Phonocratic Records

The new Lost Shadow single “A Nuance of Future” has been released. A Nuance of Future is the second single taken from the Lost Shadow ten year anniversary album “Age and Time“. This time, we have put together a maxi-single of over 70 minutes, consisting of 11 tracks. On top of long and short modern versions of A Nuance of Future, the single also includes the five winners of the Lost Shadow remix contest (Jason & Sander, DJ Alann Morse, Shane Wittig, stróm, and The Argyle Raver), as well as remixes by The Trance Line Project and Lost Shadow himself. We think this single is terrific, and suggest immediate downloading or ordering of it!

You can listen to the single at either Last.fm or Bandcamp. At Bandcamp you can also order a physical copy of the single, as well as downloading it. You could also use the player at the bottom of this post.

We also sadly announce that this will be the last single (at least for a long time) that is made available in physical format for ordering. In the future, Phonocratic Records’ singles will be released only in digital format, with printable booklets for those of you who want a physical copy in the shelf. We think of this as a necessary move to keep costs down, and hope that our reasoning is understandable. The whole store is going through some changes in the near future, which you will see soon. Stay tuned!

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!