Phonocratic Records

I have had a fantastic week in the studio, finishing four songs for the new album, due for release this Autumn, as well as completing a Laurie Anderson remix (voting is still open). If my voice permits (I have had a terrible cold for more than two weeks, that ruined all voice recording attempts) I will record vocals for the new single, which will be released in June. More news on that soon.

As observant visitors might have noticed, it is no longer possible to download all Lost Shadow songs for free at Last.fm. This is an intentional move from Phonocratic Records, where we instead hope to redirect our listeners to either Last.fm’s streaming services, or our new Lost Shadow music and store site at Bandcamp. Through our Bandcamp Store (and Last.fm) streaming of all Lost Shadow songs will still be available for free. Additionally, all Lost Shadow albums since 2006 will be available for free or cheap download from Bandcamp, where physical CDs also can be bought.

Why not free downloads?
Why are we making these changes? Well, it turns out that our experiment with free downloads and donations did not yield the effect we had hoped. Last year Phonocratic Records was run at personal economical loss, and we have no reason to expect that this will change in the near future without taking any action. Still, we believe that there is value in the music we make available, so we will try another marketing model, using downloads and micropayments. Last.fm does not serve this purpose very well, while Bandcamp turns out to be a great place to securely sell music downloads (and physical albums). It will still be possible to donate to Lost Shadow through the Store, but we suggest that our listeners instead download the high-quality music files from Bandcamp, and make the small micropayments there. Hey, 3 euros for a 12 song album is about as cheap as a cup of coffee! And it’s even cheaper than a beer!

Remaining free
A number of tracks will remain free. These are:

• Songs from albums released before 2006. These albums will not be made available through Bandcamp, and will therefore remain downloadable from Last.fm for free (still at only 128kps, though).
• All Lost Shadow singles, previous ones, and coming ones. However, only the lead tracks might be made available for free download in some instances. The singles will be downloadable as 128kps mp3 from Last.fm, or in a variety of  high-quality formats from Bandcamp. Regardless of format, the files will be free.
• Selected albums and songs, such as the “Age and Time” album released last year.

Also, free steaming of all songs is available from both Last.fm and Bandcamp.

No more physical singles
As mentioned at the release of the A Nuance of Future single, we will not continue to release singles in physical format. This is also part of the new strategy for Phonocratic Records. We feel both sad and excited about this decision. The good thing is that we can now focus on bringing you the best possible digital experience for the singles. Also, it should be noted that our albums will still be available in physical CD format, as well as in digital download form, and we do not plan to change that.

We hope that our listeners will be positive about these changes and that we’re putting the value back behind the music.

As I got the question of how we picked the winners for the remix contest, I will publicly disclose the reasoning behind our choices. First of all, we have judged on three main criteria: originality, creative use of the song material, and whether we liked the remix so much that we wanted to listen to it also outside of the actual listening for the contest purposes. We have, however, not focused very much on the quality of the remixes in terms of mixing, mastering, etc. We wanted something we wouldn’t have done ourselves. When the new single is released on Monday you will be able to listen for the details I specify in this post…

The Argyle Raver: In this remix, we really enjoyed the big contrasts created between the verses and the chorus, which are much bigger than in the original version of The Man Without A Shadow. Also, we liked the hard electronic part of the verses. And when the build-up comes at 0.24, it is totally unexpected… Overall, we would not have been able to come up with this idea, or creating something that sounded like this remix.

DJ Alann Morse: This remix creatively focuses on transforming the whole mood of A Nuance of Future into a completely different song. The setting is different, gone is the hope for the future, instead a whole lot of electronic mysticism comes in and disturbs this dream anthem. Very interesting take on the song.

Jason & Sander: We really liked this remix from the first time we listened to it. It sort of takes the best from A Nuance of Future and places it in a slightly different context, keeping the dreamy feeling of it, but also added in chords and melodies that send shivers down at least my spine. What also strikes me is that the sound of this song resembles what I currently is working on for my next album. Once again, taking a remix taking the original song and making something truly new with it.

Shane Wittig: The thing we really like with this remix is that it combines the sound of the original 2006 version of A Nuance of Future with the sound of the new version made in 2009. Also, it puts it all into a sound context that sounds quite much like the sound that the first Lost Shadow records tried to achieve back in the early 2000’s. However, Shane succeeds much better with that sound than I ever did. Still not convinced? Listen to the rising synth part at 5.25, and you will understand the greatness of this thing.

stróm: Well, this remix is truly different. We like that the tempo is sort of halved, and also we really like the instrumentation. I think the wasteland feeling I get from this very much aligns with the feeling of the original version of The man without a shadow, meaning that they really complement each other in a very nice way. What stróm deos with the vocals towards the end (at 5.37 ->) is fantastic. I would never have thought of this use of my vocals! In addition, taking more than two minutes before the vocals come in is a bald move, and should be highly encouraged!

I hope this sorts out some uncertainties about our remix picking. As you can see, we have been highly subjective, and mostly judged from taste. The common denominator between the five is that they all became frequent playlist entries in my iPod during the last month, even at the times I did not listen for the context purposes, which I think indicates that I liked them the most…

We are happy to announce the winners of the Lost Shadow remix contest! It is always hard to manage something for the first time, and since we never organised a remix contest before, we are very content about the remixes we got. A big thanks to our friends at remixcomps.com, who we think are responsible for bringing many of the remixers to our site. Also, a huge thanks to all the remixers who have put time and effort into remixing the songs, even those of you who did not send in a completed result. We know (from our own experience) how hard it is to get the remix sound good enough for sending it in.

So, let’s get down to business. Of the remixes we have received, we have chosen five which will be released on the A Nuance of Future single in March. These five winners are:

• The Argyle Raver
• DJ Alann Morse
• Jason & Sander
• Shane Wittig
• stróm

Further, if we are to select one single favourite remix, we are leaning towards Jason & Sander’s remix of A Nuance of Future, but let’s just say that the choice was tough. We are aiming at a digital release of the new single on the 15 of March, and a physical release in the days after that (with online ordering possible from the same day as the digital release). The tracks went for mastering today, so I think we will be able to make without delays this time.

Along with the remixes from the contest, there will also be a new single mix of A Nuance of Future, as well as new remixes by Lost Shadow and Trance Line Project, who have done another excellent Lost Shadow rework. Once again, thanks to all who contributed to the remix contest. Stay in touch, we are open for future collaboration!

In a few minutes we will leave the year 2009, and enter the new exciting year of 2010. In 2009, Phonocratic Records released the Lost Shadow single Pirate Bay. I moved the web site to phonocratic.com and also released the Lost Shadow ten years anniversary collection Age and Time, as well as the new single The Man Without A Shadow from it. And now, you might ask what will happen in the Lost Shadow world in 2010.

The year will start off with a remix contest where we will ask for remixes of either The Man Without a Shadow, or A Nuance of Future. This will happen in early January. In February, the second single from Age and Time will be released, followed by a completely new piece of Lost Shadow music, to be released in late Spring (probably in May). In late Summer or sometime during the Autumn, the next Lost Shadow album will be released. This album is still under production, and will be recorded during the first half of 2010.

I look forward to hear from you in 2010, and sincerely believe that the coming year will be one of the most exciting years ever. Happy new year to all readers and listeners!