The final 2010 episode of Chillcast Video features a little holiday surprise I put together for you! Three days into editing together footage for this music video I almost gave up, but I’m glad I pushed through and got it completed. Thanks to my Lovespirals partner, Ryan Lum, for his production genius on the tune and filming assistance on the video. I hope you enjoy my new single and video called “Happy Holidays.” You can download this video for FREE from the Lovespirals Vimeo Account. The song is available now on iTunes, Amazon, eMusic and other digital music retailers.
So here we go with the annual Chillcast Holiday Mix! I had lots of great Christmas and winter-themed tracks to choose from this year, with a nice variety of moods and musical styles. From classic songs to original tunes, vocal pieces to instrumentals, I’ve got a pleasantly varied mix of holiday music you aren’t likely to hear elsewhere in the pod-o-sphere. And some of these tracks are free, to boot! This was produced DJ mix style, so you can listen without interruption at all your holiday gatherings. Happy Holidays! (NOTE: my first posting had a volume error, so this is a corrected reposting.)
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“Happy Holidays” is the first all-original holiday song released by Lovespirals vocalist/lyricist, Anji Bee, who’s perhaps best-known as the hostess/producer of weekly electronica music show, The Chillcast.
Working with Lovespirals partner, Ryan Lum, Bee has crafted a deceptively bittersweet pop nugget filled with heartugging violins, funky bass and wah guitar, and a relaxed house beat — with just a hint of cool wintry nights wafting through. Bee’s warm, enveloping vocals pleasantly recall Tracey Thorn (of Everything But The Girl) and Karen Carpenter with her laid back yet passionate delivery and personal holiday message.
Sometimes in the midst of the holiday hub bub of parties and pretty blinking lights one finds themselves reminiscing of the past and wanting to reconnect to a long lost loved one… just to say “Happy Holidays!”
But some say they’re annoyed by what they see as attention-grabbing antics. Do pop stars’ constructions (be they costumes or stage sets) put pressure on less well-funded women musicians to be outrageous, to get more naked or cross more lines just to get noticed?
Anji Bee, Lovespirals: From my perspective, the most important thing is to develop a strong internet presence that includes quality audio, video, and photos. The more professional you come across, the more likely people are to take you seriously. I personally wouldn’t rely on gimmicks to get attention, but that seems to be working out for Lady Gaga, so who am I to say anything against it?
For the record, the question I was answering was: “What advice would you give to a woman musician just starting out?” You can read all my responses to the NPR Hey Ladies questionnaire.
This is a great series which includes many fantastic female artists who gave much more interesting answers than I did in my questionnaire, and I highly recommend you check it out!
This month’s episode of The Chillcast with Anji Bee is being featured once again on the front page of Mevio, along with a video clip of Anji on Mevio Today. Bryan Ford’s “Here All Along (Feat. Ava Fain)” plays in the background as Anji announces the episode. Check it out below or directly from the Mevio site at meviotoday.mevio.com.
Ryan and Anji take a minute out of their busy schedule (well, 30 mins. actually) to fill you in on all the latest band news, including Lovespirals’ appearance at the Harlot Happy Hour with Karmacoda and Divasonic next Friday, Ryan using the iPad DJ app, Sonosaurus Rex, Anji recording vocals for 2 versions of the same song; one with Ryan and one with The Grooveblaster, releasing the Love EP (featuring remixes by Soul Whirling Somewhere, 7Day Visa, Chill Factor-5, Falling You, Divasonic, and Xurba), being featured on the CDBaby Music Discovery Podcast, Anji playing WeRule on the iPad with a Lovespirals fan, seeing Robert Rich perform in Pomona (and visiting him next weekend!), bumping into Autumn Reeser and finding out she loves Future Past, plus a long clip of “Love (Xurba Remix)” from Lovespirals’ brand new Love EP. BTW, it turns out the last time Lovespirals did DJ sets was December 2004 for Relax @ Kitsch Bar in Costa Mesa. You can check out a list of Ryan’s DJ sets on this list of Love Spirals Downwards performances.
