Rotten Fisch Smells Great

[rating:8.5/10]

As a teen, I was into a lot of music on Tooth and Nail Records. One such act was the hip hop duo of Fisch and Lee, known as Furthermore. Their debut 1999 LP entitled Fluorescent Jellyfish featured several tracks that I jam to this day (most notably “Are You the Walrus?”, “Daydream”, and the title track). Always a casual fan of the rappers, I recently rediscovered this album and found a brand new appreciation for the album as a whole and the art of this talented duo.

After listening to the album several times a few weeks ago, I decided to rock a Google search and found that Fisch had several new projects, all of which sounded interesting to me. Being the great blogger and cheap bastard that I am, I emailed Fisch and was lucky to get the chance to check out 3 of his projects for review on this site (a few words, literally, on Fisch Loops, here). Today, I present to you the one that has caught my ear most at this point (though I must admit I am vibing on all 3).

Rotten Musicians is comprised of Fisch, Mark Dago, Mike Danner, and DJ Shanty. They are so underground that you can’t even find them on wikipedia. But diving deep into the hip hop scene to discover them is well worth it. On their 9-song 2008 release Say You Love Her the crew displays that their name is inappropriate and their talent is abounding. A great listen beginning to end, it’s a melding of all type of influences, including a penchant for the nerdy and danceable.

It’s hard to know where to start, because the entire release is great. The songs all make you want to sing along, tap your toe, and bounce wherever you stand or sit. Here are some words on a few of the tracks I am really into at this point:

“Whoosh” is one of several songs here that makes me involuntarily move to the beat. The bass throughout this track, as well as the synth effects later in the track, give a psychedelic/trippy feel through the song.

“How Do You Spell Rotten?” features Sesame Street and Bill Cosby samples, which is unassailably cool. It’s also an educational track that teach us that “boys are rotten, made of cotton” and that “girls are sexy, made of Pepsi”. Such a catchy song.

“+20 Broadsword” could be a Nerdcore anthem. The vocals in this song are just awesome, from the raps in the verses to the chill out sing song chorus.

“Rotten High School Football Rules!” may be the best of the bunch, though. Great group vocals, a clap and stomp beat, and the catchiest choruses ever laid on wax (well, actually I dunno if it’s available on wax or anything, but that sounds cool). The guitar lines and the cheerleader chants bring this song from “awesome” to “awesome-est”.

All in all, this is simply an incredible listen. Fans of hip hop must hear this, I am sure as Hell glad that I did, though the excessive listening lately has caused my work computer to get tired and slow and my co-workers to look at me like I’m crazy as I dance at my desk with my earbuds in. Small price to pay, I guess.

For fans of: Furthermore, Pigeon John, MC Frontalot, and Soul-Junk.

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~ by thepaintedman on December 6, 2010.