Category Archives: Band News

Interview

Outsight Radio Hours Interview

Here’s a partial transcript of the interview Tom Schulte did with Ryan recently on his Internet radio show, for those that aren’t able to stream audio. Outsight is a featured archival broadcast of the Music Sojourn site so go listen to it if you can!

Tom: How are things going there on the West Coast?

Ryan: Oh man, it’s really, really super hot right now in Los Angeles. I just saw the Weather Channel and the whole West Coast is not, even places that shouldn’t be hot, like Portland, Oregon. It just started today. Where are you at?

Tom: I’m in Detroit, and it’s damn hot here, as well. 

Ryan: (chuckles)

Tom: You get to travel a lot with the band, as I understand? On tours and stuff. Isn’t there a new release you’re supporting now?

Ryan: No, no. We haven’t even done a show for about a year or two now. 

Continue reading Outsight Radio Hours Interview →
Band News

Projekt 100: The Early Years Features LSD

Our 50 Years of Sunshine exclusive mix of “Kykeon” is featured on Projekt100, a new various artist compilation created to celebrate the early era of the label from 1985 to 1995.

Projekt100: The Early Years (1985-1995)

Reaching the milestone of its 100th release, Projekt celebrated in a special way. Harkening back to the time when catalog number “PRO-100” seemed a hundred years away, Rosenthal explains his motivation for this compilation: “In planning Projekt100, I tried to recreate an era. A time gone by. A time when Projekt was young and our artists were widely unknown. Rather than put together a predictable ‘best of’ to commemorate Projekt’s 100th release, I created The Great Lost Projekt Compilation. A reflection upon an era gone by, for those fans who have been with Projekt since the early days . . . or an introduction to bands perhaps missed, if a new-comer.”

Included are never before heard tracks from Projekt’s first two acts: Lycia and black tape for a blue girl; as well as unreleased mixes from Attrition, Eden, Lovesliescrushing, and SoulWhirlingSomewhere; early mixes from Thanatos and Terrace of Memories; an unreleased track from O Yuki Conjugate; and a rare mix from Love Spirals Downwards.

— Projekt Records

Purchase a copy of this CD directly from Projekt.com

Band News

Interview and new comps

I will be interviewed live on Outsight Cyber Radio Sunday, June 25th, 8pm EST/5pm PST. Please tune in via the internet at his site. Tom will be archiving the interview as a RealAudio file, for those of you who can’t tune in live, so check his site for that!

We’ve been included on several compilation CDs recently released, including:

  • Claire Voyant – Time Again (Accession Records): a remix project CD including Front 242, Haujobb, Trance to the Sun, VNV Nation and many others. Anji and I remixed their track “Bittersweet” in a jazzy, atmospheric drum ‘n’ bass style, featuring sax by our pal, Doron, of Toof. More details at Accession.

  • Heartbeats (Mascara): this cool German comp focuses on electronica acts with “tender feelings” such as Moby, Sneaker Pimps, Smith & Mighty, Marc Almond, Nightmares on Wax and more. Flux’s “Psyche,” featuring Kristen Perry on vocals, is the chosen LSD cut.

  • Projekt 100: The Early Years, 1985 to 1995 (Projekt Records): this is a compilation of vintage Projekt band recordings, in celebration of their 100th release. The Love Spirals Downwards track is the 50 Years of Sunshine mix of “Kykeon.” More details are available from Projekt.

  • Darkwave: Music of the Shadows v2 (K-Tel): Projekt Records founder, Sam Rosenthal, helped to compile this collection of darkwave-related bands such as: Cocteau Twins, Lycia, Miranda Sex Garden and more. “Forgo,” from Love Spirals Downwards’ debut album, Idylls, is the first track of the album. More details are available from Projekt.
Review

Temporal Review in Outburn

A review of Temporal appeared in Outburn Magazine #12. Projekt sent along a clipping to share. It reads:

REMIXES AND SINGLES FROM INNOVATIVE SHOEGAZERS: I can’t think of any ethereal band more sonically enchanting or musically daring than Love Spirals Downwards. No group has pushed the boundaries of the shoegazer sound since the formative days of the 4AD label during the 1980’s. Over four albums, programmer, Ryan Lum, and vocalist, Suzanne Perry, have deftly weaved solemn soundscapes with intelligent, thoughtful poetry. Unafraid of emerging electronic styles, Lum embraced ideas from genres as disparate as drum & bass and goth to evolve Love Spirals Downwards’ unique sound. Temporal serves as a great introduction to their music, a thirteen track CD offering remixes of “Misunderstood” and “Alicia” from 1998’s Flux, as well as songs from their earlier albums. Hearing early songs like the tenebrous “Ladonna Dissima” from 1992’s Idylls illustrates how versatile and adventurous the duo is. Fans will also appreciate “Amarillo” and “Mediterranea,” previously only available as singles or on compilations. This release reminds me of how much I anxiously await Love Spirals Downwards’ next album. ~ David Slatton

Band News, Review

Temporal Review in URB

URB Issue No. 75 June 2000 features a review of our retrospective album released by Projekt earlier this year:

Temporal (Projekt) A few years ago, a couple of phenomena exploded out of the UK and into the American consciousness: the post-Portishead wave of trip-hop groups (basically. anything with beats and a female singer), plus the smooth drum & bass most prominently showcased stateside via LTJ Bukem. Both of those models have found a happy hybrid in the recent music of Love Spirals Downwards. But LSD’s existence predates either of those styles. The electronic washes and gentle tug of implied beats carried along their early, ethereal pop. It was a perfect platform for Ryan Lum’s compositional evolution toward the quiet but emphatic breakbeats heard on LSD’s 1998 CD, Flux. Temporal is a collection which looks back through the haze, opening with three tracks that have their genesis in the Flux sessions: two unreleased remixes and an album cut. The music then drifts backward in time, showcasing an increasingly ambient sensibility in tracks that date all the way to 1992. Whether or not these numbers have appeared on the group’s full-lengths, they show consistency in one key respect the crystal-clear voice of Suzanne Perry. It’s all very lovely, a nice sound to chill to after a hard night of pounding kick drums.

