Category Archives: artist of the week

Anji Bee reviews one Chillcast artist per week.

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Falling You Album ‘Adore’ Features Anji Bee

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The 2-time NAR Lifestyle Music Award winning musical project, Falling You, just released a new album entitled, Adore. Enigmatic band founder and producer, John Michael Zorko, has long worked with a revolving cast of talented and varied female vocalists including Suzanne Perry (of Melodyguild and Love Spirals Downwards), Victoria Lloyd (of Claire Voyant and Mono Chrome), Dru Allen (of Mirabilis and This Ascension), Erica Mulkey (AKA Unwoman), and Shikhee (of Android Lust) — just to name a few — and now adds Lovespirals vocalist, Anji Bee, to that list.

Bee contributes lyrics and vocals to the ambient opening track, “Blessed,” penned about her relationship with bandmate, Ryan Lum, who engineered and recorded her vocal tracks for this long distance musical collaboration. Friend of Lovespirals and Falling You, Ken Lee (of Eleven Shadows), mixed and mastered the track (and indeed, the whole album) alongside Zorko at his Blueberry Buddha Recording Studios.

Lum’s former bandmate, Suzanne Perry, contributed lyrics and vocals to the track, “Champagne,” which follows Bee’s cut on the album. With its summery dream pop feel, Perry’s collaboration brings to mind her work with Melodyguild. Suzanne’s vocals were engineered and recorded by Melodyguild bandmate, Cris Miller (of Silver Screen). Suzanne had previously been featured on Falling You’s 2006 album, Human, and 2008 album, Faith.

Another highlight of the album is closing track, “Alchemy,” featuring Kirsty Hawkshaw. Famous for her work with Opus II, BT, Tiesto, and Delerium, Hawkshaw has a long and impressive list of dance music credits to her name. Her breathy voice and high harmonies add a lovely depth and focus to Zorko’s light-as-air beats and textures.

Though known for his melancholic mix of ambient textures and ethereal vocals, Zorko wanted to “explore a more optimistic side of emotional music and this gift called life.”  To this end, Zorko employed liberal use of heavy, distorted, electric guitar in the vein of classic 90’s shoegazer acts like My Bloody Valentine and Ride, which may surprise his long time listeners!

Adore is available as a digital download now directly from the Magnatune site, with CDs to follow soon. Watch for it on iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, etc later this month.

As a side note, Zorko contributed a Falling You remix to Lovespirals’ Love EP released in June 2010.

artist of the week

5th Anniversary Free Compilation

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In celebration of the 5th Anniversary of The Chillcast with Anji Bee, Anji has compiled an hour long compilation, called 5 Years Of Chillin’, featuring brand new unreleased tracks by Chillcast regulars MoShang, Chill Factor-5, 7 Day Visa, Lovespirals (Bee’s band with partner, Ryan Lum) and Anji Bee, herself — plus hard to find tracks by Adam Fielding, Mr. Meeble, and The Grooveblaster, as well as a few favorite songs by Ernesto & Markus Z, Under, Science for Girls, Sunburn in Cyrpus, Kilbey-Kennedy, and Karmacoda. All of the artists have generously donated their work gratis, and Bee will be making this comp available for free download.

The Chillcast with Anji Bee was twice-nominated “Best Podsafe Music Podcast”. Since 2006, Bee has had over 5 million downloads of nearly 300 audio episodes and 55 video episodes, featuring approximately 1,500 bands and artists in a wide range of electronica genres guaranteed to soothe you and groove you.

Download 5 Years Of Chillin’ for FREE at anjibee.bandcamp.com

artist of the week, music, news

Lovespirals ‘Love EP’ Out Now

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Lovespirals is the musical project of musician, Ryan Lum, and vocalist, Anji Bee – your humble Chillcast hostess… The first single from our fourth album, Future Past, to get the full remix treatment is “Love” – an atmospheric drum ‘n’ bass tune that recalls some of our earliest work together. A half dozen producers from totally different musical schools of thought set my poppy yet ethereal vocals to completely new musical scores. From angular drum ‘n’ bass, to lush downtempo, to atmospheric ambient music, this moody collection covers a lot of sonic ground. Chillcast listeners should be familiar with most — if not all — of the contributing producers which includes:  Chill Factor-5, 7 Day Visa, Divasonic, Soul Whirling Somewhere, Falling You, and Xurba.

