“Love Survives” has been showered with Reviewer Pick Awards at Garageband.com this week, including top 3 awards in the categories of Female Vocals, Lyrics, Keyboards, Bass, Melody, Production, and Mood, as well as “Best Love Song,” “Best Feel-Good Track,” and “Coolest Chill-Out Track”. Check out the dozens of awards and reviews of “Love Survives” plus other Lovespirals songs at http://www.garageband.com/artist/lovespirals
Lovespirals are now CNET’s new music.download.com. In fact, we were the editor’s pick on 5/6/2004, with the following editorial commentary:
The smooth grooves conjure comparisons to Portishead and Everything But the Girl. Combining jazzy torch-song vocal stylings with modern trip-hop sounds and rhythms, Lovespirals craft an infectious and exotic down-tempo sound that you might hear playing in an upscale New York club or Parisian underground lounge.
We’ve been sending out demos of some of our new dance and downtempo tracks to various labels, just to see if there’s any interest for compilations, singles, or even a full album. This is the latest bio to go along with the the tracks:
Since 1999, producer/musician Ryan Lum and singer/songwriter, Anji Bee have made an unlikely marriage of dusty vinyl classics to sparkling new CDs, informed by a lingering affair with Jazz. Familiar, yet exotic, the sounds and styles of this creative duo guide modern electronic composition in a more organic direction, forsaking simplistic sample loop based production in favor of traditional song writing and performance.
The interplay of Bee’s sensual vocals and Lum’s emotive guitar playing – given equal importance with the beats — illustrate their love of melody in song craft; something all too often missing in electronica music. From track to track, and even within each tune itself, the duo culls their favorite aspects of music past and present – those most beautiful, soulful, haunting, or groovy – to create their own unique flavor; fresh and tasty.
Lum and Bee, working under the moniker, Lovespirals, have released various compilation tracks, downloadable singles, and even an album, Windblown Kiss (for indie Projekt Records), and have also performed all across North America with a semi-live set featuring guitar, sax, and vocals over a backing track on laptop. Lum has also appeared in Los Angeles and San Francisco clubs with traditional DJ sets, often including dub plates of their material.
If you are seeking music for the mind and soul, as well as the body, then Lovespirals are for you.
And while I’m at it, here’s our current discography:
DISCOGRAPHY:
(2000) Claire Voyant – Time Again – Metropolis Records “Bittersweet (LSD Mix)”
(2001) V/A – Chill Out in the City – Water Music Records “Beatitude”
(2001) V/A – Chill-Out Lounge v. 2 – Water Music Records “Hand in Hand (Radio Edit)”
(2001) Lovespirals – Ecstatic EP – MP3.com
(2001) V/A – Excelsis v.3: A Prelude – Projekt Records “Aspenglow”
(2002) V/A – Mondisk: A Celebration of 13 Years – Monitor Records “Hand in Hand”
(2002) Lovespirals – Windblown Kiss – Projekt Records
(2002) V/A – The Arbitrary Width of Shadows– – Hot Topic “Dejame”
(2002) V/A – A Dark Noel – Hot Topic “Aspenglow”
Interview by Isobel Geo for Fiber Online, Oct 26, 2003
ISOBEL: What changed in the Lovespirals sounds with your entrance in 1999?
ANJI: The sound was already evolving in 1998, moving towards something more jazzy and funky than previously. Ryan was working with Doron Orenstein, a trained jazz saxophonist, when I joined. Adding my jazzy and soulful vocals helped to further that evolution. As we continued to work together, my song writing style brought a more poppy edge to the music. The biggest change I brought to the band was that I encouraged a collaborative song writing technique, which had been lacking in the band up to that time.
ISOBEL: The last album was Windblown Kiss released last year, so what’s the new Lovespirals’ plans for albums, tours, or remixes?
ANJI: We’ve been writing and recording new songs ever since we finished touring for Windblown Kiss, and are about half way done with an album now. Soon we need to start preparing a new live set that includes all of these new songs. Right now we are getting together files for a remix competition using our new song “Walk Away” that PeaceLoveProductions will be putting on. We are currently seeking a label to release our next album, as well as looking into possibly doing them ourselves.
ISOBEL: Anji, and your project, Plastic Chair, how’s that going?
ANJI: Plastic Chair are going to have a track or two included on an upcoming Monolog Recordings compilation. Chuki has been searching for labels to release our first full length album, but I don’t think he’s settled on any one yet.
ISOBEL: In your opinion will new jazz be the future of electronic music?
