Broken Social Scene

Broken Social Scene biography

Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock band, a musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed in 1999 by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning. Most of its members currently play in various other groups and solo projects, mainly based around the city of Toronto. The band refuses the label "supergroup", based on size or the ubiquity of their members, claiming that in the indie scene everyone is involved in more than one project.

The group's sound could be considered a combination of all of its members' respective musical projects, and is occasionally considered baroque pop. It is characterized by a very large number of sounds, grand orchestrations featuring guitars, horns, woodwinds, and violins, unusual song structures, and an experimental, and sometimes chaotic production style from David Newfeld, who produced the second and third albums.

In 2009, This Book Is Broken was published. Written by Stuart Berman, it details the band from its inception to its critical acclaim. In 2010, Bruce McDonald made This Movie Is Broken, a movie about the band's Harbourfront show during the 2009 Toronto strike.

History

Feel Good Lost

The band's core members are Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning. This duo recorded and released the band's ambient debut album, Feel Good Lost, on Noise Factory Records in 2001, with contributions by Justin Peroff, Charles Spearin, Bill Priddle, Leslie Feist, Jessica Moss and Stars' Evan Cranley. However, when they played shows to support the album, Drew and Canning found it difficult to put together an entertaining show based on their material thus far, which was almost entirely instrumental.

As a result, they brought in a number of friends from the Toronto indie scene-album contributors as well as Andrew Whiteman, Jason Collett, and Metric's Emily Haines-to flesh out their live show with lyrics and vocals. Over time, the band also came to include contributions from James Shaw, Justin Peroff, John Crossingham, and Stars member Amy Millan.

You Forgot It in People

All of the previously mentioned guest musicians joined with Drew, Canning, Peroff and Spearin to record the band's second album, You Forgot It in People. The album was originally released on Paper Bag Records in October 2002 and won the Alternative Album of the Year Juno Award in 2003. The album also included musical contributions by Priddle, Jessica Moss, Brodie West, Susannah Brady and Ohad Benchetrit, but these were credited as supporting musicians rather than band members. On the supporting tour, the core band consisted of Drew, Canning, Peroff, Whiteman and Jason Collett, along with any other band member who was available to attend any individual show.

In 2003, the B-sides and remix collection Bee Hives was released.

Broken Social Scene's song "Lover's Spit" from 2002's You Forgot It in People has been featured in director Clément Virgo's movie Lie with Me (2005), Paul McGuigan's Wicker Park (2004), Bruce McDonald's The Love Crimes of Gillian Guess (2004), Showtime's Queer as Folk (2003) and the penultimate episode of the Canadian series Terminal City. The version of "Lover's Spit" found on 2004's Bee Hives record was also featured in an episode of the third season of the FX series Nip/Tuck. Showtime's television program The L Word featured "Pacific Theme" "Looks Just Like the Sun" both from You Forgot It in People in the show's first season. "Looks Just Like the Sun" was also featured in the 2006 film Swedish Auto. "Stars and Sons" from You Forgot It in People also appeared in the movie The Invisible. Music from the band's albums was used to score the 2006 film Half Nelson.

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