Local CD Reviews: Rotten Musicians, Bip Bip Bip, NSPS 

Rotten Musicians, Rotten Musicians Turn Into Escaped Zoo Animals & Terrorize the Town in a Good Way

The new album from local hip-hop purveyors Rotten Musicians—written by Daniel Fischer (aka Fisch Loops), Mark Dago and Adam Sherlock—begins with the group members’ “transformation” into various zoo animals (with the lyrics “Rotten Musicians, animorph!”). And then the listener is transported on a journey around the world, from the Galapagos Islands (“The Galapagos Omnibus Tour”) to Australia (“Taxonomy of the New South Wales Duck Mole”), to learn about Earth’s gentlemanly mannered, intelligently comedic and mathematically brilliant animal denizens. Richly produced by Fisch, and featuring guest vocals from Marissa Fischer as well as members of SubRosa, the album is a mix of educational lectures by Sherlock (“The Tiny Tuxedos of the Arctic”), tightly woven rhymes, squawking and screeching animal sounds, in-your-face horns and humid beats (“2Heads”). It’s funny, smart, ridiculous and awesomely immature, like an adult version of a children’s album. Hands down, one of my favorite local creations released this year. Dec. 10, self-released, RottenMusicians.bandcamp.com

Bip Bip Bip, Bip Bip Bip

The songs on the new album from Bip Bip Bip—made up of Sayde Price (vocals, guitar) and David Payne (drums)—blend together, but that’s not a bad thing. Their respective sedate tempos, minimal chords and delicate melodies are similar from song to song, creating an effect that’s cohesive as well as otherworldly and ephemeral, like that place between sleeping and being awake, or between two storm clouds. Price’s ethereal voice is a thread that the listener follows through tunnels, around corners and into empty space, while the light touches of guitar, drums and something that sounds like a theremin create a delicate but sufficient web-like instrumental structure. A sense of melancholy falls gently over these tunes, especially on “My Star,” “Mean Side”—with almost imperceptible strings—and “Blue Pulse,” and their longer lengths (four to eight minutes) allow them to meander and breathe. Price doesn’t enunciate entirely clearly on many of the lyrics, which makes lyrical jewels like “swan with your crown of pearls” (“Icarus”) sparkle. Dec. 14, self-released, Facebook.com/SaydePrice. CD release show, The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, Dec. 14, 8:45 p.m., $5

NSPS, Timeless Towns & Haunted Places

When Jeremy Mathews sings “I got herpes from an airport bathroom/ ‘Cause they ran out of seat covers/ I got herpes from a man from France who/ Never knew me, we weren’t lovers,” it effectively sets up the sense of oddness that pervades through the indie-pop/anti-folk musician’s latest album, Timeless Towns & Haunted Places. Made over a period of 13 years, the verbose 18-track album reads (yes, reads) like a journal, filled with jotted-down observations and introspective musings. NSPS (Nutra Sweet Pixie Sticks) is the largely solo project of Mathews (an occasional City Weekly contributor), but Timeless Towns features several guest musicians, so the instrumentation is fleshed out. However, the vocal melodies are simple, delivered in a talk-singing manner that’s unconcerned with beauty. That’s why the did-he-really-just-say-that lyrics stand out so much, sung in Mathews’ over-enunciating voice, especially on “Abortable Adoption.” The album’s 47-minute length and overall weirdness may not be most listeners’ cup of tea, but it’s a poetic and darkly humorous nook if you give it a chance. Nov. 29, self-released, NSPS.net

Twitter: @VonStonehocker