ANJI: It seems to me that NuJazz has already been a fairly strong force in electronic music since the mid to late 90’s, though I suppose that has mainly been a UK thing. It always seems to take a few years until America catches up with them, so maybe it hasn’t really even begun here yet. What I’ve been hearing lately, though, is an insurgence of 80’s ElectroBoogie/ElectroFunk styles hitting the US labels that were previously doing Jazz/Soul/Funk inspired Electronica.
ISOBEL: Does Lovespirals has a brazilian bossa nova influence? Tom Jobim, Vincius de Moraes, Astrud Gilberto?
ANJI: I love Bossa Nova and was trying to influence Ryan to make an Astrud Gilberto type song for me to sing, but it came out a little differently… The song was “Our Nights.”
ISOBEL: Nowadays, what’s the strongest influence in the band’s sounds?
ANJI: As always, Ryan’s influenced by whatever music he’s listening to. For instance, during the writing of Windblown Kiss, he was listening a lot to Led Zeppelin, Pat Metheny, and Miles Davis. His music picked up some Jazz and Blues elements, yet we hardly sound like any of those artists. Lately he’s been listening a lot to Pink Floyd and Talk Talk. Of course, Ryan prefers to listen to music when he can focus all of his attention on it, so that isn’t very often. He likes to absorb albums slowly. I, on the other hand, tend to consume music. I’ve been listening to all kinds of stuff, but mainly music with very soulful vocals, from the 1970’s to now. Strangely, Ryan cites long boarding as being a big influence right now in his musical thinking.
ISOBEL: Are you very critical about another electronic music styles and hypes?
ANJI: I suppose we are both fairly critical of music. I think we are most critical of bands that don’t change over time, but seem to be stuck in one type of rut. We both enjoy a wide range of musical styles, including various electronic styles, rock, pop, and jazz.
ISOBEL: And are you critical about your own work?
ANJI: Sure, we’re totally critical of our work. We constantly seek to improve our skills and learn more about music. We never want to do the same thing twice, really.
ISOBEL: Who writes the songs, you or Ryan, or both? What subject always has taken in lyrics?
ANJI: We completely collaborate on all our songs. Ryan does the bulk of the music writing and performing, with input from me — particularly as far as the song structure goes. We work the songs up together, starting with either a guitar melody and vocal, or a keyboard melody and vocals. I write all of the lyrics and vocal melodies. My lyrics are generally about personal experiences, though sometimes they are imaginary. I like to write about love, primarily, but I also write about other subject matter.
ISOBEL: How can I describe Lovespirals?
ANJI: We’ve been referring to ourselves as Jazzy Electro-Acoustic Dance & Pop. That kind of covers it all. Our music is a mixture of Jazz, Soul, Blues, and Electronica with plenty of mood and melody. Sensual female vocals and beautiful guitar drive the songs, with funky keyboards and organic percussion keeping the rhythm. We’re currently dabbling in genres including Down Tempo, Deep House, NuJazz, and NuSoul, but we’ve also written in many other styles in the past, including Atmospheric Drum n Bass, Lounge, Folk Rock and more. We’re all over the board!
You can read Isobel’s Portuguese article at FiberOnline.com.
Anji Bee interviewed by Sterben von Todsleben for Reflektionen, February 2003
STERBEN: The gothic subculture seemed to be quite fond of Love Spirals Downwards; have you noticed much backlash from them with your first Lovespirals release? Does it matter what the gothic subculture thinks?
ANJI: Surprising little, actually. Before the album came out, there were a few people on our message board making a tiny squabble, but at least one of those has turned into a hard core fan since seeing us play live and buying the album. And the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive, even from Gothic sources. We didn’t really expect the kind of support we’ve received, but are happy to have it. What’s more exciting, however, is when fans of Gothic music express interest in our decidedly not-Gothic songs, many of which are available as mp3s at various sites on the Internet. Ultimately, though, we would prefer to secure a new audience for ourselves, rather than appealing to old fans of Love Spirals Downwards or Projekt Records.
STERBEN: Did you feel that there was something to prove by releasing Windblown Kiss? Was there internal or external pressure to do something removed from the traditional Love Spirals fare?
ANJI: Honestly, we were just having fun as we recorded the songs that became Windblown Kiss. We knew that what we were doing was quite different from what the two of us had done before (which was electronic dance music), but we thought some of what we were doing was fairly similar to things LSD had done before — such as “Dejame” and “Swollen Sea.” I wouldn’t say that we were trying to prove anything; we were merely trying to produce an album that wouldn’t be totally out of Projekt’s ballpark, yet was still interesting for us to create.
