The Peptides – For Those Who Hate Human Interaction / North Hero (indie)

The third release from Ottawa’s Peptides is a compilation of two CDs. The first, For Those Who Hate Human Interaction, is one of the most original and crazy-ass albums I’ve heard in years. The Peptides are essentially one gay man’s art project — the multitalented Claude Marquis, with the help of co-vocalist DeeDee Butters on the Hate album. Marquis plunders many different genres — baroque, cheesy ’60s lounge, downbeat, ’70s funk, ’40s big band, ’50s doo wop — yet somehow it all gels to create what could be the soundtrack to a wild off-Broadway musical. Not since Janelle Monáe’s brilliant ArchAndroid earlier this year has someone mixed up so many crazy styles from the past. Marquis equally excels in his no-boundaries madness. Despite the satirical and bitter album title, the music sounds like the artists had a blast creating it.

The only way to experience this band properly — they don’t perform live very often — is to start with their gorgeous ’60s-inspired website, thepeptides.com. There you can watch videos for every one of the more than two dozen tracks on this album and wonder how the hell Marquis came up with all of it. Each video is a montage of old and new films and video footage, including Joan Crawford clips, ’60s cheese and modern nature pastorals. The website also contains dozens of scans of Marquis’ paintings, another one of his talents.

Considering how much effort has gone into this album, it is somewhat surprising that the package contains a complete bonus album. North Hero has nothing to do with Hate and sounds like a completely different band. If Hate leaves you dizzy, North Hero lets you chill out. It’s a haunting, folky and melancholic collection of covers and original tunes that showcase a completely different intensity. North Hero should have been released as a separate side project; it seems just too indulgent. Available at cdbaby.com. Rating: 8.5/10

Marcus Nance – The Voice Next Door (indie)
This gay Toronto-based singer/actor has probably been seen by fab readers at Stratford, Shaw, Broadway, the latelamented Statlers on Church St or at Sharron’s Party events across town. Marcus Nance is a bass-baritone who is trained as an opera and stage musical actor. He has a perfectly nuanced delivery on this mostly smooth-jazz– styled collection of theatre pieces and standards, including “Ol’ Man River,” “Strange Fruit” and ”Summertime.” Fans of cabaret, jazz or musical theatre have hit the motherlode here; Nance’s deep bass brings a unique fl avour to these oft-heard classics. With only piano accompaniment and his remarkable voice, Nance transports you to an elegant evening of cabaret and sophistication. Nance was last seen in The Dark Star, an operatic oratorio on the history of HIV/AIDS, at Luminato in June, and he was previously on Broadway in a production that I can’t believe I missed — Baz Luhrmann’s award-winning La Bohème. This is a truly talented Canadian artist well worth hearing. Available at cdbaby.com. Rating: 7.5/10