Category Archives: Press

Music Tap's Featured Artist, December 2007

November 28, 2007 ryan Leave a comment

Matt Rowe reviews Long Way From Home for Music Tap, 11/28/2007

The evolution of Lovespirals into the band that they are today has been a long road. From the band’s early years as Love Spirals Downwards — with a vocalist all-but-forgotten for Anji Bee’s lovely, dreamy, and expansive vocal pleasantries — to their current album, Lovespirals have always been a band of change. Their latest, the wonderfully titled Long Way From Home, is one of superior work and can easily rank as the band’s best work in either incarnation.

Still a part of the Dream-Pop sound that formed them, the Anji Bee years of Lovespirals have been an essential element for the band. With her ability to wrap around Ryan Lum’s musical explorations, Lovespirals is not afraid of trying on new clothes, framing them in gorgeous soft tones of various flavours. The album begins with a “career-best” blues song that accentuates the album’s direction. “Caught in the Groove” is a beautifully produced, dream-blues (if I may coin the phrase) song. Using a song as a metaphor for the deterioration of a relationship, this captivating tune is made all the more extraordinary by Lum’s blues guitar.

That same bluesy guitar shows up in “Once in a Blue Moon, and “Nocturnal Daze.” Ryan Lum’s guitar leads have a distinct ’70s feel throughout the album. Some songs recall the past musical history of the band. “Sundrenched” lends itself to the stream of that past. The album closes with the excellent musically and lyrically sex-soaked “Lazy Love Days.”

The needle may be “caught in the groove” but, for me, that’s a good thing where this album is concerned.

View the original post at MusicTap.net

Interviews

Re:Gen Magazine: The Golden Age of Chill

November 27, 2007 ryan Leave a comment

The Golden Age of Chill by Re:Gen Magazine Assistant Editor, Matthew Johson:

For a band so enmeshed in ’70s-era recording aesthetics, Lovespirals’ Anji Bee and Ryan Lum are undeniably on the cutting edge of modern technology. Early adopters of podcasting technology, the pair are aligned with Adam Curry’s PodShow network as well as the nascent podsafe movement. They also recently made their virtual reality debut with a live show in the Second Life online community, and are eager about the Internet’s role in the music industry’s uncertain new era.
Get them talking about the music itself, though, and it’s all about the warm sounds of ’70s records. Bee and Lum’s newest release, Long Way from Home, largely abandons the house and downtempo electronic currents of previous releases Windblown Kiss and Free and Easy not to mention the ambient drum ‘n’ bass predilections Lum explored with his previous project, top-selling Projekt act Love Spirals Downwards in favor of a more acoustic approach. If the technology is less overt, however, it’s no less an integral part of Lovespirals’ music. As Lum and Bee explain to ReGen, it takes a lot of technique to produce an album on ProTools that sounds like it was recorded in the days of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Lum also tells us about revisiting his early work by remastering new editions of Love Spirals Downwards’ first two albums, Idylls and Ardor, and Bee talks about keeping things real in the age of Auto-Tune.

Let’s start by talking about your new album, Long Way from Home. The electronic elements are a lot more understated than on Free and Easy. Was there a conscious decision to step away from electronica to focus on more traditional instruments?

Lum: Big time! There’s really no electronics, unless you count the Rhodes piano. I think three or four songs have Rhodes, some a lot of Rhodes, some just a little bit. I don’t know if that makes it electronica. I just see it as a popular ’70s instrument that got re-popularized.
Bee: Bands like Zero 7 and Air have really re-popularized Rhodes, so it’s easy to think of Rhodes as being an electronica thing. I’m happy to let it slide; if we’re considered ‘downtempo’ because of the Rhodes, that’s fine. We did basically record the same way as Free and Easy; we used ProTools, and the drums are not real drums.
Lum: It may not sound like it, but I’m using all the production techniques I’ve learned over the years, making Free and Easy, or before that making drum ‘n’ bass or house or whatever. We’re using the same techniques, but we’re trying to make more acoustic records with the same gear.
Bee: It’s like we’re disguising the techniques.
Lum: You can make a drum machine sound all electronic, but we’re trying to make it sound as human as possible. In fact, I’m hoping you can’t even tell it’s not a real guy playing a real drum.