STERBEN: Having the album out now, and being able to hear all the reviews and comments from fans, do you look at the album and go… “Jeez we should have done this differently”?
ANJI: I guess sometimes I wish we hadn’t decided to not include songs like “Sandcastles” or “Love Survives” on the album, because it would have shown that we’re still working in electronic styles. Still, there’s a sort of Old-Timey mood that suffuses the album with these more organic rock, folk, blues and jazz pieces, and I like that. But, you know, its not like I’ve heard a single person complain that we didn’t do any electronic songs on the album.
STERBEN: Why was the decision made to include some text in languages outside of English on Windblown Kiss? Was it difficult? Could you see creating songs in the future with more language dynamics?
ANJI: Hmm… there’s kind of 2 sides to this story, I guess. On the one hand, it just kind of happened, but on the other, I suppose I was conscious of the fact that LSD had been known — rightly or not — as a multi-lingual band. I had written the poem that became “Windblown Kiss” a year or more before, and afterwards thought, “Gee, this could make a good lyric. It seems like something Ryan would work with!” But the first song we recorded in another language was actually “Dejame.” Those lyrics began with a quote from Anais Nin’s journal, and then blossomed out from there. I was inspired by the Latin flavor of the music to create Spanish lyrics; simple as that. The French part in “I Can’t See You” was just a little joke. I thought it would be cheeky to sing the last phrase in French, like some kind of late 50’s jazzy lounge singer. Those were the hardest lyrics to write, because I am not at all familiar with French. “Windblown Kiss” was the easiest, because I worked on that with a friend in Germany. I probably will do more stuff in other languages, just because it’s kind of fun. I’ve already done some work in Japanese with my friend Chukimai, for our band Plastic Chair.
STERBEN: How has the playing live experience been so far?
ANJI: Playing live has been a great experience for us. Practicing and performing has given us both the opportunity to hone our respective skills. I learned a lot about my voice in the process, and Ryan has grown much more comfortable with soloing. When he was working as LSD, he didn’t play electric guitar live, so this is a totally new thing for him! I think working with effects on stage has been an interesting challenge, as well as figuring out how to switch from rhythm guitar parts to solos and then back again.
STERBEN: Is their a distinct Lovespirals frame of mind? Are you always you, or is their a definite Lovespirals mindset?
ANJI: Ryan’s talked in the past about having to put on a “Lovespirals hat” when he goes out as a performer, but I haven’t experienced anything like that. I’m always just me, more or less. I prefer to approach the fans as friends, if at all possible. I guess it’s a bit odd when you’re surrounded by folks asking for autographs and photos, but I don’t really act or even feel differently in that situation.
STERBEN: If you could live in any time period, which would it be? What about that period of time draws you there? Do you think you’d still be making music?
ANJI: I’ve always been fascinated by the “Roaring 20’s.” I love late 20’s fashions, hairdos, art and design, architecture, and even music. I simply adore old syncopated jazz and gutbucket blues tunes! I’d definitely be one of those daring flapper girls who snuck off to black jazz clubs to dance and sing, rather than sticking around with the stuffy white folks who had no sense of rhythm or soul.
STERBEN: What should fans look forward to seeing in the next release from Lovespirals?
ANJI: I honestly don’t know what’s up for future Lovespirals releases. We have a number of electronic songs in the works, very different from both the Windblown Kiss or Ecstatic EP tunes, so we’ll have to see where we go from here.
For the full interview, please see reflektionen.net
Radio Universidad de Puerto Rico stations WRTU 89.7 FM and WRUO 88.3 FM are running a series of programs with Lovespirals on the ecclectic music show Frequencias Alternas. Last week, host Iohann Rashi, interviewed Ryan and Anji about their new release, Windblown Kiss. Tommorrow he will run a special show hosted by Anji, highlighting some of the bands and songs which inspire Lovespirals. The program runs from 9pm to midnight.
