Tune in this Sunday, April 2nd, for a Lovespirals Artist Profile on the Atmosphere 69 show with DJette Agent 69 on Mix96, 95.9 FM in Montreal, Canada 10 PM EST. This special interview will repeat online via Luxuria Music the following Tuesday, April 4th, and sometime soon after on Switzerland’s Lounge Radio.
Quick Mexico Pic
Joseph from Noise Kontrol backstage at DadaX with Anji, moments before Lovespirals take the stage.
Back from our Mexico City show
Anji and I just got back from our weekend in Mexico City. I was hoping that we’d be able to make a podcast from there, but there was no time to be found. As always, we were treated wonderfully in Mexico by both our fans and the producer of the show, Joseph of Noise Kontrol, who also happens to be our distributor in Mexico. In our set, we played many songs from Free and Easy for the first time. In addition, we debuted two brand new songs that we had just recently written. We might have been a little rusty having not played a show since last year, but we gave it our all and the enthusiasm of the crowed had a positive effect on us for sure. I’m looking forward to returning again. In the meantime, can someone in Mexico please Fedex me some enchilada suissas or mole poblano?
Top: Anji & Ryan and Joseph & Anji backstage at Dada X before the show
Bottom: Anji & Ryan outside of the hotel the morning after the show
Header: Dada X crowd just before the show, photo by Anji
The Chillcast with Anji Bee Podcast Launch
I just launched a new podcast on Adam Curry’s Podshow Podcast Network called The Chillcast with Anji Bee. It’s a half hour music show featuring chilled tunes in genres from downtempo to deep house, trip hop to dream pop, electro lounge to old school jazz & blues, and more. The show was inspired by my Live365 radio station, Chillcuts, which was in turn inspired by my older show, The Lovely Ladies of Electronica. Basically, I just keep widening my circle of musical styles as time goes on. Anyway, I’d love to have you come check the show out at http://chillcast.podshow.com.
Feel free to hit me back and let me know what you think!
Spring is here
Yesterday was the first official day of Spring, or so I’m told. It rained last night, but today is nice and sunny, if a bit crisp. Still, the garden really seem to love the weather. I mentioned on the podcast how green the patch surrounding old Babik Nurn is. Here’s a photo for you!
The white heliotrope is looking great, and all the bulbs are starting to flower, plus forget-me-nots are really sprouting up everywhere! Guess that shovel is coming in handy for our little gnome friend.
Chillin’ with Lovespirals Episode 15
Anji expresses regret at not making this a St. Patrick’s day episode, alas! Ryan and Anji discuss next weekend’s Lovespirals show in Mexico including their new setlist, how new songs always seem like the most fun to perform, working with Noize Kontrol for distribution in Mexico, share some fan mail, make that announcement Anji has been promising, and more!
New Live Set
Ryan and I been working on our new live set the past week or two. It’s quite a bit different from our last tour! We did one show last year with The Flir, so we had worked up a few songs from Free and Easy and our cover of Floyd’s “Cymbaline.” Now we’ve added 2 of our brand new, unreleased, songs to the set. We’ve also been testing out an old LSD tune to play acoustic, rather than the version of “Ring” we did in 2002. It’s cool to have so many more tracks to choose from when we play! Now we can actually have a few extra tunes tucked away for encores, if we need them. The first time we went to Mexico, we only had one album out and no extra tunes for encores. I ended up doing an acapella Billie Holiday song at one gig, and an acapella LSD song at another. This time we’ll actually be prepared. Should be cool.
Music Tap interview with Ryan & Anji of Lovespirals
March 13, 2006: Music Tap by Matt Rowe
“Honey and Cool Jazz ‘n’ Rock: An interview with Ryan Lum and Anji Bee of Lovespirals”
Matt: Ryan – Anji’s voice is hauntingly memorable; her voice sticks in my mind long after I heard the songs. Are you as hypnotized by her ability to mesh with your vision of how Lovespirals songs should be communicated as we are hearing it?
Ryan: Yeah, it’s surprising how her voice just fits perfectly. I’m very lucky. Her voice has been as important as anything in the evolution of our music together.
Matt: Anji, obviously you are an excellent fit with Lovespirals. The forward progression of the band incorporates you better than many bands undergoing a shift in style. How do you feel your involvement with Lovespirals changes the band? Have you brought your own influences into the structure of the band’s musical vision?
Anji: It would be impossible for me not to bring my own influences into the band, since we are a collaborative team. I think I bring an earthier element to the music. My vocals are very lyrically based, as opposed to Suzanne’s more non-verbal stylings, and my sound is more soulful compared to her purely ethereal sound.
Continue reading Music Tap interview with Ryan & Anji of Lovespirals
Antheil coincidence
How odd! I just finished reading a book about George Antheil yesterday, only to see on Yahoo! News that his “Ballet Mecanique” is about to be performed – with the 16 baby grand pianos and various percussion mechanically controlled, as he originally wished. But the nutty composer called for a 152bpm performance, whereas — apparently — pianos can only be played at 138bpm by machine, and 120 by humans. Interesting…
Lovespirals’ Free & Easy in Jazz Review
Sheldon T. Nunn reviews Free & Easy
Lovespirals’ latest CD entitled, Free & Easy, continues a formula that has made the duo a recognizable force in smooth jazz arenas; however, much of their music cannot be classified under one umbrella or style. Collectively, Ryan and Anji can be surprisingly creative and inventive, especially on this latest release. One of the more promising components of Free & Easy is that is commercially viable. On previous efforts, Lovespirals have taken an eclectic approach to jazz, which has often left them lacking widespread appeal. Historically, they have drawn upon world, house, light and airy music to make their presence known, which has created a highly evolved level of crossover appeal.
With Ryan serving up a heaping helping of guitar, keyboards, bass, percussion and programming, Anji takes on the tasks of vocals and vocal arrangements. As independent artists and without the support of a major record label, the two have recorded Free & Easy on their own Chillcuts Label, which has given them the freedom and flexibility to be more adventuresome and creative.
Free & Easy is an album that pushes the envelope of enthused imaginative thought processes. Tracks such as “Trouble” and “Deep In My Soul” provide a dance feel, while a more laid back appeal occurs on tracks that include “Walk Away” and “Love Survives.” In the end, what comes together are nine tracks of nicely-crafted music. Anji and Ryan cover the gamut of pop melodies, R&B infused grooves as well as pop-oriented licks to make Free & Easy a good bet to chart on Internet radio stations, which is where much of Lovespirals’ popularity resides. Given a broader range of discovery commercially, Anji Bee and Ryan Lum are sure to not only surprise listeners, they will generate a cadre of new fans.
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We’ve been getting slammed by spammers in our blog comments lately. It’s been going on for awhile actually, but recently it has increased so much that it isn’t worth fighting anymore. Once more time is being spent trying to squelch blog comment spam than actually blogging, there is a problem. So we have disabled commenting for the time being. Sorry.
Rashomon
Last night we saw the movie Rashomon, director Kurosawa’s 1950 masterpiece. Damn that was good. Another one of those gems that has sneaked past me up until now. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who’s into movies that are a little different from the Hollywood mold, from then or now.