l’ombra non sostanza* by feng shui was originally created as part of a mix-off competition sponsored by an online music group dedicated and inspired by the music of a true visionary dj shadow. the idea of the mix-off was a bit layered. first, all participants would upload samples (to a online depository, if you will). it was required that all samples came from a pre existing source, whether that be a song, a spoken word piece, sound libraries, and so on. the samples could not, in fact, be anything “created” by the artist. the idea behind that was to compose these songs in the mode that dj shadow worked on his ground-breaking, classic album *endtroducing...* ah, and then, we were not permitted to use any samples we had contributed; only the ones other artists supplied with the exception of a spoken word piece, for example.

for producers | mixers| djs | budding songwriters feng shui this was not completely new terrain, as the mix tapes and eventually cds they produced were multi-tracked, layered, and used a very wide and eclectic variety of music and styles from just about any country in the world to old vinyl french lesson instructional records. naturally, lots of samples were used and dj shadow became, for feng shui, a tremendous source of inspiration for the soundscape song. a song telling perhaps many stories. and evoking a multitude of visuals, textures, flavours.

the mix-off contest was the first competition feng shui had ever entered. it was also the first solid song they wrote together. and, they happened to be the only and first female participants.

once songs were complete, each artist would upload their song and voting would commence. so, much to their surprise, feng shui’s track *l’ombra non sostanza* was chosen best track. wow. indeed, the most gratifying aspect of that was the acknowledgment that music is a universal language -- anyone with musical ideas can write a song that reaches people no matter their gender, place of origin, culture, heritage, etc.

although that year of the contest turned it to be its last and unfortunately did not have a chance to be pressed and distributed as past mix-off tunes were. but with all the positive feedback, the song took on another life. it received radio play in a number of countries, both online and radio, some lovely reviews, interviews, and then a request to include l’ombra on a cd called wood: choice cuts on dD records and tar media (amsterdam/toronto) an electronic music compilation of various artists.

feng shui, on their lunchbox recordings label, released l’ombra as a cd single online download.

it’s been a while since it’s seen light, as some years back the lunchbox label closed shop. but the cool thing is that people have continued to ask about it and where they might locate a copy. with that in mind, at the start of a new year, and hopefully some amazing new projects to come, available at last, is feng shui’s single *l’ombra non sostanza.*