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Inside the Machine Interview with Anji Bee
Anji Bee is the featured artist on the second episode of Inside The Machine, the new audio show of Nicholas Young, founder of Original Machine. She and Nicholas sat down for an hour long interview on Skype, which actually went a bit longer as the two enjoyed their discussion of independent music, radio, podcasting, and fine arts so much. The show revolves around the back stories of 4 of Anji’s songs, “Love Me Leave Me,” “Hand In Hand,” “Love Will Turn Your Head Around,” and “Put Some Music On (Intensity of Sound Retro Funk Mix),” all of which are included in full on the show.
2017 UPDATE: This station is now defunct, but this artist feature i archived on the Internet Archive account: AnjiBeeOnInsideTheMachine
Continue reading Inside the Machine Interview with Anji BeeWindblown Kiss
Long Way From Home
Ryan Lum DJ Set
Stream or download Ryan Lum’s “Atmosphere ’99” DJ set for free from SoundCloud and read more about this classic mixset — as well as Ryan’s return to the wheels of steel for Savasana Relaxative.
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Lovespirals Contribute To New Book Series
Ryan Lum and Anji Bee of Lovespirals contributed stories to The First Time I Heard book series compiled and edited by Scott Heim, who wrote the novel, Mysterious Skin. Ryan’s story on the first time he ever heard the Cocteau Twins is out now on Amazon and iTunes, while Anji’s story on Kate Bush will be out later this year. Other musical acts covered in the series include David Bowie, The Smiths, and Joy Division/New Order with Abba, My Bloody Valentine, Kraftwerk, R.E.M., The Pixies, and Roxy Music coming soon. Additional contributors include Harold Budd, Annie Barker, Ian Masters, Rebecca Coseboom, and many other musicians and vocalists, as well as several novelists, journalists, and poets. Follow The First Time I Heard on Facebook to keep up with all the latest news on this ongoing series.
Update: The First Time I Heard Kate Bush, featuring Anji’s essay, is now available in digital format on Amazon and iTunes, plus other digital book stores online.
Ecstatic EP
A 30 plus minute set of 4 extended club-length Jazz-Step and Atmopsheric Drum and Bass tunes in the vein of Good Looking Records. Classic breakbeats like the Amen and Funky Drummer propel these song with a frenetic pace, while Ryan Lum’s signature reverb-laden guitar chords and ambient synth washes lend a much more relaxed atmosphere to the proceedings. With the sexy saxophone of guest musician, Doron Orenstein, and the dreamy vocal musings of Anji Bee glossing over the top, Lovespirals have created a magically dreamy, late night, uptown vibe perfect for chillout rooms in the club or the penthouse suite.
All of these tracks have been included on compilations including Chillout in the City, The Chill Lounge: 26 Chilled Euro Tracks, Chillout Lounge Vol. 2, Cool Terrasse, Mondisk: A Celebration of 13 Years, and Music for Active Yoga Vol 1. Lovespirals have also licensed these songs to a number of cable, network, and Internet programs including E!’s Gastineau Girls, VH1’s The Love Lounge and Celebrity Fat Camp, MTV’s Made, Playboy’s Celebrity Centerfolds (the Farrah Fawcett episode – bonus!), UK’s Day Trip Designer, various Current TV programs and more.
“Perhaps most notably known in the Goth community under the moniker Love Spirals Downwards, with their Cocteau Twins sound. Frontman Ryan Lum has changed their sound, and shortened the name to just Lovespirals. Together with vocalist Anji Bee, Lovespirals has embraced the sound of Drum n’ Bass and created a masterful relationship. Their release, Ecstatic EP, is a combination of sexy Jazz riffs, mellow breaks, and Bee’s seductive vocals. For those fans of Good Looking Records, Lovespirals could easily be found amongst their ranks in talent, and sound. “ — Hot Artist Spotlight, Mp3.com
“As synthpop’s rise led inexoribly to its decline, some Gothic/Industrial artists have started looking toward other avenues of inspiration. On these releases, Lovespirals [Ecstatic EP] and Claire Voyant [Time Again: A Collection of Remixes – feat. a Lovespirals mix] provide tasty Illbient and Trip Hop influenced grooves and give us a harbinger of Goth’s Next BigThing.” — Kevin, StarVox “Best of 2001”
Tracklisting:
- Ecstatic (8:49)
- Beatitude (5:27)
- Hand in Hand (8:34)
- Spanning Time (9:11)
- Ecstatic – Radio Edit (3:36) *
Download Ryan's Atmosphere 99 DJ Set FREE
Ryan Lum of Lovespirals (and formerly, Love Spirals Downwards) put together this mix set during his atmospheric drum & bass DJ heydey between promotions for his 1998 album, Flux, and his 1999 retrospective comp, Temporal, in 2000. Funnily enough, it does not include ANY of his own music. 😉 The Atmosphere ’99 set was first released via Live365 in April 2000 and featured in the Jungle section of the short lived RadioSpy site run by GameSpy in March 2000. After more than a decade, it is now available as a free download on Lovespirals’ SoundCloud page, limited to 200 downloads. Go download your copy of the nearly hour-long Atmosphere 99 Mix by Ryan Lum now! Stream the DJ set from the widget below, and be sure to share it with your friends.
