- An introduction to "eco-grime."
- Bio Future Laboratory and its parent label, Eco Futurism Corporation, are the centre of a new scene called "eco-grime." It's an umbrella term, and you won't find anything that sounds like grime on the second release from Forces, a Finnish producer and one of the most daring artists in this community. Eco-grime is experimental club music that concerns itself with environmental issues: leftfield music with a leftwing concept. Some artists incorporate the natural world sonically, while others weave more abstract themes into their work. Forces' first record, Plastiphere, concerned itself with plastic-eating creatures that could help rid the oceans of garbage. Now there's Climate Denial Machine, inspired by the culture wars around climate change.
Each track on Climate Denial Machine is named after a conservative American think tank that fights scientific consensus on climate change—"Environmental Perspectives," "Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow," "Frontiers Of Freedom" and so on. These pieces are beset by a deluge of delay and detritus, like the truth fighting against a barrage of lies. The melody on "Environmental Perspectives" is slow and choppy, like it's working against a hard current. Tracks like "Committee" or "Donors Trust" hammer a sample of something you can never quite make out—with melodies that never resolve—until the effect becomes infuriating.
Forces cuts up big-room sounds into white-hot shards. "Heritage Foundation" is all jagged percussion that flies at you like bullets from a rail gun—there's hardly anything musical about it. More straightforward, trance-tinged tunes like "Frontiers Of Freedom" and "Institute For Humane Studies" offer hints at colour and melody, but are still stubborn and evasive.
Sometimes sounding like a skipping CD, these are extreme tracks that will delight adventurous DJs and listeners and alienate others. On this EP, music meets concept, bringing the idea behind eco-grime to life.
Tracklist01. Frontiers Of Freedom
02. Heritage Foundation
03. Cato Institute
04. Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow
05. Environmental Perspectives
06. Earth Day Alternatives
07. Donors Trust
08. Institute For Humane Studies