Anna Kashfi profile picture

Anna Kashfi

About Me

The original duo of Sian and James recorded two self released singles - Three Wise Men and About A Boy - before hooking up with vinyl only label Emma’s House Recordings to produce a mini album Philokalia , released in December 2001. Philokalia achieved critical acclaim from publications in Britain, Europe and the US, along with radio play from British national stations including Radio One and Virgin, and in Europe such as the Belgium station V.Z.W. Radio ATL. Sarah and Pete joined the line up in June 02 and, following the winding-up of the Emma's House label later that year, retired to Manchester to work on a series of new recordings.A cover of Matt Hill's Ash Ballad contributed to Slow Noir's debut release Sunset: False marked the first release to feature the new lineup, and the band released a 7" single Lakeside Call / Whitworth Park on Stolenwine Records in May of last year. Critical response for the new material has demonstrated a similar enthusiasm as for the earlier material, and a new album Palisade was release on Stolenwine in September this year.Recent live shows have included the talents of new arrivals Jo Foote and Mike Doward, and Sarah, James and Mike can also be found touring with their other band Last Harbour.Anna Kashfi have made live appearances supporting artists such as Eileen Rose, Giant Sand, Laura Viers, Jessie Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter and Butterflies of Love as well as regular local and national headline gigs. Live sessions by the band have also been broadcast on BBC 6 Music, BBC GMR, Manchester ALL FM and the television channel Channel M.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 11/19/2005
Band Website: annakashfi.co.uk
Band Members: Sian Webley (vocals); James Youngjohns (guitar, keyboards, viola); Sarah Kemp (violin, mandolin, glockenspiel); Mike Doward (bass, double bass, guitar) plus various friends and family
Influences: Nico, Sparklehorse, Dirty Three, Giant Sand, Spiritualized, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, Jesus & Mary Chain, Scarlet Rivera, Nick Drake, Phil Spector, Bernard Butler, John Cale, Billie Holliday, Low, Thalia Zedek, Nina Nastasia, Elvis Costello, Neil Young, Smog, Eileen Rose, Miles Davis, Velvet Undergound, Bob Dylan, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Bert Jansch, Elliott Smith, Mazzy Star, Shangri Las
Sounds Like: Record Collector: "A broken world accompanied by bare acoustics and evocative violins: never has desperation sounded so good."Comes With A Smile: "Beautiful, casting a seductive spell, controlled menace bubbling under the surface."BBC Online:"Songs that teeter on the edge of exploding, that sound like they are desperate to scream but never dare, that wind so tight with energy that you cannot fail to be enthralled by them... weaves a web of delicate beauty that shines like a heap of diamonds."Losing Today: "It hurts, it weeps drowning in it's own sense of despair, it's lonely and tugs emotionally at the most ardent of stone hearts."
Record Label: Stolenwine, Emma's House, Little Red Rabbit
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Release date for Procurement

Hi, Procurement will be hitting the shops in the UK on September 1st this year. We can confirm the final tracklisting as follows: 1.Fall 2. A Safe Place 3. Things Get Said 4. Compass 5. Buttons a...
Posted by Anna Kashfi on Sun, 27 Apr 2008 10:51:00 PST

New albums, old albums

Hey, We finally have some news to tell you! The much anticipated third album has been christened Procurement and will be released on Little Red Rabbit Recordings this summer. Paintings for t...
Posted by Anna Kashfi on Mon, 25 Feb 2008 08:25:00 PST

Last Harbour at Cornbury

Hi, Just to let you know Sarah, James and Mike will be headlining the Riverside stage at Cornbury festival as members of Last Harbour on 7th July. Other acts playing include Blondie, Echo and the Bunn...
Posted by Anna Kashfi on Sun, 17 Jun 2007 05:45:00 PST

New songs and gigs

Hi folks, Finally we have some completed recordings to offer! The new one heading up the song player is totally unique to us in that it was written and recorded in well under the space of a month, and...
Posted by Anna Kashfi on Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:37:00 PST

Happy new year

Hello, I suppose an update is long overdue, so here's a quick round up of what's happening with the band. The new album rumbles steadily towards completion, and we're aiming at a summer UK release dat...
Posted by Anna Kashfi on Tue, 02 Jan 2007 08:13:00 PST

Suckling at the teat of commerce

Hi, Just to let you know there are now lots of new and exiting ways to buy the album: distribution in the UK is now being handled though Forte, which means you can order from any local store, onl...
Posted by Anna Kashfi on Wed, 23 Aug 2006 03:02:00 PST

More new stuff and SWAP

Hi, Another new one for you, we've been doing this one live for a while now, looks definately set to go on the bew album. Just me and Sian on it so far, no real plans as to how we'll finish it off but...
Posted by Anna Kashfi on Sat, 08 Jul 2006 02:43:00 PST

New song

Well, we finally got some recording done. There's already a lot of bits and pieces on tape, some of which we've been messing about with since finishing Palisade, but this was the first chance we'...
Posted by Anna Kashfi on Thu, 01 Jun 2006 11:43:00 PST