UltraNormal

This week has been one to forget at Chez Lawver. Jen, Brian and I have all had the stomach flu, and it hasn't been pretty. So, as a break from the disgusting offal-ness of it all, here are some musical recommendations for your Friday afternoon. These are all things I've picked up in the last couple of months, many of which are Canadian. I blame the recent Northern influence on my iTunes library on CBC Radio 3 and their wicked podcasts.

• Holy Fuck - I prefer LP to their self-titled album, but this is some wicked butt-moving stuff. If you crossed Beck with The Chemical Brothers and took away the lyrics, you'd have Holy Fuck (sorry mom, that's really their name).
• R.E.M.'s Accelerate - I love the band's early albums, especially Document, but this is a return to that style of garage awesomeness. Absolutely fantastic stuff, especially Supernatural Superserious.
• Sunparlour Players' Hymns for the Happy - I first heard If the Creeks Don't Rise on one of the CBC podcasts. It's just good folksy rock - no pretense, just great vocals, lots of instruments and some harmonies.
• The Polyphonic Spree - Jen calls them "Up With People for grownups", and I'm OK with that. They're an alt-rock band backed by a horn section, a full choir and sometimes strings, and they sing some seriously happy stuff. My current favorite, though, is their cover of Nirvana's Lithium.
• And only because I can't remember posting it before, Great Lake Swimmers' Ongiara is one of the most beautiful albums I've ever heard. It's acoustic and the lead singer's voice is hypnotic. Where in the World Are You is one of my all-time favorite songs. It's heartbreakingly romantic and forlorn and never fails to choke me up.

There you go. That should keep you busy for a while. And yes, those all go to the Amazon MP3 store. It's cheaper than the iTunes store, and they give you mp3's instead of annoyingly locked down AAC files. Enjoy!