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Interviews, News, Press

Anji Bee of Lovespirals interviewed on Bite Size Bonus podcast

November 23, 2007 Anji Leave a comment

Bite Size Bonus Lovespirals vocalist/lyricist, Anji Bee, was interviewed by GD about the band’s new album, performing in Second Life, and more on Bite Size Episode #509. To hear this podcast, you must sign up for a free subscription to the BsB Members Only Podcast. BTW, GD holds the honor of being the UK’s first podcaster, and he has long been a supporter of Lovespirals podsafe music.

Reviews

All Music Guide reviews Long Way From Home

November 9, 2007 ryan Leave a comment

long_way_200 — Long Way From Home (2007)

Ned Raggett reviews Long Way From Home for the All Music Guide

For their third album as Lovespirals, Anji Bee and Ryan Lum again create a lush series of songs that synthesizes disparate influences into a warm, enveloping listen. For all that the duo’s roots have been seen as being goth, their previous albums touched on a variety of approaches with aplomb, and at this point it’s just as accurate — and ultimately limiting — to say that Long Way From Home is blues, or country, or rock and roll. It’s a blend that has a low-key presentation, an easygoing pace, and an ear for all kinds of unexpected details that change the feeling of a song in an instant without disrupting it. The traditional standard “Motherless Child,” where the album title comes from, shows this clearly, where the harrowing lament of the lyric becomes a cool flow, Bee’s vocals paying homage to famous interpreters of the song like Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holliday without trying to actually replicate them. Meantime, a song like “Caught in the Groove” has a gentle, echoed percussion flow that sounds like late eighties Cocteau Twins, twangy guitars and piano that suggests majestic early seventies country, and Bee’s coolly sweet vocals calling to mind crooners from an even earlier time. This resplendent variety, which defines the sound of much of the album, helps the band further cement its own protean sound, increasingly recognizable on its own merits rather than just being the sum of its many parts. Some individual moments feel very thrilling — the wheezing guitar/harmonica background to “Treading the Water,” the sudden low-key funk on “Lovelight” — without overwhelming the overall flow, a fine balancing act.

View the original post on the All Music Guide

Interviews, News, Press

Shameless Plugcast Features Lovespirals

November 9, 2007 Anji Leave a comment

[audio:http://media.podshow.com/media/4489/episodes/86572/shamelessplugcast-86572-11-08-2007_pshow_202369.mp3]

Download Lovespirals’ Shameless Plugcast MP3

Zack Daggy interviews Ryan Lum and Anji Bee of Lovespirals about their band history, musical process, brand new album, Long Way From Home, and more in a Shameless Plugcast feature. Included in the show are two podsafe Lovespirals songs. Zack’s also running an autographed CD contest – see shamelessplugcast.com for details!

Reviews

Cadence Revolution reviews Long Way From Home

November 1, 2007 ryan Leave a comment

Cadence Revolution reviews Long Way From Home, 10/27/2007

It’s very rare these days to come across an entire CD which you will listen to over and over from beginning to the end non-stop, and even rarer to find one which makes you want to grab everyone you know and tell them “you must listen to this.”

However such is the case with the third release, Long Way Home, from the California-based duo Lovespirals, consisting of Anji Bee on vocals and Ryan Lum on instruments.

Fusing sounds from jazz, chill, folk, Americana and even a touch of country, this latest release will grab you and wrap you in an aural blanket of warm with a soothing hand on the brow that shows off why the indie music scene is our salvation from the commercial corporate music machine, and Lovespirals is one of it’s shinning stars.

