Being Dead - Eels - CASSETTES

Ninos Du Brasil are Nicolo Fortuni and Nico Vascellari, an Italian percussion duo with a background in visual art. Through their aptitude with drumming, they are masters at fusing the seemingly disparate influences of punk, tribal techno, and batacuda, emerging with a sound that is truly singular. The project takes it's rhythmic backbone from Brazilian carnival music, and the duo injects each track with the frothy attitude of punk and the shuffling dancefloor domination of techno.

Being Dead came upon the scene in Austin, TX five years ago with their distinctly right-brain songcraft, mischievous humor, and implausibly great vocal harmonies. Even as they've graduated from curiosity to cult favorites, I've yet to encounter a single person who dislikes Being Dead. The garage-y psychedelic outsider pop band should be considered in the same category as rainbows and finding $60 in the pocket of a winter coat incontrovertibly lovable. When Horses Would Run, recorded at Radio Milk with producer/engineer Jim Vollentine (White Denim,... Trail of Dead, Spoon), spit-shines Being Dead's sound without diminishing their weirdo-best-friend vibes. Their penchant for idiosyncratic lyricism and musical unpredictability shines in InchLast Living Buffalo,Inch which finds Gumball and Falcon B*tch trading lines over a bouncy bop before skidding into a heavy doom breakdown. It stands in stark contrast to the gentle Laurel Canyon-style folk rock of InchDaydream,Inch showcasing Being Dead's extraordinary harmonies - at once plaintive, uplifting, and eerie. Their vocal interplay, however, can be just as good in contrast, like on InchMuriel's Big Day Off,Inch where Gumball's garage punk monotone delivery and Falcon B*tch's tuneful tenor volley back and forth in what sounds like the theme song for some Adult Swim cartoon. Being Dead is recommended if you like Devo, the Pixies, the Beets, Violent Femmes, or living your life like it's an ungraded art project.

Sixth studio album by the English heavy metal band. Originally released in 1975, it was recorded in the midst of litigation with the band's former manager Patrick Meehan and the stress that resulted from the band's ongoing legal woes infiltrated the recording process, inspiring the album's title.