Feb 2000: Drifting Toward a Romantic Twilight
Just as Valentine's day can bring about all kinds of emotions with regards to romantic love, so can romantic music take on many different forms. Such is the case with the duo known as Love Spirals Downwards. They were one of the first acts to exist on the Projekt record label, which has been a specialist in all manner of gothic, electronic, ambient and other various ethereal kinds of music for over 10 years now. From their 1992 debut, Idylls, to 1998's very popular flux, Love Spirals Downwars has always existed in a moody, enchanting universe all its own, thanks to the musicscapes of guitarist/keyboardist Ryan Lun, and the unearthly crooning of vocalist Suzanne Perry. Their earlier releases contain haunting, drifting melodies and layered, melancholy vocals reminiscent of Enya, while later albums incorporate some gentle yet vital dancebeats into the spell. Now, Love Spirals Downwards releases a long-overdue retrospective titled Temporal. It features 13 songs spanning all of their albums and singles, and includes six previously unreleased tracks. It is a comprehensive overview of the duo's many shades. Whether you're relaxing in the dark tranquility of post-first-date bliss, or are swimming in the nostalgia of love lost, this album will help you keep warm. -- Jeff Stringer

8 / 10 While perhaps not a landmark "shoegazer" group like a handful of British bands (My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive), Los Angeles-based Love Spirals Downwards (comprised primarily of multi-instrumentalist-turned-DJ Ryan Lum and vocalist-lyricist Suzanne Perry) has, in its eight-year history, more than adequately represented America's contributions to the genre. It has also managed to outlast most -- if not all, so long as MBV's Kevin Shields remains in hiding -- of its peers. Chalk up the group's survival to a willingness to bump against and bend stylistic confines. While music's perpetual evolution occasionally imprisons bands within their niche, Love Spirals Downwards has co-evolved, fearless of adding new tones to its palette and heading off in new directions when dead ends pop up along well-worn routes. Consider the twosome the goth equivalent of Everything But The Girl, another revitalized boy-girl duo that found, after years of making bedroom/headphone music, that they liked the nightlife, that they had to boogie.

Temporal, a retrospective that includes six previously unreleased tracks, displays the many fine forms resulting from the group's adaptation. Unfolding in reverse chronological order, the album charts the band's growth from a heavily ethereal folk duo with a surplus of goth appeal to its more recent incarnation as an atmospheric drum 'n' bass outfit. The style switch seems coldly contrived when described, but Temporal's layout makes it sound like a no-brainer. In retrospect, the album argues, even the group's earliest, least tangible work was setting the stage for its eventual embrace of electronica. Some of the most ephemeral tracks on Idylls, LSD's first release, practically beg for the breakbeats that dominate Flux, their most recent full-length album.

In a weird way, Temporal answers that request, which makes it a bit of an odd bird among the flock of single-group compilations. While most groups or labels might have chosen a more obvious approach to the retrospective -- assembling the band's "greatest hits" or strongest single material -- LSD and Projekt have chosen to focus on collecting songs that best reflect the group's transition between styles. This isn't a "best of," but rather, something a little more didactic, the equivalent of a boxer fighting a match with one arm tied behind his back. With by-now characteristic grace, LSD shows how easily it married its early, almost formless vignettes to the rigid structure of drum 'n' bass and spawned (yet another) sub-subgenre of jungle.

So, while the album neglects the group's most pop-attuned songs (in chronological order, Idylls' "Stir About the Stars," Ardor's "Writhe in Water" and "Will You Fade," Ever's "Sideways Forest" and "Delta," all of which deserve collection at some point) it allows other songs' submerged strong points to emerge and command new attention. The swelling, layered vocals of Ardor's "Depression Glass" and Perry's angelic sing-song chorus on Idylls's "This Endriss Night" both deserved more consideration than they probably received from listeners the first time around, as did Lum's moody acoustic guitar textures on "Ladonna Dissima" and his exploration of trip-hop beats on Ever's "Madras."

Also receiving some long-needed attention are six previously unreleased tracks, ranging from dance remixes of already dance-floor-friendly songs (Flux's "Alicia" and "Misunderstood," both of which favorably showcase Ryan Lum's choice to blend live guitar and original synth textures with drum 'n' bass beats) to a live staple ("Mediterranea") and a live version of an album track (Ardor's chill-inducing "Subsequently," which showcases Perry's impossibly angelic voice). All of the songs display a smooth-as-ether ambience, a unifying trait that has long masked this very mellow band's adventurous, survivalist qualities. Temporal marks yet another in Love Spirals Downwards' unbroken series of subtle triumphs, a serene reflection on a career bursting with unassuming creative victories.

Temporal is a retrospective album of the band's past from 1992 to the present. One of the most noticable things about the album is the transition of Love Spiral Downward's sound, from the more atmospheric style of their first two releases Idylls and Ardor, to the predominantly drum n' bass latest release Flux, and the release prior to that, Ever, which contains both types of styles. Temporal also features two well done remixes from Flux, in addition to three tracks previously released only on compilations and singles, and a live performance of "Subsequently" from Ardor. Temporal is a release that can be enjoyed by those already familiar with the band and a good recommendation for the uninitiated who want to "catch up." -- Bryan W.

Pick of the week: Love Spirals Downwards shares a psychedelic code with the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and a musical code with groups like the Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance. Guitarist Ryan Lum creates a lush, ambient style of rock that surrounds the swirling arabesque of Suzanne Perry's wordless vocals. Like Elizabeth Frazer and Lisa Gerrard, Perry usually sings in a dialect of the imagination, yet one that it serenely intimate and seductive.

This anthology takes some of their best tracks from the albums, Ever, Idylls, Ardor and Flux as well as a few pieces from obscure collections. Suzanne Perry calls out like an angel in a land of ruin on the lacy reverb of "Kykeon" and "Madras." Her lyrics are a textural puzzle, suggesting meaning and hidden intent like a hieroglyphic of the soul. Ryan Lum's layered, overtone-laden guitars echo her incantations. Moving back through time, this album starts with the electronica grooves of their last album Flux into the ethereal atmospheres of their 1992 album, Idylls. It ends with the heroic "Mediterrenea," from an old Projekt records collection. If you don't have any LSD albums, this is the place to start. - John Diliberto