This may well be the final journal entry. We’re preparing to overhaul the site and I think we’ll probably axe the journal. We just don’t write in it very much. I already update the news and man the messageboard, so that doesn’t leave a lot of inspiration for the journal. Plus, those in the know already read my personal journal elsewhere…

European music site, BeSonic, is currently featuring the Chill-Out Lounge Vol. 2 Jazz-Step version of “Hand in Hand” on their Music Recommendations page, along with a review by Jeza. Also available on BeSonic is the
Deep House remix of “Walk Away” by remix producers Sunburn in Cyprus.

Italian indie music zine, Losing Today, is hosting a free download of Lovespirals’ wintry John Denver cover song in their Mp3 Today section . Download “Aspenglow” for your holiday listening pleasure.

Wow, Peace Love Productions says we’ve already gotten 500 downloads of our remix files since Friday! I wonder how many actual remixes we’ll get? I wonder how many other people will try to illegally use our samples? I hope they won’t but I’m sure someone will.

Some people have already asked about posting the remixes on their sites. I think that would be cool. I guess I should get together a credits file to be posted with the mixes. I should ask DJ Puzzle about adding something to the remix site for folks to use.

Sounds like PLP might end up doing some kind of remix CD, if the entries are cool enough.

Just came across the funniest mention of us in a Devics review online.

Slow, teary-eyed gothic jazz was an inevitability as darkwave, dream pop, and shoegazing became further and further intertwined. Lovespirals’ “Windblown Kiss” of 2002 was heralded as the style’s official birth and fulfilled the lifelong dreams of darkwave and lounge lovers like myself by blending the melancholy, ethereal vocals of the former with the breezy, slow sway of the latter.

Even though I have heard one or two other people make similar mention, I can’t get used to the idea that anyone would still think we’re Gothic, in addition to Jazz. It’s just too crazy! Why not “Dark Jazz” at least? LOL.

Ha Ha! First Ryan invents “Gothic Trip Hop” (Flux) and now “Gothic Jazz” (Windblown Kiss). I suppose next we’ll be “Gothic Soul”? No… People can’t possibly try to lump our new music in with Gothic. Can they?

Brazilian music site, FiberOnline, is currently running an interview/ article with Anji by Isabel Geo, discussing Lovespirals past and present. Read here or listen to 2 tracks at FiberOnline’s Lovespirals’ artist page (In Portuguese).

Sometimes I get frustrated by how much genre identity has pervaded the music world. It seems like nowadays bands are forced into taking on a genre niche to be accepted anywhere. Why can’t we just make/listen to music that we like and enjoy, without having to worry about pigeon-holing everything?

The press have always tried to stick music into boxes, for sure, and the fans have been doing it for awhile, but it feels like now even the bands themselves need to jump on some bandwagon or other to even gain label acceptance, never mind the fans or the press!

Lovespirals do not want to embrace any one genre. We are multifacted people with various music interests. Sometimes we feel upbeat and dancy, other times soulful or bluesy. Sometimes we wanna rock, sometimes we wanna groove, sometimes we wanna romance it old school jazz style. Why should we hold ourselves back?

A cool new idea in music distribution, Kolo: an independent sound library puts together online music compilations. Typically, they include hi-res 192kbps mp3 files of each song, a DJ mixed set of the material, plus downloadable artwork for the CD. After a brief hiatus this summer, they’re back with a groovy chill-out set, including Lovespirals’ “Our Nights.”

On one of our recent outings of buying used vinyl albums, we picked up Talk Talk’s album The Colour of Spring. We finally had the chance to give it a good listen the other night, and damn was it good!

For those who remember the band as just a new wave synth pop band, well, maybe that could be said of their first album or two, but they evolved a lot with each release.

The Colour of Spring is a great and very hard to classify album. It’s soulful, with hints of jazz, and quite ethereal at times. The Hammond organ is just amazing. I swear I can hear the birth of the Manchester sound coming from this record.

Next I want to pick up the album they released after this, Spirit of Eden, where they took a more stripped down, improvised approach.

People are starting to ask about a new album, but we’re just not quite there yet. A new style is coalescing for us, though, which is quite exciting. We’ve been perfecting older song ideas, which I’ve found really satisfying. Now we’re starting to work on brand new material. I have a big backlog of lyrical and melodic ideas, so we just have to start putting those to music one at a time.

The newest song will be a little airier, more musically spacious, to give Ry some room to really dig into guitar work, if he likes. I kinda feel like I’ve been monopolizing the tunes recently with lyrics. Heh heh. So much for Ryan’s old credo of non meaning in his music!

Lovespirals’ semi-official photographer, Susan Jennings, recently launched an online store at IncisionCandy.com offering a plethora of pleasing images, including the landscapes used in the design of Windblown Kiss. Additional works, available in frameable prints or notecards, were featured on Projekt releases including From Across This Grey Land 3, A Day in the Stark Corner, and Ardor. Beautiful photographs, beautiful site; well worth a look!

Things have been rather slow around here, but are slowly picking up. We’ve got a couple of compilations starting to line up, using old cuts. Someone has been talking to us about doing a show in Hawaii, which would be awesome. Percy Howard is sending me a CDR of the song he wants me to come out and sing for him. We’ve got 4 solid mixes of new tracks now, too.

Ryan’s been playing Kelly Slater Pro Surfer quite a bit, which has inspired him to get back into drum ‘n’ bass production. There’s a couple Rollerball tracks on the game that sound like a cross between our stuff from ’99 with our recent stuff. It could be fun to go back and revisit some of our old ideas updated with our new jazz knowledge.

Just wish we weren’t so busy, so we could get into the studio again! The past two weeks have been hellish.