant, and Wong Kar-Wai are casually mentioned in an interview segment in ARTE TV's program One Shot Note.

Anyway, here's a link to download that video. It also contains nifty performances of "Desire" and "Blackout":
http://www.sonicyouth.com/gossip/sho...postcount=2031

Anna Calvi performed "Desire" last night on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7xIbxGPwPk

Thank you!