Lovespirals first Future Past single, “Shine” has won the Garageband Reviewer’s Pick Award for Best Female Vocals in the Alternative Pop genre for this week. This is an ongoing contest judged by site users, primarily musicians who are also participating in the contest held by this unique i-Like owned music site. Songs are judged in an anonymous fashion, with the reviewer having no information about the track other than the soundfile itself until after they have rated it and posted their review comments.
Quite a haunting song. Nice mood with the Rhodes, and the female singer has a sexy voice which works really well when layered. Reminds me of the French band Air. Good sound, well done.
Kieran Moore
Visit Lovespirals page on Garageband to read all the reviews thus far, as well as to stream or download “Shine” for free. You can also check out more Lovespirals songs, including the multiple-award-winning “Love Survives,” which won Track of the Day and Track of Week twice each, and currently holds #16 Best Female Vocals of All Time in the Electronica Genre.
Shine Wins Garageband Award for Best Female Vocals in Alternative Pop Category
You can now buy Lovespirals’ brand new album, Future Past, exclusively from the Lovespirals webstore! This gorgeous 6-panel eco-friendly digipak includes all of Anji Bee’s song lyrics plus beautiful photography by Susan Jennings and original artwork/design by ithinkitsnice. The CD itself was replicated using real-time glass mastering and vintage CD manufacturing equipment for audiophile-class sound, care of Groove House Records. Anji (and Ryan) will personally autograph your copy if you request it, PLUS you’ll receive an immediate digital download of the album when you purchase the CD directly from Lovespirals. In keeping with this green release, the band are packaging orders in non-bleached mailers made of 90% recycled content (50% post-consumer). You can read more about the Future Past eco-friendly packaging in an earlier blog post. Future Past will also be distributed via Projekt Records, CD Baby, Amazon, iTunes, eMusic, Rhapsody and all the usual online music sources, but the band wanted to make the album available to fans as soon as possible. As an independent band, it is difficult to schedule simultaneous release on all platforms, so those will be trickling in over the next few months. Please join the Lovespirals mailing list to keep up with the latest news and events.
Future Past by Lovespirals released by Chillcuts Digital Media
Lovespirals bring you up to date with the release of their 4th album, Future Past. They’ve set the official pre-release date for Tuesday, Nov. 17th, but you can hear clips of every song right now on this very episode! Ryan and Anji also detail recent changes to lovespirals.com, including the new logo created by ithinkitsnice, new band photos by Susan Jennings, the Future Past discography page, audio clips, and album lyrics. They also give a big pitch for why you should join their Facebook page at facebook.com/lovespirals, invite you to join their street team with instructions for one simple task, and talk about their first interview for the new album. But the best story of this episode is about how English fan, Andrew Banville was FIRST to order the CD, for the 3rd time!!!
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Lovespirals band founder, Ryan Lum, proclaimed that the band’s last album, Long Way From Home, would be the final one to come out on CD. But response to such claims in interviews and the band podcast, Chillin’ with Lovespirals, was consistent amongst fans; they want a physical product, not just a digital one. So the band scrapped their plans to release one or two digital-only EPs per year and returned to their original format, the full-length album. This time around, however, the eco-conscious duo decided to do their homework before going with their usual compact disc manufacturer. The resulting packaging is one that the fans are sure to love, and that the band can feel good about. Future Past will be Lovespirals’ first digipac, printed on 100% recycled stock with 100% recycled plastic trays, printed with vegetable-based inks and coated with water-based biodegradable varnishes. You can hear Ryan and Anji talk about the CD packaging — and hear a clip of the opening song from Future Past — on Chillin’ with Lovespirals #70.
'Future Past' by Lovespirals available on CD Nov 2009
Please add yourself to the official Lovespirals newslist to stay informed of release date, news, events, and specials. Check out the video section to view in-studio clips of the band at work on the new album.
Lovespirals are in the final stages of producing their 4th full-length album, tentatively titled, Future Past. The 11 songs comprising this new collection include some of the band’s most ambitious work to date. Band founder, Ryan Lum, has achieved what he feels is truly a big-studio sound in his private home studio. His attention to detail in sound design is born of a true love of the craft, and he’s been perfecting these skills since his first indie release, Idylls, back in 1992. Lum has updated his musical equipment and recording system quite extensively since Lovespirals’ 2007 album, Long Way From Home. This might be most noticeable to the listener in the range of guitar and keyboard sounds used on this album. In addition to the Rhodes piano and Hammond organ featured in the past, Lum has enhanced his vintage keyboard palette with analogue synth and string machine sounds. And guitar tones too have been pushed into new future retro sonics, utilizing both vintage and modern boutique guitars, tube amplifiers, and effects pedals.
Band vocalist, Anji Bee, who began collaborating with Lum in the early 2000’s, has also worked hard to improve upon her sound and performances. Armed with a new microphone, cabling, and preamp, she has pushed her voice to new heights, exploring diverse vocal territory. From deep, sultry rhythm and blues soulfulness to bright, ethereal breathiness — and all points in-between — from a single voice to a 3-part harmony; Bee is the vocal equivalent of a one-man band. And lyrically, Bee has dug deep to unearth some of her most revealing and intimate lyrics yet. Though her song topics have always touched upon more than personal relationships, the abundance of such fare in the past has led critics to label Lovespirals as purveyors of “love songs.” Bee feels confident that will not be the case this time. Interestingly, the two songs most obviously tied to romance are not ballads, but upbeat numbers; “Feel So Good” is soulful funk with a distinctly retro feel, while “Love” is an atmospheric drum ‘n’ bass song, reminiscent of the duo’s earliest work together.
