Broken Social Scene

Broken Social Scene is an indie rock band formed in Toronto by core members Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning in 1999. They recorded their primarily instrumental album Feel Good Lost with help from a handful of friends. It was released in 2001 and more people were added to fill out its sounds on stage. Membership is somewhat fluid and not everyone is included on every recorded song or at every concert, as many of the musicians also perform as solo artists or in other groups - including Metric, Stars, Apostle Of Hustle, Raising The Fawn and Do Make Say Think. Charles Spearin, Justin Peroff, Bill Priddle, Andrew Whiteman, Jason Collett, David Newfeld, Leslie Feist, Emily Haines, James Shaw, Michael Lani, Evan Cranley, Amy Millan, Ohad Benchetrit, Martin Davis Kinack, Jo-ann Goldsmith, Torquil Campbell, John Crossingham, Lisa Lobsinger, Julie Penner, K-OS, Murray Lightburn and Jason Tait are among those who can now be considered part of the Broken Social Scene collective.

Producer Dave Newfeld's Stars and Sons studio hosted many of these musicians when possible and appropriate from the winter of 2001 through the summer of 2002 to record You Forgot It In People, which was released in October 2002. The album came out through Paper Bag Records and Arts & Crafts - a new company created by Drew and two young Virgin Music Canada executives. You Forgot It In People featured more vocals, and its spacey yet melodic sound drew rave reviews and earned the 2003 Juno Award for best alternative album. Broken Social Scene became an in-demand live band and has gone on to tour around the world on a regular basis.

A collection of You Forgot It In People B-sides and remixes was issued in a 2004 compilation titled Bee Hives. Broken Social Scene members composed the score for the Bruce McDonald-directed film The Love Crimes of Gillian Guess that summer.

Newfeld produced the band's self-titled album at Stars and Sons and had a bigger influence than before. It was released through Arts & Crafts in October 2005 and listed 17 people as members of the band in the credits, though Drew and Canning remained the acknowledged leaders. A seven-song CD titled EP To Be You And Me was included in some copies as a limited edition. Broken Social Scene earned the band its second Juno for best alternative album.

So much material was recorded for Broken Social Scene that a new album was expected by the end of 2006. But Drew issued Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew, Spirit If... in September 2007 and Canning released a similar album titled Broken Social Scene Presents Brendan Canning, Something For All Of Us... in July 2008. Though billed as solo albums, they featured contributions from a number of Broken Social Scene members, and concerts in support of them featured a number of the group's songs.

A new Broken Social Scene album, titled Forgiveness Rock Record, was released in May 2010. It was pared down from 42 songs and co-produced by the band and Tortoise's John McEntire at studios in Chicago and Toronto. The album features seven core members and guests, including newcomers Spiral Stairs, Sebastien Grainger and members of the Weakerthans and Sea and Cake. The album was nominated for a Juno in 2011 for alternative album of the year; the band was also nominated for group of the year.

A book about Broken Social Scene titled This Book Is Broken, written by journalist and friend of the band Stuart Berman, was published in 2009. Director Bruce McDonald and writer Don McKellar created a 2009 documentary on the group titled This Movie Is Broken (released 2010). It was nominated for music DVD of the year at the Junos in 2011.

Broken Social Scene announced in August 2011 that it was going on indefinite hiatus and then said that its November 2011 show in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil would be its last. Some band members continued to work on their own projects. It was announced in January, 2013 that Broken Social Scene would reform for one night to co-headline the Field Trip Music and Arts Festival with Feist in June, 2013 in Toronto.

Author STEVE McLEAN

Links to Other Sites
Arts & Crafts
The website for "Arts & Crafts Productions," a Toronto-based independent music publisher.

This Movie is Broken: On stage and in your head with Broken Social Scene
A review of Bruce McDonald's hit film "This Movie is Broken." From thestar.com.

Paper Bag Records: Indie label celebrates 10 years of integrity over plastic
Read about the highlights of Paper Bags Records' 10 years in the recording business. From the National Post.