View the full session at 4ad.com In September of this year, St Vincent took a giant leap forward with the release of third album, Strange Mercy. This time out Annie Clark was to combine her long-celebrated musical virtuosity with ambitious songwriting that ran a gamut of emotional cadences, all the while underpinned by a colourful sense of melody. Recording these songs live for the first time, St Vincent has performed four tracks from Strange Mercy for the tenth visual installment in the 4AD Session series. Shot at Shangri-La Studios in the heart of the Brooklyn film and photography district in Greenpoint, the session was recorded with Annie’s new band, Daniel Mintseris (keys), Toko Yasuda (moog) and Matthew Johnson (drums). Given St Vincent’s transgression from the underground to the pop spotlight over the course of three studio albums, it’s somewhat fitting that Shangri-La host the session having initially earned its name as a secret spot known only through word of mouth. As with all of the sessions in the series, directors Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard filmed the four tracks with a clear artistic vision. In this instance, the inspiration came from an unlikely source — the memory of seeing a 1968 Shirley Bassey performance of ‘This is My Life’ on Rai Uno for Italian TV. With that reference point in mind, Annie takes centre stage against the backdrop of a projected live-feed, resplendent in glamorous eye make-up and with her always-impressive guitar work brought clearly …
Video Rating: 4 / 5
Comments
25 responses to “St Vincent – Surgeon from 4AD Session”
Reminds me of Tanya Tagaq, the way she moves. So wonderfully charming that Annie is.
this was my favorite song off the album. actually sounds great live 🙂
Dooooooope!
This is so fucking sexy.
have some respect
SOOO GOOD!! omg!! =)
This made me so happy.
Of course! Although a nice face to go with it is an added bonus. Usually i scroll down past videos so that my judgement of the song is not tampered by my vision. But ay, the second time around 🙂
We shall fight to the death! Not really, but, you know. A plastic lightsaber battle sounds pretty legit.
St. Vincent is a steaming pile of awesome.
:59- How does she come up with these guitar melodies? Genius!
fuck me, please
Keyboard si soo good, but the girl playing it has the ugliest mouth ever.
This bitch better be good at cutting shit in the kitchen too
can’t we just enjoy music for it’s beauty, and not just the faces playing it?
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
I like that, it does make sense:)
WHAT
Seriously! That shit is amazing!
I love at 4:14 to the end where she looks like she’s a malfunctioning, world-destroying android. Awesome performer. imo.
Annie please just marry us all, we love you.
GUITAR. SKILLS. FUCK.
@nuero
Its called new wave
Brilliant. I’m in love. Best thing since Jeff Buckley.
best finest surgeon… come cut me open….
She’s not a virtuoso but an Artist. I find there is an old Broadway aesthetic hidden behind her eclectic mix of artpunk (or whatever was called that scene in New York around 1980) and ethereal wave. To me she’s like the Judy Garland of the indie scene, if that can make sense to you.