Not that this new album is wholly composed of electronica vibes; on the contrary. Lovespirals have achieved a fine balance between their various influences, including moody classic-rock ala Pink Floyd or Fleetwood Mac; groovy late-period Motown soul & funk; bittersweet electropop in the vein of Air or Zero 7 — with a sprinkling of sensual slow-burning blues, and a dash of the soaring ethereality that the band has long been known for. Somehow Lum and Bee are able to take such disparate elements and combine them into an easily identifiable sound that can only be described as “Lovespirals.” Though it’s hard to label their music for today’s highly genre-defined culture, Lovespirals are not concerned. The joy of independent music is that it is not bogged down by marketing research and sales strategies; it exists because of the creator’s love of music. And Future Past is certainly a labor of love for Lovespirals.
Please add yourself to the Lovespirals newslist to stay informed of release date, news, events, and special events.
At long last the Loverush Digital “Damien.S VS Lovespirals” branded set of “This Truth” remixes is available on iTunes! This 30 minute +, 5 track EP includes remixes by Avatar One, Adam Fielding, Juno Synclair and Craig Bailey, plus both the club and radio edit of the dance chart topping Damien.S remix that started it all. You can buy This Truth 2009 from iTunes for just $4.95. If you have a moment to rate and review the EP on iTunes, I would would truly appreciate it!
Lovespirals finally take a moment for the first band podcast of the year! Anji starts it off with a quick overview of the past month, including seeing the band’s good pal, CC Chapman, get interviewed by CNN during the Presidential Inauguration — go CC! Then the band get into the nitty gritty of recent events like the latest neighbor noise torments and the big So Cal rainstorm, plus hating on Grammys, announcing the official release date and chart news of the Damien.S VS Lovespirals remix EP of “This Truth” on Loverush Digital, rediscovering Atmospheric Drum & Bass (see: Blu Mar Ten and Below Zero), writing and recording songs for the new album, more cable & TV placements, pimping the new Lovespirals Twitter account, discussing how using a cute picture of a girl will get you more friends on Twitter (see: Azita of Matter Yoga), getting excited over the new Dalai Lama Twitter account (turns out it’s not the REAL thing…), seeing BB King in concert, buying tickets for Robert Cray and The Dead, pimping the Lovespirals Facebook Page, and being confused if people communicate with us via site comment, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or email (Bente DID comment at the blog, btw!). The show closes out with a clip of “This Truth (Adam Fielding Chilled Out Mix)” which you can hear in full on The Chillcast #150 over at www.anjibee.com.
Chillin’ with Lovespirals is brought to you in part by GoDaddy. Check out our 3 money saving GoDaddy Promo Codes for your next domain name and web hosting purchases at godaddy.com.
Hot new UK dance music label, Loverush Digital, is about to drop a “Damien.S VS Lovespirals” branded set of remixes of our single, “This Truth,” TOMMORROW February 9th. UK radio and club DJs, however, have already been spinning advanced copies the past few weeks. To my delight, the EP has been blazing up the DMC charts!
John McCormick (Deep 6, Fury Murrys, The Hive, Yates) 10/10 This has created one of the biggest buzzes on the floors I’ve seen in ages. Its an enormous winner and packs the floors everytime without fail. Superb mix package. Top stuff all round!
DJ Crispian Aldis (Elemental, Havanah, Paradise) 10/10 This is good and is causing quite a stir in my sets. Loads of fab mixes to choose from. Top track, top label. I can see big things for Loverush in 2009.
Beaker (Berties, Bunters, Divas, Red Square) 9/10 I love the feel to this track, she has such a haunting voice. You can’t help but hear it. It’s such a smooth chill out dance track that works really well.
John J (Club DNA, Liquid Lounge, Wigan Pier) 9/10 LOVIN THIS! Quality vocal trancer with a wicked package of mixers. Fave is Juno Synclair vs Craig Bailey Remix.
The Grooveblaster‘s new album, Cities, Streets & Bebop Nights, is the featured album on the ultra cool Below Zero radio show and blog this week. As you probably know, I contributed vocals and lyrics to 3 tracks on this album (including a remix of my band, Lovespirals), alongside great collaborations with Yasi Baby! of Pacha Massive, Laura Harley, and Daca Kopanja. This top rated radio show airs Sunday nights in San Francisco on Energy FM 92.7 from 8 pm to Midnight (PST) and in Paris on Tonic FM Mondays 12 – 1 am (PST) and Fridays 11 – 12 pm (PST). You can also listen online via NetMusiq Tuesdays 10 am (PST) or anytime via Live365.
By the way, you still have a few days to enter the big end-of-2008 Chillcast 8-CD “Grab Bag” Contest which includes a promo copy of the great Minus1 compilation CD put together by Below Zero DJ’s Mason Rothert, Jason Teplitsky, and Sinukus.
Chillin’ with Lovespirals is brought to you in part by GoDaddy. Check out our 3 money saving GoDaddy Promo Codes for your next domain name and web hosting purchases at GoDaddy.
[audio:http://m.podshow.com/media/3839/episodes/142962/chillinwithlovespirals-142962-02-09-2009.mp3]
Hot new UK dance music label, 
