Ryan and I went down to Ontario for the Podcast & Portable Media Expo, but ended up spending most of our time at the PodShow UnExpo2! Originally we thought we’d just go up Friday to check it out, but we decided to go back on Sunday, too, to hang out poolside with my PodShow homies and take part in the live PodShow Music Rewind recording session. You can actually check that out over at rewind.podshow.com — episode #45. Ryan and I come in next to last on the show, though you do hear me laughing or yelling in the background from time to time. Ha ha!

I also did video interviews with Cali Lewis, of GeekBriefTV, and the Rumor Girls, so when I see those go up, I’ll link to them here — probably in the news section. Posed for photos here and there, including a great one with 6 other women PodShow podcasters taken by Frank of Media Artist Secrets.

We’re nearly done with our fifth new song, called “Nocturnal Daze”. We originally came up with the idea back in November but just returned to it last week. Unlike the last song, we didn’t have really strong ideas about the arrangement before going in to record it, so we started simply with the acoustic guitar and vocals of the demo and then let the ideas flow in around it. Ryan decided to play Rhodes throughout the tune, which ended up giving it a bit of a Zero 7/Air feel. I likened the sound to “Trip Hop without the beats.” Anyway, at first Ryan was just going to play his electric guitar at the end, but I had imagined it going in and out of the whole song, so he gave it a shot last night and we both liked the results. The song fits really well with the other 4 completed tunes and once again I am struck by how nicely the album is coming together.

dear cbs,

your labor day tennis coverage was incredibly frustrating! while the #2 seed game was going on, you insisted on sticking with the tedious #14 vs #18 seed game that drug on and on uninterestingly. i suspect cbs of being nationalist, trying to force amercian tennis players on us. get a clue; americans love nadal, not ginepri!

not only that, but you kept showing tennis news while you could have been showing live games. i would have loved to see some of the safin game, but instead you wasted time repeating scores and making commentary in the studio. we can already read the scores on the bottom of the tv screen – so why not focus on the live tennis games going on? frustrating!

i am completely dissapointed in today’s coverage.

— anji

The newest episode of Chillin’ with Lovespirals lists our Top 5 Downloads, which were quite a surprise to me, I must say! I also announce our digital sales vs CD sales ratio… maybe not as much of a surpise to us, but may be to some fans. We also chat about recent band happenings and share the intro to our latest song in progress. And if you’ve already heard the podcast, yes, introoutro.com is taken!

Some friends of ours offered us tickets to the sold out Zero 7 show at the Hollywood Bowl last night just a few hours beforehand. We both love that venue, so even though we don’t own any of their CDs, we decided to go check it out. I don’t know why I haven’t bought their albums yet, really. I’ve liked everything that I’ve heard. I really, really like the new stuff with Jose Gonzalez. He was so cute in person, too. And Sia was really amazing! Her voice really held up live, and her performance was quite charming. I’m definitely picking up the new CD for sure, and probably the other two, as well. I also want to get Jose’s solo album. Gotan Project, who actually headlined, were enjoyable but somewhat of a letdown after Zero 7. The songs were all compentent and pleasant, but a bit samey. There weren’t as many highs and lows in mood. I did dig them, however. Anyway, another great show at the Bowl with a wonderful picnic beforehand. Man, I had Rose two nights in a row this weekend. I feel a bit dehydrated today!

Started working on the 4th song for the new album last night. It’s a tune we’ve been writing over the past two months or so. It began life as a fairly fast tempo rocker with a funky edge, but being Lovespirals, we had to come up with a sad, slow part, which is the intro we just recorded. I have to say the song is nothing like anything we’ve done before, while still managing to sound like us. In fact, this album is shaping up to be quite different overall from the last two. Kinda picks up where “Habitual” left off.

One cool thing about the new album is that there aren’t any old left over tunes on it. The first album had 3 previously uncompleted Love Spirals Downwards songs on it, and the second album had several songs we didn’t complete for the first album. This time, we’re writing and recording everything fresh. Sure, some of my lyrics have been kicking around for years, but this is their first breath of life with music. So things are fresh and fun for us. We’re both excited.

If you’re a listener of Adam Curry’s Daily Source Code, then you may have heard this week that he has proposed a new PodShow LA drama starring the two of us. If not, you just heard it from me. Pacific Coast Hellway’s Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff is currently brainstorming ideas for this romantic comedy drama program. Should be a hoot, with him at the helm! Lovespirals may write the theme song, which would only be appropriate, eh? Mark thinks we should let the audience get involved in script writing and music, which is certainly an interesting idea. I just warned him against anything too sleazy… Let’s keep it classy, PodShow!

I’ve been reading Jeanette’s first children’s book this week, Tanglewreck. I wouldn’t say that it was terribly different from her adult fiction, aside from the lack of overt sensuality her stories normally have. The main difference I’ve noted is that she isn’t being quite as mythical this time around, but more sci-fi, if that makes any sense. She’s still spinning a yarn, to be sure, with many fantastic qualities, but it reminds me more of that fellow with the round glasses.. what’s his name? Oh yes, Harry Potter. I could see this being turned into a children’s film in that vein. What I love about what she’s doing is that she’s sneaking in socio-political themes that are important for kids to understand for the survival of the planet. The main theme is time, which is so very, well TIMELY for me right now. Most of my lyrics on the new album seem to be about time. And the lack thereof. Speaking of which, I’m out of it now!