An Acid Trip of Uninspiring Proportion

People say that art is in the eye of the beholder. The Bug vs Earth’s newest release, Concrete Jungle, puts that adage to the test. The album begins with the track “City of Fallen Angels” and its entire six-minute runtime gives the listener a feeling that it will build up to something of substance. However, in actuality, it is six minutes of what could best be described as pure ambience. For an LP to start out so unimposing, one would imagine the rest of the album would make up for the display of lifelessness. In this case, they would be wrong.

To be fair, music is about creative expression and the vision of the individual artist. What this artist does accomplish is capture a sense of despondency and convey it through each track. The sound itself consists of an arrangement of light synthesizers, sporadic use of bass and wide incorporation of atmospheric reverberations, which give the overall impression of a darker version of a white noise machine on an acid trip.

Those who may enjoy this album will more than likely include individuals looking for soothing mood music with an electronic twist. It would make an excellent backdrop for those attempting to clear their mind of distraction during practices such as yoga or meditation. Those who will not enjoy this are those who enjoy a rigid structure, consistent time signature and abundance of energy in their music.

In summation, the album at first glance contains little to no energy and is best used for background noise. Upon looking deeper, a listener can understand that the intent of the artist was to be unorthodox and to rebel against what makes a traditional “good” album —  an act of defiance to the industry, so to speak. In that regard, the album is not outright horrible, but it will likely fail to leave a lasting impression on the listener as well.