Love Spirals Downwards have joined Bandcamp at long last, starting off with the remastered reissue of their 1992 debut album, ‘Idylls.’ This 2007 remastered reissue of ‘Idylls’ is much improved in sound quality from the original CD and cassette version, with more sonic depth and clarity. It also features 3 additional tracks, including Love Spirals Downwards first ever recorded song, “Mediterranea,” a live version of “Scattery January,” and a rare extended mix of “Love’s Labours Lost” from the out-of-print “Heavenly Voices Pt. 1” comp. Buy the Projekt Records digital CD or digital download in your choice of audio file format now!
“Like a cloud-ride to a heaven via angelic voices and delicate music.” -Industrial Nation
Ryan Lum performs the classic LSD song “Avincenna” from the 1994 album Ardor live in his studio. He also shares a few factoids about the song and his approach to playing it. This is the first of the bonus material that we promised to share on the Love Spirals Downwards YouTube channel.
Ryan Lum of Love Spirals Downwards and Lovespirals recreates his instrumental classic “Mirrors A Still Sky” from LSD’s 1994 album ‘Ardor’.
“I’ve been in the ethereal zone for some time while writing new material, and I thought it’d be a fun challenge to recreate an old LSD song with a superior recording studio. It’s not an exact duplication; I’ve kept the original’s vibe and intent while bringing in a few new elements to enhance the mood. It’s a very emotionally intense instrumental and revisiting it brought back a rush of the feelings I had while creating the song 20 years ago. I hope this new recording may bring a similar joy to the listeners as it brought me to work on this project.”
— Ryan Lum
NOTE: this re-recording is now available as a bonus track on ‘Temporal’ digital release on Bandcamp!
Ryan of Love Spirals Downwards has been quite active as of late with the band’s YouTube channel. Dissatisfied with the audio quality of the band’s tracks on previously found on YouTube, he’s has been uploading his own videos with the highest quality possible on YouTube. Already, Idylls is available in its entirety with most of Ardor as well. Expect to find rare bonus tracks and previously unreleased material in the not so distant future. Be sure to subscribe to the Love Spirals Downwards YouTube Channel to stay up to date.
Aubrey and Gregg of Golden Gardens were interviewed for the No Goddamn Dancing blog and were asked about the upcoming ‘Brickbat Boat’ event:
Did they have anything to do with this late-night, shoegaze/goth/ethereal-themed cruise down the Willamette River that I’ve been hearing about?
A: Nope! That was entirely organized by DJ Wednesday and DJ Curatrix, the ladies of Brickbat Mansion, a monthly shoegaze/ethereal/dreampop night in Portland. We met them when we played a show at The Lovecraft Bar (where Brickbat is hosted) in December of 2011. We’ve been good friends for a while and they regularly spin our music at their monthly night.
Another fun night at Club Violaine. This time it was a Saint Marie Records night to launch a new release by local band, Broaddaylight. Ryan was one of several DJs that night, along with James of Broaddaylight and Mo of The Flir, plus house DJs Doomie and JuaNN. Local bands Sway, The Bixby Knolls, and Ancient Arms also performed.
Check out a few pix from the event:
DJ Ryan LumThe Fair’s Mo & Broaddaylight with Lovespirals
Ryan’s DJ mix included an unreleased brand new Lovespirals song plus an unreleased Closedown song Ryan produced in the mid-90’s Check it all out on MixCloud:
Club Violane, “LA’s only shoegazer & dream pop party,” recently returned after a 2 year hiatus to celebrate a visit from one of its beloved founders, DJ Wednesday. Everyone came out to celebrate — including Suzanne — as well as Drew Pluta (formerly of Arcanta) and Rodney Rodriguez (formerly of The Von Trapps and Melodyguild), both of whom performed with LSD at our last concert. We also met up with Tom of Mira, whom I don’t think I’ve seen since Lovespirals toured with them in 2002.
Anji & Suzy with EricRodney, Drew & RyanTom, Drew, Anji & RyanAnji, Tom, Drew, and Suzanne
There’s a cool video about Club Violaine reopening on YouTube:
Check out the brand new Lovespirals recording of an original holiday song by Lovespirals vocalist/lyricist, Anji Bee, for the Projekt Records holiday music compilation, ‘Ornamental‘ — available on double CD or digital download. Love Spirals Downwards band founder, Ryan Lum, returns to his vintage Projekt-era roots with melancholic dream pop guitars and lovely female vocal harmonies. Stream it or download it from Bandcamp or check out the official upload on YouTube.
John Diliberto of the nationally syndicated radio show Echoes has reviewed the new Projekt holiday compilation CD, Ornamental. Entitled “It’s Christmas. Projekt Gets Ornamental,” reads in part:
There are a lot of post-Cocteau Twins shoegazer ruminations on the album. Autumn’s Grey Solace … Ashkelon Sain & the Dorian Fields… Unto Ashes… LoveSpirals, who had a couple of my favorite Excelsissongs, (“Welcome Christmas” in their Love Spirals Downwards edition and “Aspen Glow” as LoveSpirals) return with another evocative seasonal song, an original called “Happy Holidays” featuring Anji Bee, who sings it with sophisticated élan, like she’s casting knowing glances over her shoulder against Ryan Lum’s chiming guitars.
I’ve been begging for musicians to create a different kind of seasonal music besides the rote rendering of the same 25 or so holiday chestnuts over-roasted on an open fire. Projekt has been fulfilling that since 1995 with Excelsis. Ornamental takes them in a slightly less gothic and doom-laden mode and makes it a likely pick for the best seasonal CD of 2012, if your tastes in seasonal music heads towards the abyss.
The review, featured in the Program Highlights section of the Echoes website, also includes one of our Future Past band portraits taken by Susan Jennings — a nice surprise!