Here is a Google Translation of Rashi’s recent review of Windblown Kiss.:
The Sound of a Kiss to the Air
By Iohann Rashi, WRTULovespirals Windblown Kiss
THE GROUPING
Lovespirals is the fusion of talents of Anji Bee and Ryan Lum. Anji, is the one in charge to give voice to the project, Ryan music through different types from guitars. Both create a unique sound that explores all type of styles and textures, that include from eclectic and the ethereal thing, until experimentations with I touch of jazz, ambient, folk and world music. A quality that distinguishes them is its expressive freedom in its musical composition, allowing the imagination to travel freely by any route that the sound of its compositions allows it.THE DISC
Windblown Kiss is the turn out to join tastes and influences of both integrates in a unique style that has given the seal them that distinguishes them. We can appreciate in the voice of Anji Bee a sweet and enthusiastic voice that molds its intensity in each cut, showing to us the guitar and enchantment much that can express a voice that without technological complications can fill to its ears and their minds with beautiful stamps. This disc includes 10 songs, plus a hidden additional song at the end of the CD Between the additional enchantments of this disc, a song sung in titled Spanish “Déjame” and “Windblown Kiss” is included who includes letters in English and German, in addition to a tribute to the America band with the song “You girl”.THE RECOMMENDATION
When listening to this album you will notice a mixture of all type of styles, which gives it its particular singularity: it has something of blues, jazz, rock, folk, world music, ethereal, gothic. But it is not any of them. Or perhaps it is all them all simultaneously. That is what is so special about Lovespirals, its capacity to fuse so many influences and turn them something so simple and simultaneously so diverse. Reminding us that music is a freedom of expression, as a kiss sent to the air.Our qualification from 0 to 5: 5 radios
George Zehora has written a cheeky little review of Windblown Kiss for the online zine, Splendid:
It’s no accident that the band’s name sounds vaguely familiar — Lovespirals features guitarist Ryan Lum, late of goth faves Love Spirals Downwards, teamed with vocalist/instrumentalist Anji Bee. The name change isn’t gratuitous, either, for while Lum’s LSD work thrived on ethereal gloominess, Windblown Kiss is going up, up, up. It’s a languid, shimmering pop album — yes, pop — that’s far better suited to breezy beach houses and billowing white linen curtains than introspective poetry and gothic architecture.Bee and Lum have distinguished themselves with a truly elegant work that belies their youthful looks. It’s as polished and professional as most indiepop wants to be, and refreshingly free of the overwrought lyrical imagery favored by the doom and gloom set. Lum’s guitar work (he’s credited with an impressive array of six and 12-string instruments) is expressive and moving, while Bee’s vocals — in English, French, Spanish and German — are distinctive without being showy. Eden’s Sean Bowley adds additional guitar muscle, as well as Elvis-like male vocal counterpoints on a couple of tracks, and Doren Orenstein (Frecoe) provides a bit of sax, which contributes, for better or worse, to the disc’s intermittent New Age vibe.
There’s a little loneliness (“Oh So Long”) and darkness (“Swollen Sea”) — that’s the stuff that sells, after all — but it’s balanced by the overall happiness of the music. And is it my imagination, or is “He Calls Me” pretty much a Christian rock (or at least deity-related-rock) song?
All told, this is a satisfying, surprisingly upbeat effort that’s likely to cause a fair amount of upheaval among LSD’s fan base. Then again, perhaps the time is right for a romantic album that doesn’t have a Romeo and Juliet ending.
For the record, the “He Calls Me” lyrics were actually inspired by a late-night listening session of John Coltrane’s classic album, A Love Supreme.
You can listen to an excellent audio interview conducted by DJ Carolee of KPSU in streaming Hi-Fi or Lo-Fi mp3 format on Lovespirals’ mp3.com page . Ryan and Anji discuss their recent West Coast tour, the new album, and much more with the lovely hostess of “A Strange Choice of Favorites.”
A number of positive reviews have gone online at the following music sites:
JazzReview.com: “With a touch of soft blues and world music motifs, this entry into the smooth jazz category is a surefire hit and should appeal to a wide listening audience. The music is refreshingly original and likeable, enjoyable in all ways. Ryan Lum is a master of guitar, his techniques fresh and pleasant, and the sensual vocals of Anji Bee perfectly reflect the high quality of the musical compositions. WINDBLOWN KISS is a magical listening experience, and filled with sensitivity and beautiful soft jazz sounds. Lovespirals is topnotch.”