If you’d like to hear Ryan spin some tunes live, you’re in luck, as he will be DJing at the intimate chillout event, Savasana Relaxative, on March 31st. Also DJing is local legend, sid&molly, and our own, Anji Bee of The Chillcast. Additionally there will be an aphrodisiac elixir bar, traditional Gong Fu Cha tea ceremony, and raw chocolate confections being served. No alcohol, just good vibes. Come chillout with Lovespirals!
Gothic Paradise Reviews Future Past
Internet radio station, Gothic Paradise, published a review of our 2010 album, Future Past, on their website. After a decade, Lovespirals have reconnected with this active source of music and information for the Gothic/Industrial/EBM/Ethereal communities, leading to the band being reinstated on their webzine, as well as having songs added into their show playlist.
Check out the Lovespirals band page on Gothic Paradise which includes a general bio and commentary on the band, plus reviews of both our first album, Windblown Kiss, and our most recent album, Future Past.
Below is the full review of Future Past by site founder, Jacob Bogedahl:
It has been ten years since we reviewed Windlbown Kiss here on Gothic Paradise. Though this latest album was released a couple of years ago at the time of this writing, it’s good to go back and review it as we reintroduce this band to the pages of Gothic Paradise. It comes with eleven dreamy, downtempo pop pieces, exploring some diverse genres and hearkening back to the jazz sounds of years past.
As I’ve listened to this album over and over again to come up with a good description, one word keeps popping into my head and it’s one I’ve overused with the description of this duo and that’s “Jazzy”. Though there is a lot at play here, the prominent instruments are definitely a jazz guitar and/or electric piano coupled with Anji’s smooth vocals. The result is a very chilled out jazzy, downtempo pop sound. This is portrayed across all the smooth tracks starting with “Home” which comes out as a sentimental piece that any of us can relate to after being away from home for a while. The sultry, soft vocals take on deeper feeling across various pieces including the moodier tracks “Rain” and “One of Those Days”.
As we get about halfway through the album, a vibrant electronica style comes out on “Love” which actually brings back feelings of the early styles from this duo as well as just a touch of ethereal that fans should really love. Another dreamy highlight comes a bit later with “Meanwhile, Irreplaceable Time Flees”. This heavily ambient instrumental piece drifts along with some excellent guitar work keeping it grounded in the jazz style and dreamy moods. The regular tracks on the album wrap up with “Sinking” and “Believe” remaining on par with the rest of the album, as you listen to each track you can detect the common instruments and tempo which creates a homogenous style and mood that slowly drifts along with a soft groove. There are a couple of demos and a live piece as bonus material that die-hard fans will enjoy and with that it comes to a close.
There you have it, overall the band has really rooted themselves in a solid jazz-infused chillout pop style. We’ve seen the music transform slightly over the years as they’ve grown and explored their own styles and tastes. One thing seems sure, they seem to really be enjoying themselves over the years and with their music and that is the one thing I can highly recommend to any artist.
Rating: 4/5
Future Past in Majamaki Top 10 of 2011 List
Its always lovely to get good press, no matter how late or how obscure. California blogger, Terry Majamaki, has included Lovespirals in his Top 10 Music Albums of 2011, alongside Low, Thievery Corporation, Moby, Coldplay, Beastie Boys, and more.
Lovespirals – Future Past (Chillcuts 2010)
While this album was released in 2010, I discovered the album, and the band, this year. As a long time fan of the band Love Spirals Downward, who stopped producing new material in 1998, I had no idea that lead instrumentalist Ryan Lum made a new band with vocalist Anji Bee and released new music under the name Lovespirals. After discovering this I picked up 3 Lovespirals albums spanning the last decade, including; Windblown Kiss (2002), Long Way From Home (2007), and Future Past (2010).
For me, Future Past, is the strongest of the albums and it really stuck with me throughout the year. The music style is a little less etherial and dark when compared to Love Spirals Downward, instead it is more acoustic with subtle downtempo electronica that creates a dreamy pop soundscape. Soft hypnotic melodies with dreamy vocals in every song always puts me in a good mellow mood. Ryan even pays homage to Pink Floyd’s guitar intro from Shine on You Crazy Diamond with Meanwhile, Irreplaceable Time Flies. While I would love to hear a new Love Spirals Downward album, I don’t expect it to happen, however I do look forward to hearing what Lovespirals releases next.