It’s 2018 and Trump is in power (boo), our Carbon footprint is at its highest in decades & climate change has taken a serious turn for the worst (nice one Donald). It’s not all doom and gloom though. In an industry where artists are given a global platform at their fingertips, more and more are using their influence to promote positive change.
2017 saw some of the industry’s finest going above and beyond to support some of the most prevalent issues affecting our communities. From the curation of ‘The Bridge’, a charity album featuring some of Bristol’s finest with 100% proceeds going to Help Bristol’s Homeless, to the overwhelming support for the ‘Drum & Bass Legends’ T-Shirt campaign highlighting & supporting the work of mental health charity MIND; the collaborative ethos of the electronic music industry continues to breathe new life into an ever-growing platform and with it, a message for change.
Enter SINIC; Bristol-based beat maker & man with a message. The concept behind the aptly named mixtape ‘The Black Box’ is simple; ‘nine tracks found on a hypothetical flight recorder from one of the last members of the human race’. Employing the vocal talent of Sense MC for the title track, the lyrics ‘these are stories from the last of our kind, before the clouds began to darken the sky’ cut through ‘Black Box’ with intent & purpose, especially when coupled with the mechanical undertones of the track.
Poking around the fringes of experimental sound design, this nine-track mixtape is a testament to the skill set of it’s curator who’s productions weave between offbeat, glitched out half-time steppers like ‘One Makes One’, ‘Take It Or Leave It’ & ‘Concrete Kiss’ to the more mechanical, breaky heavy riffs of minimal roller ‘Con-Sequence’. Forthcoming on Flexout Audio; a label known for pushing underground sonics, it’s no wonder that SINIC aka Slaven Andjelic and his ever recognisable halftime sound has quickly gained support from pioneers Noisia, Ivy Lab & Biome to name a few.
The mixtape is a journey in itself, with the primary purpose, of course, to produce quality tracks for fans of the darker more experimental end of the drum and bass spectrum, while at the same creating awareness of an issue that affects us all.
‘We need to put pressure on governments and corporations who seem to be carrying on regardless of the knowledge we now have on climate change’
So in support of this, the mixtape is being released on Bandcamp on a ‘pay what you want’ option with 100% of the proceeds going to Earthjustice; the nation’s largest non-profit legal environmental organization.
Sounds to me like a no-brainer. Nine expertly executed releases, with all profits going towards sustaining our beautiful planet for years to come. After all, what good would music be if we have no planet left to experience it on? You can support the cause and grab a copy of ‘The Black Box’ from Monday 15th January from Flexout Audio’s Bandcamp and from all other online platforms on Friday 19th.