From the opening jazzy/country sound of the aptly named “Caught In The Groove”, to the groovy feel of “This Truth”, to the lazy summer afternoon feeling of “Sundrenched” this CD is a wonderful blend of vocals and music coming together in an intertwining dance of harmony deftly expressing emotions in both delivery and composition.

Perhaps the one track that shows off their ability to combine emotion with production is the track “Motherless Child”, which had been released as a remix by MoShang on his Asian Variations CD earlier this year. On the Long Way Home version, Lovespirals have gone with a less-is-more approach and stripped the song down to the barest and starkest in this presentation.

Anji’s emotion-filled delivery holds nothing back in delivering the full emotion of grief and loss. While Ryan’s haunting and simple layered guitar work echoes her delivery, but neither overpowers the other, and the two come together to powerfully capture the feeling of being alone and isolated.

Throughout Long Way Home, the duo convey a wide range of feelings and emotions as words and music come together or swirl around and through each other in a mesmerizing dance of audio.

Lovespirals have found the perfect balance, resulting in a release that never falters from one track to the next that is rare these days, and is the perfect aural vacation everyone should take at least once a day.

View the original post at Cadence Revolution

Interviews, News, Press

Lovespirals Feature on PodShow Radio

October 5, 2007 Anji Leave a comment

lovespirals 2007 Lovespirals are the featured artist on this week’s PodShow Radio. Host, Brent Bradley, presents 43 minutes of podsafe Lovespirals tunes selected from all 3 albums, including their brand new single, “This Truth,” from Long Way From Home. The band also give a little background on why and how they recorded a cover of “Motherless Child.” It’s a very smooth production you won’t want to miss!

[audio:http://m.podshow.com/media/174/episodes/81799/podshowradio-81799-10-03-2007.mp3]

Download PodShow Radio Lovespirals Feature Mp3

Interviews, News, Podcast, Press

Anji Interviewed on Shameless Plugcast #2

May 18, 2007 Anji Leave a comment

[audio:http://media.podshow.com/media/4489/episodes/61521/shamelessplugcast-61521-05-17-2007_pshow_70363.mp3]

Anji is the special guest on today’s Shameless Plugcast, being interviewed by show host, Zack Daggy, about Lovespirals, vocal influences, podcasting, vidcasting, radio DJing, The Chillcast, Unwind, Lovely Ladies et al, plus a listener question from Ed Ovett, of Ed’s Mixed Bag Podcast.

Interviews, Press

Anji Interview Feature on Podcast Alley

December 29, 2006 Anji Leave a comment

Anji is currently a featured podcaster on the Podcast Alley site. Check out her “6.5 Questions” interview:

The 6.5 Questions

1. How long have you been podcasting?
I began my first podcast, Chillin’ with Lovespirals, in June 2005. Before that, I had been producing prerecorded music features as early as 2002, for both terrestrial and Internet radio, including my own Live365 station. It’s too bad I didn’t learn about RSS enclosures earlier! The Chillcast began in January 2006 via Internet Archive, then was officially launched on PodShow in March.

2. How many shows have you done?
As of today I’ve done 42 Chillcasts, 26 Chillin’ with Lovespirals band podcasts, and 8 Chillin’ with Anji Bee vidcasts.

3. How has your quality/performance changed since your first show?
A lot! Not only is my sound much more pro, but the overall tone and production value. I’m constantly upgrading my gear, so it sounds better all the time.

4. What podcasts do you listen to and which are your favorites?
My regular podcasts are Diggnation, Mysterious Universe, commandN, and the Daily Source Code, though I often skip through a lot of that since it’s daily… I just became regular with In Over Your Head, since I’ve pledged to lead Julien’s cult fan army. I also keep up pretty well with Dave’s Lounge, Tea with Hungry Lucy, and Senator Barack Obama’s Podcast. I check in from time to time with Accident Hash, Rumor Girls, Infected, The Lounge King Show, Inside the Net, and lots of others.