Lovespirals will return to San Fran for what is sure to be another great night at Harlot on July 9th. Once again, Anji will join Karmacoda for their amazing rendition of “Motherless Child” from Lovespirals’ 2007 Motherless Child EP, as well as backing vocals on one or two of the band’s original songs. Ryan will be doing iPad DJ sets throughout the night, including a special “Anji Bee” set between live performances by Divasonic and Karmacoda to debut songs from her upcoming new album. He’s sure to include a track or two from Lovespirals’ brand new Love EP, which includes a remix by Divasonic. Thanks to Sean Yamamoto for the pic of Karmacoda with Lovespirals from the last Harlot show.
July 9th, 2010
7 pm to 10 pm No Cover, 21+ Harlot
46 Minna Street
San Francisco, CA 94118
415.777.1077 www.harlotsf.com
Anji and Ryan are back after a 2 month hiatus with lots of news and stories. Lovespirals updated their recording studio ever so slightly with a 2nd vintage PCM 70 reverb unit and two new audio sampler packs which the duo have been using in their work on an upcoming Anji Bee “solo” album. The band go into a lot of detail as to the whys and whats of that project, and share a clip of their new version of “Love Me Leave Me” at the show’s close. The duo also talk about several recent Anji Bee musical collaborations, the new Love EP due out soon, adding more music to Lovespirals’ bandcamp store, taking part in the upcoming Karmacoda gig at Harlot on July 9th, and meeting Autumn Reeser at this month’s Thrilling Adventure Hour at Largo.
There’s lots of new Anji Bee tunes in the works with a variety of musical collaborators, and I’m pretty excited about everything that’s going on! First and foremost, I’d like to officially announce that I am currently in the process of recording the first Anji Bee branded album. Woot! After a decade of releasing one-off singles containing my lyrics and vocal arrangements with various artists from all over the world, I thought it was high time I collected together all of my favorite ideas into one perfected package. You can expect to hear many of your favorite tunes from over the years, plus some brand new tracks co-written with my longtime musical partner, Ryan Lum, of Lovespirals. We’re working more closely than ever to bring my songs to life in the most polished versions possible. You have no idea how hard it is for me to keep these tunes under wraps…
Aside from this massive project, I have also contributed vocals/lyrics to new songs by Falling You, The Grooveblaster, and Karmacoda for their next albums. I also have a new single with Nick Murray, called “Have I Known You,” coming out on Loverush Digital this summer. I understand there will be several remixes by other dance music producers on the single, but I don’t know who yet! And speaking of remixes, several new ccMixter-related songs have come out recently using my vocals from the CC Asia Band project. One of these was just released on a 2-CD set by Buddha Bar DJ, Benoit Cassar, for the 2nd installation of his compilation series, Danai. “Buddhahood (ft. Anji Bee)” is included on Danai, Vol. 2 (CD 1: Camera Rolling), available now on iTunes, eMusic, and Amazon. Then there’s the “Floating Buddha Mix” by ccMixter producer, Vo1k1 of “Crossing the Pond,” which is a free download. The final collab I’d like to mention is an amazing rework of my vocals from the 2007 song, “En La Oscuridad,” that I recorded for Creative Commons band, Moosefrog. Jamahl of 7 Day Visa created a very sexy new version called “Que Quiero” for his new album, Buenos Aires, due out this summer.
And last, but not least, I’ve been wrapping up work on a big remix project for Lovespirals which should see the light of day in a few weeks. The ‘Love EP’ will contain remixes by a variety of indie artists (and friends) including Chill Factor-5, Divasonic, Xurba, 7 Day Visa, Falling You, and Soul Whirling Somewhere. This is a very unique remix set which moves between upbeat dance mixes and moody ambient versions of this track from Lovespirals’ new album, Future Past.
