Music:
Member Since: 5/24/2004
Band Website: lovespirals.com
Band Members: Ryan Lum: guitar, bass, keys, programming, production
Anji Bee: vocals, lyrics, co-production
CHECK OUT LOVESPIRALS' PODCAST:
Influences: Air, America, Angelo Badalamenti, Astrud Gilberto, B.B. King, Bad Company, Bebel Gilberto, Bee Gees, Bessie Smith, Big Bud, Billie Holiday, Blu Mar Ten, Buddy Guy, Burt Bacharach, Carly Simon, Chambers Brothers, Chicago, Chris Issak, Cocteau Twins, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, David Bowie, David Gilmour, David Sylvian, Diana Ross, Donny Hathaway, Doyle Bramhall II, Duran Duran, Eagles, Eric Clapton, Everything But the Girl, Fleetwood Mac, George Harrison, Gordon Lightfoot, Grateful Dead, Harold Budd, His Name is Alive, Isaac Hayes, Japan, Jefferson Airplane, Jerry Garcia, John Coltrane, John Denver, John Mayer Trio, Jose Feliciano, Kate Bush, k.d. lang, Kool and the Gang, Led Zeppelin, Lonnie Liston Smith, LTJ Bukem, Marvin Gaye, Massive Attack, Mazzy Star, Miles Davis, Milton Nasciemento, Mojave 3, Monkey Bars, Neil Young, Nick Drake, Pat Metheny, PFM, Pink Floyd, Popol Vuh, Robert Cray, Roxy Music, Sade, Santana, Seba, Slowdive, Stan Getz, Steve Miller Band, Suzanne Vega, Talk Talk, The Beatles, The Cure, This Mortal Coil, Tim Buckley, and Wham.
Sounds Like: ..
Love Spirals Downwards, Everything But The Girl, Mojave 3, Mazzy Star, Rachel Goswell, Hope Sandoval, His Name is Alive, Sade, Norah Jones, Air, Sarah McLachlan, Dido, Delerium, Zero 7, Violet Indiana, Cocteau Twins, Trespassers William
Reviews of Long Way From Home released October 23, 2008:
All Music Guide 's Ned Raggett writes,
For their third album as Lovespirals, Anji Bee and Ryan Lum again create a lush series of songs that synthesizes disparate influences into a warm, enveloping listen.
Hot Indie News writer Miles Klee writes,
Bluesy slide guitar work sometimes shades over into Santana-like finger-meandering, and vocalist Anji Bee's layered voice paints bright glaze over already dreamy arrangements. Enveloping and warm space-folk ditties...
Matthew Johnson of Re:Gen Magazine writes,
It's not an understatement to call
Long Way from Home the duo's most accomplished work up to date; as enjoyable as their previous explorations of laidback electronica and jazz fusion have been, this album captures Lum and Bee's warm musical chemistry in a way that previous releases only hinted at.
Matt Rowe of MusicTap.net writes,
From the band's early years as Love Spirals Downwards -- with a vocalist all but forgotten for Anji Bee's lovely, dreamy, and expansive vocal pleasantries -- to their current album, Lovespirals have always been a band of change. Their latest, the wonderfully titled
Long Way From Home, is one of superior work and can easily rank as the band's best work in either incarnation.
Cadence Revolution podcast blogs:
It's very rare these days to come across an entire CD which you will listen to over and over from beginning to end non-stop, and even rarer to find one which makes you want to grab everyone you know and tell them "
you must listen to this." However such is the case with the third release,
Long Way Home, from the California based duo Lovespirals.
C.C. Chapman said on Accident Hash ,
"Its better than anything they've done, I think. It's really good, I really enjoy the album, and trust me, it is worth the price of admission to get this, if for nothing else than to hear Ryan sliding on the opening track - the guitar is really amazing - and then Anji's sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet voice... She could read me the phone book or a Chinese menu and I would be all happy."
Jason Moore of Opus writes:
Ultimately, Lum and Bee are all about creating a mood with their music, a relaxed and blissed-out vibe that should be no stranger to fans of dreampop, chill-out electronica, and atmospheric pop. This is music for both late night sessions and noon daydreams, for both listening to at work when you need to escape the pressure of the day and at home when you simply need to unwind with a good book and a glass of wine.
Ray Anderson writes on Celebrity Cafe :
Empty and sad, but of full of emotion,
Long Way from Home is medicine for those that dig the alternative. How can you take a gut-wrenching classic like “Motherless Child†and make it sadder? Let Lovespirals get a hold of it. It’s easy to fall into the loose, country-tinged groove of “Caught in a Groove†and let your soul be taken for a ride. By the time the “upbeat†“Lovelight†comes on, you won’t mind being “A Long Way from Home,†and I think you’ll want to stay there.
Check out the album for yourself at lovespirals.com/longway
Record Label: Chillcuts, reapandsow, Projekt
Type of Label: Indie