5. Tell us about your show and who should be listening to it?
The Chillcast is a weekly music show with commentary that offers a cosmopolitan blend of Electronica, Jazz, Soul, and World music. I play a wide variety of genres and styles, seldom repeat artists, focus on recent releases, and always offer plenty of information about the songs. From time to time, I do special artist interview features, or other one-off shows to keep things fresh. Listeners say my voice is as relaxing and sexy as the music I play, so I guess that’s one of the show’s draws! From the feedback I receive, my listener base seems like a pretty varied mix of age, gender, nationality, and musical taste — all with the common goal of chillin’ out, whether they are commuting, working, or relaxing at home. One listener in France says he and some friends get together Tuesday evening with a bottle of wine to listen to The Chillcast!

6. What is your background (especially if relevant to your podcast)?
I come from a long background in music, actually. I took recording classes in college, had 3 years in college radio as DJ and station manager, I created 4 different music fanzines, wrote music reviews and interview features for IGN’s now defunct RadioSpy site, I’ve been in a number of bands and collaborated with many others, and I’ve been really active in the online music community since 1998. So, I know a lot about independent and underground music.

6.5 Is there anything else your listeners should know about you, your show, etc?
I’m a multifaceted person with abundant curiosity and drive to create, so you really never know what I’ll be up to next. From my music show, to my band podcast, to my vidcast, you’ll see many different sides of me. I’m always coming up with fun new ideas and looking for others to collaborate with. Which reminds me, other podcasters and bands are welcome to contact me to get involved with The Chillcast!

Interviews

Gearwire Artist Feature on Lovespirals

November 28, 2006 ryan Leave a comment

November 28, 2006, Gearwire Artist Feature, Patrick Ogle:

“On Pro Tools, GarageBand, And Pitch Correction: Lovespirals’ Ryan Lum And Anji Bee”

Ryan Lum has been making electronic based music for a decade and a half. First working with Suzanne Perry in shoegazer/ambient/electronica band Love Spirals Downwards and now in the successor project Lovespirals with new vocalist Anji Bee.

Lum’s music has ranged from the beautiful, meandering, shoegazing of Love Spirals Downwards to the new project’s fusion of downtempo and electronic jazz. Between the two bands Lum has released 9 full length releases and one single. Yet despite this electronica pedigree, Lum and Bee often eschew the electronic cutting edge for what some might consider old-fashioned [musical values]. Lum especially eschews the over-use of plug-ins.

“Two big reasons I don’t go crazy with audio plug ins and all: first, my computer is a bit old and a bit too slow and outdated for going nuts with that stuff.” says Lum “Second, I don’t really need them beyond basic stuff like compressors. I’d rather use a good rackmount reverb than a plug-in. Plus, some plug-ins just sounds horrible.”

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Reviews

Church of Girl Radio Stars reviews Free & Easy

April 9, 2006 ryan Leave a comment

RadioGirl reviews Free & Easy

Lovespirals are Anji Bee and Ryan Lum. They create chill music that makes us feel all swank, adult, sexy and in love with love…all at once!!! Their CD Free and Easy was released in late 2005 and is currently in distribution all over the US, Hong Kong and Mexico.

Anji’s name was familiar to us somehow. It turns out a number of years ago, we read a fantastic interview she did with Miranda July. A great read, especially for anyone interested in Ms. July’s early involvement with in the Olympia Scene.

Years later, Anji’s creative path continues to intrigue us. Lovespirals make electro-acoustic pop songs which are dreamy, sensual, smooth and romantic. Ryan’s guitar work incorporates elements of jazz, soul and rock with modern electronic and organic sounds. Anji Bee contributes the lyrics, vocals and vocal arrangements. No auto-tune was used in the recording – preserving the essence of Lovespirals and creating a creamy hi-fi stereo sound.

View the full review at churchofgirl.com

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