You can download each individual track from LastFM (mark you favorite remixes with “Love This Track”) or Bandcamp. Or you can download the entire EP — which includes the original album version of “Love” — in one click for just 99¢ from Lovespirals’ Webstore or Lovespirals’ Bandcamp Page — the later of which offers you the chance to pay whatever amount you deem fit. Both Bandcamp and LastFM have built-in social media tools that allow you to easily repost links to emails, Twitter, Facebook, and other services with the “Share” pull down menus, so be sure to tell a friend! Podcasters, DJs, Internet DJs, and music bloggers are all encouraged to share these tunes with their audiences, as well. If you’re feeling the love, please write a review of the Love EP on iTunes, Amazon Mp3, or CDbaby — even if you did download it free elsewhere. Lovespirals would appreciate you giving us a little love in return. 🙂

Listen to every track on the Love EP:

Lovespirals, review

Chillcast Artist of the Month: Lovespirals

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Lovespirals is the musical project of musician, Ryan Lum, and vocalist, Anji Bee – your humble Chillcast hostess… We’ve just released our 4th full-length album, Future Past, on our own label, Chillcuts. A limited edition 6 panel eco-friendly digipac was pre-released over the 2009 winter holiday via the Lovespirals webstore, where Ryan and I personally autograph CDs by request from fans — and as a special treat, we have been including a free high-quality mp3 download with all CD sales for instant listening gratification. The official release of Future Past, however, was January 1, 2010 when it launched on iTunes and Amazon.

Our first single is the bittersweet downtempo pop song, “Shine,” which premiered on The Chillcast and has been featured on podcasts and Internet radio stations including Dave’s Lounge, Groovera, Soma FM, and Tranquility Du Jour. “Shine” also garnered “Best Female Vocals” and “Song of the Day” awards from the Garageband music site. Beth Hirsch, reknown for her vocal work on the classic Air album, Moon Safari, called the song’s chorus “unforgettable,” going on to say, “Future Past is easily one of the best chill out albums to welcome in 2010. The album is sexy, moody, bluesy, ethereal – pure Lovespirals”.

Many have said the album sounds like Air and Zero 7, though Chillout Scene blog pointed out, “I think Ryan’s bluesy guitar playing is what makes them unique and even more interesting than Zero 7 since they don’t just stick to acoustic guitar parts and electronic drum and bass tracks.” Music Tap further enthused, “With Manzarek-like keyboards, a masterful bluesy guitar, and an angelic voice, the 11 tracks that you’ll find on this magnificent surprise are not to be missed. Future Past is their masterpiece work to date.”

Stream all of Future Past free from Last.FM who also offer a free download of “Shine”

Read more and view pix from the cover photoshoot on the official Future Past discography page

Lovespirals 2009 Hallway
review

Artist of the Month: Fonogeri

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Hungarian electronica producer, Fonogeri, has recently released all 3 of his soothing, melancholic chillout albums on Creative Commons music site, Jamendo. This means that you can stream every track in full AND download the mp3s absolutely FREE! His latest album, Letters From Home, was just released this past August and contains a staggering 20 tracks. After having sampled his earlier albums, I would have to agree with the artist statement that this is “Fonogeri’s hottest album.” While still retaining the ambient atmosphere of past releases, Letters adds “a bit of the Hungarian spice,” as the bio so aptly puts it. There is an edgier feeling to these compositions — perhaps a slight urban feel — that helps propel the album along. Breaking up the largely instrumental pieces are a few with vocal samples which add a more human element which I appreciate. The lyrics of “Tough Song,” in particular, add to that “urban” feel; “Uptown. Feeling it baby…” I could easily imagine Fonogeri’s music alongside the artists of Sine Music, Tyranno Lounge Records, or Billo Music. This is some pretty top notch chillout lounge, so I suggest you download it now while you can still get it for free!

Fonogeri

Download Letters From Home (VBR mp3)
Stream Letters From Home on Jamendo

review

Artist of the Week: 7 Day Visa

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7 Day Visa is the musical project of electronica producer, Jamahl Richardson AKA Natural Fact. After having toured Japan with Chillcast regulars, The Shanghai Restoration Project, Richardson was inspired to create music based on his experiences in this new country. The result is an 8 song album, Tokyo, which truly brings to life the sounds of this magical city in musical form. It’s almost hard to believe these songs were created by an Oakland native living in Brooklyn! Not only is the music of this album totally engrossing — yet fairly laidback — but the accompanying artwork and website add even more to the experience. Be sure to read the “scrapbook” segment of 7dayvisa.com to learn more about each song’s inspiration — complete with gorgeous photography — and the “sights and sounds” section for additional video footage and photos set to a sampler of music from the album. Even more exciting is that this is just the first in a planned series of travel-related albums from 7 Day Visa, released on the Undercover Culture Music label (run by Dave Liang of Shanghai Restoration Project) . You can be sure you’ll be hearing more about those on upcoming episodes!

