I'm alive! I've been neglecting this blog, I know - it always comes second to my main one. Anyways - onward.
I'm going to review this book in the form of a list. Here's a list of things I learned about the band Broken Social Scene from reading this book:
1) Broken Social Scene members were either friends with founding members Kevin Drew or Brendan Canning. Kevin and Brenden are the core members that make Broken Social Scene.
2) Feist was discovered by Brendan Canning while she was playing a festival in Calgary in High School. Her band had won a Battle of the Bands type contest.
3) They all dated each other it seems. Emily Haines dated Kevin Drew in High School. Emily then dated Metric bandmate James Shaw. Kevin married a horn player, Jo Ann Goldsmith. Feist dated guitarist Andrew Whiteman. It also mentions Feist had a romance with Kevin during or after his marriage ended. Amy Millan dated her Stars bandmate Evan Cranley. Somehow they all managed to remain friends.
4) All members agree that Broken Social Scene is a band that can never break up because it's members come and go so freely - it's not a band in the traditional sense.
5) The project started during an interesting time in Toronto, Canada and the World. The SARS thing was wreaking havoc on the city's tourism industry. The United States invaded Iraq and Canada refused to join them. GQ featured BSS in an issue with the headline: "Is Canada Cooler than Us?"
6) Broken Social Scene happened during the collapse of the major labels and it seemed to work for them. Young people were looking for music that seemed to represent the new attitude towards music consumption.
7) Broken Social Scene was the vehicle that launched the careers of Metric, Stars and Feist.
8) Most members are from Toronto - or originally from the suburbs.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read - mostly photos and short interviews.
Up next: Last Shop Standing: Whatever Happened to Record Stores? by Graham Jones
