Broken Social Scene Albums (3)
'Broken Social Scene'
Release Date 10/4/2005
Tracks 14
Label Arts & Crafts
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
In Canada, Broken Social Scene is somewhat of a phenomenon. Since wooing fans and critics alike with their 2003 Juno Award-winning album You Forgot It in People, the band's peculiar popularity has made them stars. The community that surrounds the 15-member-plus band is a family-like atmosphere with its many Canadian artists and musicians. When listening to Broken Social Scene, you also get the individual sounds of Feist, Stars, Memphis, Metric, and Apostle of Hustle, among others. It's camaraderie and education combined. The lush dynamic that carries Broken Social Scene's self-titled third effort is definitely built upon that. The 14-song set is as bright and moving as the band's previous efforts, but Broken Social Scene holds more charisma, more depth, and surely more complexities. The mix isn't messy in conventional terms. It's artistically untidy without production boundaries. Album opener "Our Faces Split the Coast in Half," which features the Dears' Murray Lightburn, makes a grand entrance with its polished horn arrangements, tight guitar riffs, and hypnotic harmonies. Additional standouts include indie rock moments such as "7/4 (Shoreline)" and the nervy "Fire Eye'd Boy." Handclaps and crowd chatter dosie-do with a sharp rock aesthetic on "Windsurfing Nation," which was the original title. Here, Toronto rapper K-Os and Feist vocally find their way through this majestic cinematic backdrop for one of its finest songs. From here, Broken Social Scene is a simply a rush of mini epics: "Handjobs for the Holidays," "Superconnected," and album closer "It's All Gonna Break" (this could have been a Nada Surf song) showcase how smart, creative, and brilliant this band truly is. Broken Social Scene are more than a collective; they're an orchestra for both the slacker generation and the literati. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, All Music Guide
'You Forgot It in People'
Release Date 10/15/2002
Tracks 13
Label Paper Bag
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Since the release of Feel Good Lost, Toronto music collective Broken Social Scene became a bit more collective, swelling from two members to ten (plus guests). As you'd expect with such a dramatic rise in membership, there's a lot more variety this time out -- the first two tracks are a case in point; in fact, the first track is a fairly airy instrumental number with a Mark Isham-like feel, but track two slams it off the rails with a driving beat and wailing guitars. Main members Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew even sing this time around (on "Cause=Time" Drew sounds almost like J Mascis); Leslie Feist and Emily Haines take their turns on other tracks. According to one of the members of this incarnation of the group, trying to determine "who did what" on this album would be almost an entire review in itself, as everyone took turns playing different instruments on different tracks and the whole thing was built from the ground up in a very collective fashion. Although listeners who found the first Broken Social Scene release a nice ambient pop treat may be put off by this one's all-over-the-map approach, it's certainly a much more accessible release overall and there's bound to be something in here that you'll enjoy. ~ Sean Carruthers, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Broken Social Scene cast an abstract web of dream pop, shoegaze, and indie rock for their debut album, Feel Good Lost. Essentially, it's an album of instrumentals. The title itself hints at the collective's effort in composing a lush soundscape of strings, brass, guitars, and pianos with an added dash of electronic beats. Songs such as "Guilty Cubicles" and "Blues for Uncle Gibb" alone showcase the band's well-crafted mind trip. For a first album, though, Broken Social Scene's care in allowing each song to breathe without the constructs of fancy production and contrived lyrics is what makes the dozen-track selection so impressive. It's expressive without expressing too much. Broken Social Scene leave it up to the mixture of instruments to draw upon some kind of palette. From the layered warbling of "Stomach Song" to the majestic horn arrangements of the gossamer "Passport Radio," the intricacies of Feel Good Lost find a band focused on creating an inventive style of music as well as a group that is insanely ambitious. It might not catch on with indie rock fans right away and it will most likely be an overlooked debut, but its breadth shows promise. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, All Music Guide
