Bug Planet Is the Current Timeline by Euglossine

Although they outnumber humans by a significant margin (~1.4 billion to 1!), the world of insects is almost completely alien to our perception. Maybe that’s why Bug Planet Is the Current Timeline, the new experimental electronic release from multi-instrumentalist Euglossine, is so delightfully weird. By combining technical synthetic arrangements with his own recordings of  piano, guitar, and woodwind instruments, Euglossine immerses listeners in a subterranean arthropod society that is completely unlike our own. 

While most people usually respond with fear or disgust towards our invertebrate brethren, Euglossine takes a more whimsical approach, with an evocative sound that borders on onomatopoeia. Each track is highly expressive and tactile, with tracks like “Rain People” featuring plinky piano riffs, “Pollinator” with low buzzy basslines, or “Salt” with its jagged, crunchy tones. While listening to the track “Mycelium Corona”, you can practically feel a synth-driven system of complex mushroom roots crawling through your ears and into the brain, like an ant taken over by Ophiocordyceps unilateralis. In a good way.

Like most of the experimental music we cover, it is challenging to put Bug Planet is the Current Timeline into a single genre box. Euglossine himself describes this release as “Biodub, Digital Fusion, or Mutant Jazz”, all of which are adequately unique descriptors for this style of organic groovy electronica. Even if arthropods give you the creepy-crawlies, after enjoying the funky, dancey sounds of Bug Planet is the Current Timeline, listeners may feel a little more appreciation for the biodiverse insect-infested environment we all share.

- Kalen