This Book Is Broken:: Broken Social Scene Story

This Book Is Broken: A Broken Social Scene Story is a narrative told by the participants and progenitors of the collective who in the words of Torquil Campbell, “made Toronto sound beautiful.” This Book Is Broken features a forward by Broken Social Scene co-founders Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew, compiled and written by Toronto journalist and Eye Weekly editor, Stuart Berman.

The read is a brisk and capturing tale of some exceptional folk living amidst the dreary and seemingly hopeless backdrop of the Canadian music scene at the end of the nineties (certainly the states weren’t in much better shape – several years post-Cobain and still enduring talk of Nirvana’s bloated greatness with MTV’s absurd tag lines such as “spokesperson for a generation”); it was this same wasted environment which directed Metric to England, Stars to NYC, and Peaches to Berlin. In 2000, Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning play their first show together. The first Broken Social Scene album Feel Good Lost, comes out and creates a spreading excitement for the band. Another early key marking of the band was that they never repeated the same set twice as they worked out their sound in front of the audience. By the end of 2002, Broken Social Scene were no longer a Toronto phenomenon, releasing You Forgot It In People in October of the same year. As the success grew their expanding appeal made casualty of several inner-relationships; though, it would be the platinum sales of Feist’s Let It Die whcih allowed Broken Social Scene’s Arts & Crafts label to expand outside the realm of BSS. By 2006, many members of the rotating cast had developed their own fertile music careers apart from Broken Social Scene. Core members Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew have since made solo albums and as of current group status, Stuart Berman states in the epilogue that Broken Social Scene are in a “permanent temporary” state.

Going through the book while listening to the music is a required joy. Hearing the end result supported with the work of This Book Is Broken adds a new perspective to the music. Moreover, the book details the creation of a great local music scene, with several bands building audiences that extended to international recognition. For me, the thing I enjoy about BSS is the distance the listener is compelled, if not forced to travel within the scope of a record; the varied songs exhibit potentials that bombard diverse levels of consciousness. When the mood has been right for me to throw on one of their albums, they have been equal to the task, transporting me on some exquisite journeys. There is always some point where I’ve become so immersed in their music I’ve forgotten they were even on the player. BSS call it their ‘inspired randomness,” which I suppose is why no matter how gone you get during one of their albums, there is an inevitable point where you will be shattered from the fog by the psychic stirrings of a “Bandwitch,” or a “Lover’s Spit.” This Book Is Broken will certainly appeal to fans. In reality, anyone with a fascination with how ideas are exchanged, extracted, and then made in to vibrant and viable art should find this of interest.

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