Tag Archives: Doron Orenstein

Chillcast Lovespirals Feature

The Chillcast with Anji Bee podcast is hosting a special one-hour interview feature with Lovespirals this week. Ryan and Anji sat down in her podcast studio to discuss their brand new 4th album, Future Past, and give her listeners an overview of the band’s decade-long history. The band chat about their writing and recording process including our musical influences, album concepts, and the various stories surrounding our songs and albums as they listen to every track from Future Past and a few songs from their past 3 albums. If you haven’t checked out Anji’s weekly music show before, now would be the perfect time!

[audio:http://m.podshow.com/media/3839/episodes/210375/chillinwithlovespirals-210375-01-29-2010.mp3]
Download Chillcast Lovespirals Feature (mp3)

Playlist:

  1. “Shine” Future Past (2010) Lovespirals - Future Past - Shine
  2. “Home” Future Past (2010) Lovespirals - Future Past - Home
  3. “This Truth” Long Way From Home (2002) Lovespirals - Long Way from Home - This Truth
  4. “Oh So Long” Windblown Kiss (2005) Lovespirals - Windblown Kiss - Oh So Long
  5. “Hand in Hand” Free & Easy (2007) Lovespirals - Free & Easy - Hand In Hand
  6. “Love” Future Past (2010) Lovespirals - Future Past - Love
  7. “Water Under the Bridge” Future Past (2010) Lovespirals - Future Past - Water Under the Bridge
  8. “Meanwhile, Irreplaceable Time Flees” Future Past (2010) Lovespirals - Future Past - Meanwhile, Irreplaceable Time Flees
  9. “Insignificant” Future Past (2010) Lovespirals - Future Past - Insignificant
  10. “Feel So Good” Future Past (2010) Lovespirals - Future Past - Feel So Good
  11. “Rain” Future Past (2010) Lovespirals - Future Past - Rain
  12. “One of Those Days” Future Past (2010) Lovespirals - Future Past - One of Those Days
  13. “Sinking” Future Past (2010) Lovespirals - Future Past - Sinking
  14. “Believe” Future Past (2010) Lovespirals - Future Past - Believe
Lovespirals - Future Past (2010)
Lovespirals Future Past (2010)

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Splendid Zine Reviews Windblown Kiss

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.

Sea of Tranquility Reviews Windblown Kiss

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.


Ecstatic EP: Second Pressing

lovespirals-ecstatic_ep
The Ecstatic EP has just been updated with new high quality 192 kbps files (as opposed to the old 128 kbps files) and new full-cover artwork featuring photography by Susan Jennings. Not only is the sound quality and appearance of the CD vastly improved, but an extra track has been added (the instrumental “Beatitude” featuring guest musicians Doron Orenstein and Gabriel D. Vine of Toof), bumping the EP up to 37 minutes in length. Order a copy online only at www.mp3.com/lovespirals!

New song, new Yahoo! Group, & ProjektFest

We’ve updated our Mp3.com page with brand new artwork and a new song, “Windblown Kiss”, from our upcoming album on Projekt. Special thanks goes out to our wonderful photographer, Susan Jennings, for all her awesome work with us!

Speaking of Projekt, looks like we’re doing the Projekt Fest 2002 this May, just in time for the release for our new album! We’re still working out how we’ll peform our set live, which will be a bit of a challenge, but fun. Doron plans to come with us, so you can expect a little more sax live than on the album, which should prove interesting.

Lastly, we now have a Lovespirals Yahoo! Group for those seeking a public forum about the band. Included on the newsgroup is lyrics, band photos, links to various interviews, reviews etc on outside sites and other fun stuff.