Man, FINALLY I got the audio files working on LastFM. I couldn’t get anyone to respond to my requests for help until just this week. He suggested what I had already considered doing, which is simply reuploading everything again. Hopefully the tunes will start populating into the various radio streams and getting out to the listeners. LastFM is a cool site, but they have so much going on over there that sometimes the system gets overburdened and wacky. Anyway, glad to see it’s finally working, a month and a half later.
All posts by ryan
Music Tap's Featured Artist, November 2005
Matt Rowe reviews “Free & Easy”
In a time where there are many flavours and derivations of music, giving listeners a multitude of choices, and allowing for precision of preference, Lovespirals, originally birthed as Love Spirals Downward[s] some years back, has become a provider of experiences.
Lovespirals’ evolutionary path has brought it down the road from gothic shoegazer pop to hypnotically provocative jazz that is, at once, sexy, sultry, and dreamy. Their last album, the transitional Windblown Kiss, provided hints and sneak peeks into the heart of this duo and where they were headed while their latest, Free & Easy, wades deeply into the stream of where they are.
On Free and Easy, the band’s second release with Anji Bee, who possesses a voice of honey, and a natural element that adds colour and flame to songs, exploring realms of intensities in varying degrees, there are 9 songs of jazz-fusion. With original member, Ryan Lum adding stylish guitar and keyboards to permeate the silky fabric of the new album, the lover of jazz in all of its incarnations will be quite entranced.
The album’s opener, “Free & Easy”, begins by exuding an exhilarating blend of heady and dizzying sensuality. Ryan Lum’s instrumental approach is simple and effective, wisely allowing the mood of the song to carry the listener to the album’s first deliberate destination. It’s followed by the sexually tense, “Hand in Hand”, a musically soft ‘in the moment’ tune of the perfection of love. Things pick up with the dance flavoured “Deep In My Soul” carried by a funky rhythm and delivered by Anji’s ‘by now heart pulsing’ voice. The tune is reminiscent of the ’80s brand of music.
“Walk Away” resembles the past of Lovespirals more readily than the other tunes but still underlines a mournful jazz that also resembles Sade. “Habitual” is one of the stronger songs on the album and reveals a melancholy brought on by the rut of sameness. The album’s strongest track, the ‘saved the best for last’ “Sandcastles” is clearly the band’s single. It has all of the elements going for it – lyrics, atmosphere, a brilliant soundtrack, that voice – that should alert a sleepy public to the dream-dripping gorgeousness of Lovespirals.
Lovespirals already showcases all of the reasons that they should be this period’s hip duo. What remains is for you to discover why I said it.
Lovespirals New CD Out Now!
Lovespirals’ brand new CD, Free & Easy, was officially released
November 1st on the band’s own Chillcuts Records, with US distribution through Metropolis and Projekt Darkwave. The album is also available through Amazon, CDBaby, Auralgasms, and Isotank — as well as Lovespirals’ webstore. Ryan and Anji will personally autograph every CD bought directly from the band as a special thanks to fans for their support. For those who prefer digital downloads, Free & Easy is also on iTunes.
Abide
Some things abide
While others pass away
Like the ocean’s tide
That rise and falls each day
There’s things we keep
While some we give away
And others still are lost
Somewhere in the fray
Let it pass away (x4)
Some friends may go
While many others stay
And loves may die
To rise again some day
There’s fears we hold
And those we cast away
Like a worn out shoe
That we’ve outgrown in play
Let it pass away (x4)
Some things abide
While others pass away
Like the ocean’s tide
That rise and falls each day
Let it pass away (x4)
Let it pass away (x2)
— By Anji Bee (BMI)
The guy in our podcast
OK, for those of you who have listened to the newest podcast (v.7), this is one of the photos of that guy I was talking about. For those that haven’t, check out the podcast and then you’ll know why I posted this!
New Podcast Announces Street Date
Episode 6 of Chillin’ with Lovespirals is now up and ready for your
listening pleasure. The Lovespirals crew get a bit loopy as they announce the
official street date, talk of promotional plans, and ask fans for their input.
You can check it out through all the usual locations (ie. the website, iTunes,
Odeo, MySpace, Garageband etc…).
New Guitar Amps
Well not necessarily that new. Earlier this year, at a friend’s garage sale, i saw he had an old 60’s looking fender bassman amp, just the head. Being a guitarist, i knew they were well loved guitar amps so I took it home to see if it worked and had a religious experience despite it being really noisy due to it not having been taken care of all that greatly for most of its life. I got it fixed up and it’s sounding awesome. I wish i had it for the album that we just finished but I’m certain it’ll be all over the next album after. Also, I recently picked up a new Epiphone Valve Junior amp. If anyone’s looking to buy a great sounding new tube amp at a ridiculously low price, this is the amp to get.
Lovespirals Podcast in the iTunes Store
The Chillin’ with Lovespirals podcast has been added into iTunes new podcast listings. Just visit the iTunes store, click the podcasts link, and either use the “search all podcasts” tool or scroll through the music category to find the Chillin’ with Lovespirals entry. From there, you can hit the “subscribe” button to begin receiving all band podcasts right in your iTunes player. You can also view more info by clicking either our podast logo or the podcast title link. This is one of the easiest ways for podcast newbies to subscribe to the twice monthly band podcast.
Chillin' with Lovespirals Podcast v.2
The newest episode is up! This time around, Anji and Ryan discuss their
participation in the international Pink Floyd tribute, None of Us is Pink. This
second episode of “Chillin with Lovespirals” is available as a direct download
on the new podcast page, along with the first
episode. We strongly encourage you to subscribe via RSS, as well. New
episodes should launch every other week, so stay tuned for more!
Internet creeps
Sheesh! I am constantly amazed by how creepy some people can be. I was following up on an email from a band name registry site, and discovered that this ahole had registered Love Spirals Downwards as his band that he’d “begun in 1998”, with his homepage link and “record label” listed. Why would someone do something so stupid? Boggles the mind…
Chillin with Lovespirals Podcast Launched
Lovespirals have launched a brand new podcast in conjunction with Chillcuts called “Chillin’ with Lovespirals.” Ryan and Anji discuss the evolution of the band’s fan interaction and computer use, answer fan email, and more in the premier episode. Download and subscribe via RSS for future episodes via the handy visual links on Lovespirals’ site.
Hungry Lucy
This weekend I edited together a half hour Hungry Lucy interview feature for my Live365 internet radio station, Chillcuts. I’m kinda sneak previewing it in a half hour, just to check it out. Not sure what time will be the best to play it at for folks to tune in. Ryan thinks most people listen at work, so that would be daytime weekday hours. Even if I just plan for American listeners, I have to consider West Coast VS East Coast. Hmm… Wish I could just stagger it for a different time each day, so everyone will get a convenient timeslot. But that would be more of a pain in the ass with Live365’s Broadcast Scheduler. Oh well, people should just set their little ripping programs to grab it, anyway.