AmbientTrance.org: “What’s in a name-change? Just by dropping the ballast of “downwards” from the previous moniker, Lovespirals drifts upward into the light (and surprisingly “straight”) musical forms which float like a Windblown Kiss. Rather than prior scenes of swirly guitartronic etherality, Ryan Lum with new vocalist, Anji Bee, spin up sweet, bouncy, loungey songs which shift between various flavors of exotica, often with nostalgic airs. Lovespirals soars on Darkwave’s lightest mists, arising with only a few shadows tainting the warmth and intimacy of Windblown Kiss. So nicely done I don’t much flinch at the “normalcy” as it’s obscured by lush artistry and sensuality. “
MusicReviewer.com: “Founder and long time force behind Projekt band LOVE SPIRALS DOWNWARDS, Ryan Lum has a new partner, a new band name and a new style. Leaving long time partner Suzanne Perry and quite a bit of the LOVE SPIRALS DOWNWARDS formula behind, Lum and Bee have come up with an album that grabs you from the first note. Anji Bee has an incredible voice that moves from sultry to sensual to surreal to earthy, that winds its way around the guitar work of Ryan Lum like smoke. Where Suzanne Perry always sounded sweet and ethereal no matter what she was singing, Anji Bee showcases a wide variety of vocal styling, which, in my opinion, gives the duo much greater latitude on this and future albums. I totally respect what Lum and Bee are trying to put across here and I think this partnership may go much farther than Love Spirals Downwards did – and that’s saying a lot!”
GothicVixen.net: “A strange blend of diverse cultural influences, Windblown Kiss is an eclectic collection of gothic-flavored world music, featuring vocals from Anji Bee and the songwriting and instrumentation of Ryan Lum… Overall, the album is engaging, and successful in creating a dark and dreamy mood. Anji Bee handles both lead and backing vocals with equal grace, displaying excellent range and control. Lum’s songwriting continues to improve, making this release perhaps his most impressive to date, and his guitar work is precise and crisp throughout. More importantly, the musical chemistry between the artists is obvious, more so than in Lum’s previous work with Suzanne Perry in Love Spirals Downwards. Spanning four languages, more than a dozen instruments, and too many cultures to count, Windblown Kiss is a definite must-have for fans of Love Spirals Downwards, other Projekt releases, and world music.”
A brief, but largely positive review of our performance at Portland’s Paris Theatre on August 23rd has appeared on the In Music We Trust site:
Next came the technical difficulties but delicious music of Lovespirals. While guitarist Ryan Lum and singer Anji Bee clearly seemed displeased with how their show was going, it did not stop them from presenting a lovely display of some obvious hard work. Closing out the set with a few jazz numbers, the audience weaved back and forth with Bee as she appeared as a nightclub chanteuse a little out of her element. Bee acknowledged this by remarking, “We don’t know how Mira does it. They’ve got like twelve shows left. This is only our third, and we’re like, ‘O, we want to go home.'” Nevertheless, Lovespirals presented their new material, which is absolutely marvelous, and sparked some interest.
You can read the full piece, which is mostly about the headlining band, Mira, at the In Music We Trust SHOW REVIEW: Mira, Lovespirals and Summerland page. Very happy to have them call this “the sexiest concert bill of 2002, btw.”
DJ Victoria Star of Dark Circles on KZSC Radio reviews Lovespirals’ August 21, 2002 show @ The Pound, San Francisco, CA:
San Francisco Projekt fans were given a spectacular treat last night when artists Mira and Lovespirals joined together for an evening of musical bliss at The Pound. Once again changing musical directions, Anji Bee and Ryan Lum presented their lush new sound as a taunting and swanky invitation to sing along. Taking the stage with a smile that never left her face, Anji’s vocal mastery was particularly poignant on new tracks “Oh So Long” and “Swollen Sea.”
Michael Popke of seaoftranquilty.org reviewed Windblown Kiss:
Like its title, Windblown Kiss — the debut CD from the California duo Lovespirals — wafts from your speakers and caresses your ears with ethereal melodies, sexy voices and a timeless concoction of flamenco, bebop, soul, jazz, folk and rock.
The brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Ryan Lum, the driving force behind the now-defunct ethereal folk band Love Spirals Downward, Lovespirals takes flight with the voice of singer/ songwriter Anji Bee. Her delicately sensual and sometimes breathy vocals combine with Doron Orenstein’s saxophone on opener “Oh So Long,” which sets the tone for slowly smoldering romance. Other tracks feature acoustic guitarist Sean Bowley on lead vocals, who creates a much different soundcape than Bee with his Gordon Lightfoot-meets-Bono voice. In fact, the two songs he sings often make Lovespirals sound like another band entirely.
Lovespirals is not a progressive rock band, but Lum’s proficiency on instruments ranging from six- and 12-string guitars to congas and hammered dulcimer is greater than that of many of his counterparts in so-called “progressive” bands. Windblown Kiss takes some time to sink in, its subtle genius initially getting lost in the ambience. It’s best to play this one alone at night, windows open, with candles flickering, and let your spirit drift aimlessly into the darkness.