By Benjamin Diaz

Band News

Upcoming Ryan DJ sets

Still spinning on a regular basis, I have upcoming slots where you can catch me, dropping atmospheric drum ‘n’ bass and downtempo tunes…

  • La Belle Epoque: May 13th, San Francisco at The Top DJ Bar, 424 Haight St. (between Webster and Fillmore, 21 and over, $5). I’ll be on from 10pm to midnight. This club is the West Coast mecca for atmospheric drum and bass. I had a most incredible time DJ’ing there last year, and this time will be even better as I look forward to playing some acetates of new unreleased Lovespirals material.
  • Caffeinated: May 20th, Santa Barbara. Held by the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts forum, 653 Paseo Nuevo, Santa Barbara, CA. This multi-media party and art opening goes from 8pm – 2 am, is $10 admission, and open to all ages. Call (805) 966-5373 for more info or visit their site.
Interview

Sideline April/May/June 2000 Interview

Ryan Lum and Suzanne Perry started imposing their own style of ethereal music back in the early nineties. Refusing to see his music getting static, Ryan has always opted for innovation, sharpening his melodies and every time enriching the mood and atmosphere of his compositions that were better and better fitting Suzanne’s lilting voice. Today, Love Spiral Downwards release a retrospective collection of rare and unreleased material on Projekt Records, the perfect occasion for Sideline to look back with Ryan on one decade of melodic sumptuousness. 

By Julie Johnson

Sideline: How was Temporal a good way to start 2000 with a collection of past to present songs with never heard songs?

LSD: It was kind of nice to step back and survey the whole history of the band before beginning the new millennium— to take stock of all the work and realize that I  really like a lot of what we’ve done. And there were some tracks I had done recently for things that didn’t pan out, so this was a great way to get them out on CD where people can hear them.

Sideline: How does Temporal illustrate growth and maturity in the band?

LSD: Temporal shows the progress of the music over time; the similarities as well as the differences. I notice the differences in my recording set up and gear, but that’s just my focus. People like to talk about the sound change for the band, but really, it’s been a gradual process. The music reflects the changes in our lives and interests over time, and this album kinda sums that up. We aren’t static people, and Love Spirals Downwards is not a static band; everything is merely temporal.

Continue reading Sideline April/May/June 2000 Interview →
Band News

Ryan DJs Love Cat House

On Friday April 14, I’ll be spinning on the very unique “Dinner With a DJ” online music show, at the infamous Love Cat House. The show goes on at 9pm PST, and continues well into the early morning hours. I believe they archive their shows, so you might check for that later.

For those who’ve never caught one of my sets and are curious as to what they sound like, I’ve put up my mix set from last year, entitled “Atmopshere ’99,” on Live 365.com, under the Jungle and Dance categories. You’ll need a connection faster than a 56k modem to listen to it.

Launch.com just did a feature story, taken from an interview with Suzanne and I, at their site.

Review

Temporal Review in Magnet Magazine

A sassy review of Temporal appears in Magnet Magazine Issue 44 for April/May 2000. Projekt send over a press clipping to share. It reads:

As one of the most consistent ethereal bands of the last decade, Love Spirals Downwards has absolutely nowhere to go but … down. This retrospective collection of unreleased and hard-to-find synthetic dreamscapes succeeds on a variety of cosmic levels. With Ryan Lum writing and performing the music and Suzanne Perry providing the words and vocals, LSD is an exotically insular sound machine. While Lum’s grasp of technology isn’t always distinctive and Perry’s warble can feel overly familiar, the pair still generates a dramatic wall of sound that stands proudly alongside the works of Dead Can Dance and the Cocteau Twins. Using slight touches of acoustic guitar, saxophone and percussion on top of their ambient/goth electronics and windswept vocals, Perry and Lum are able to create and sustain a mood that’s nearly alien and wholly atmospheric. Still, if you don’t enjoy working your way through a vast abyss of chiming guitars, swirling synthesizers and haunting female croons, Temporal may not be the ideal purchase. Achromatically packaged and containing moodist masterworks like “Asleep,” “Depression Glass” and “This Endris Night,” this album certainly has the icy sound required to keep things properly evocative. Anyone else feel like having an absinthe?

—Mitch Myers

Review

Temporal Review in Lexicon

A new review of Temporal has appeared in Lexicon Magazine #15, and Projekt sent along a clipping to share. I appreciate L’Ange Noir’s Huxley reference in this quirky review, and find myself wondering which record store they work at.

Smooth and relaxing as if on holiday, this new album by Love Spirals Downwards is like dropping “three (grammes) for a dark eternity on the moon” in reference to Huxley’s soma holiday. For the novice this is the definitive starting point for an acquaintance with LSD and most definitely a great way to get to know the Darkwave/Ethereal genre that predominates Sam Rosenthal’s Projekt label.

Continue reading Temporal Review in Lexicon →