7 Day Visa
“Sakura Stroll” (mp3)
from “Tokyo”
(Undercover Culture Music)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Stream from Rhapsody
More On This Album

artist of the week, review

Artist Of The Week: Sleepthief ‘Labyrinthine Heart’

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Its been 3 years since Justin Elwick’s debut album as Sleepthief,  but it seems his time has been well spent. This 12 track collection of new songs offers a subtle range of moods and emotions, helped in part by the delicious variety of vocals contributed by a veritable who’s-who of ethereal vocal collaborators. I would have said “divas” but for the notable exception of male vocalist, Coury Palermo, a welcome addition to the album’s otherwise female lineup. Returning guest artists from previous album, The Dawnseeker, are Kirsty Hawkshaw, Kristy Thirsk, Jody Quine, Caroline Lavelle, and Roberta Carter Harrison. Additional divas this time include Zoe Johnston and Joanna Stevens, both of Delerium fame, and both excellent choices for this project. The music flows effortlessly between symphonic New Age styled pieces such as “Here I Confess,” “Skimming Stones,” and “Ariadne,” to more upbeat pop-edged fare, such as “A Cut From a Fight,” “Fire King,” and the album single, “World Gone Crazy.” Labyrinthine Heart is available digitally on iTunes and Amazon Mp3, but I highly recommend picking up the CD for the gorgeous album art and booklet which includes the lyrics to every romantic song with amazing visual accompaniment.

Sleepthief

Download “A Kind Of Magic (ft. Zoe Johnston)” 128 mp3 (Until 9/14/2009)
Stream Labyrinthine Heart at Last.FM
Purchase Labyrinthine Heart on iTunes
Purchase Labyrinthine Heart CD or MP3s on Amazon

A hearty thank you to Justin for allowing The Chillcast to host a limited time download of one of my favorite songs on the album!

artist of the week, review

Artist of the Week: Merge of Equals

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Germany’s Sine Music has become a staple of The Chillcast with their steady flow of laid back compilations such as Chillbar, Cosmic Chill Lounge, and Cool Off Chillout. One of the acts that consistently stands out from these collections is, without a doubt, Merge of Equals. Zurich producer, Flavio Maspoli, has collected 18 of his moody chillout singles to create the first-ever artist album for this comp-centric label. And the timing couldn’t be more perfect! With summer in full swing, this hour and a half long mix of lush instrumentals and exotic vocal tracks is sure to set the mood for drinks with friends out under the stars on those long, warm nights. Now you know I love female vocals so I’m pleased to note that this album features an International mix of lovely singers including Gina Estrada, Shunnae Love, Megumi, Sitta, Kotomi, and Fiona Daniel. All in all, Merge of Equals’ Intoxicating certainly lives up to it’s title with dreamy soundscapes and a loungey Ibiza mood.

Sine Music and Merge of Equals have generously allowed us to offer a free download of the song “Photic Zone” from this album for a limited time. You can also stream 3 other songs in full from the Last.FM site, so be sure to check it out!

Merge of Equals

Download “Photic Zone” (320 mp3) – sorry, this download is no longer available!
Buy Intoxicating on iTunes
Buy Intoxicating on Beatport

Song streams from this CD on Last.FM:

artist of the week, review

Artist of the Week: Sleepthief

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Justin Elswick gives us a taste of what’s to come on the new Sleepthief album with his first single, “World Gone Crazy.” This digital release includes 5 remixes, all featuring the vocals of Coury Palermo, formerly of the band Lynden. His emotive voice sounds amazing in each musical setting, and I must point out that the vocal production is simply outstanding in every mix. If this is an indication of what we can expect from the new Sleepthief album, then it should prove to be truly top notch. I would have loved to hear the original version on this EP, but I guess we’ll just have to wait for the full album. Meanwhile, the Sensory Gate mix has the sort of lush melancholy I’ve come to expect from Sleepthief releases, while the Psychosomatic mix throws a bit of radio friendliness into the production, and Nick Murray – as could be expected – gives it the full club treatment. By the way, there was apparently a bit of a mixup with the masters and so iTunes is currently offering the demo version of Murray’s mix. I’m told it should be updated by the end of the week. If you are a completist, you may want to grab this soon-to-be rarity from iTunes while you can.

Sleepthief
“World Gone Crazy (ft. Coury Palermo)”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon Digital
Stream the full EP on Sleepthief’s MySpace

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Artist of the Week: Under

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The debut album of San Francisco duo, Under, has been several years in the making, but I must say, it has been well worth the wait! Their inspired self-titled first single was featured in the Chillcast Top 20 Podsafe Tracks of 2006, and this moody tune is still my favorite. While the earlier tracks taken from the Under EP might be the band’s strongest material, the newer songs have a delicate touch that provides a sweetly ethereal counterpoint. Jen Triano’s voice has a vulnerable, unforced quality that feels pleasingly familiar and shines equally brightly in either an electonic or rock setting, which Under balances beautifully on More Pleasant Grey.

Under
“Under” (mp3)
from “More Pleasant Grey”
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy from Amie St