''Broken Social Scene'' is the third studio album by

Broken Social Scene Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock band, a musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed by Kevin Drew (vocals, guitar) and Brendan Canning (vocals, bass) in 1999. Alongside Drew and Canning, the oth ...

, released on October 4, 2005. In addition to the musicians who contributed to the band's prior release '' You Forgot It in People'', new contributors on ''Broken Social Scene'' include k-os, Jason Tait (

The Weakerthans The Weakerthans are an award-winning and Juno-nominated Canadian indie rock band from Winnipeg. The band, led by John K. Samson, has released four studio albums and is currently inactive. History The band was formed in 1997 in Winnipeg, Manito ...

) and Murray Lightburn (

The Dears The Dears are a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec. The band is led by the husband-and-wife duo of singer-guitarist Murray Lightburn and keyboardist Natalia Yanchak. History The band formed in 1995 and released their first album, ...

). The initial domestic pressings of the album were issued with a seven-track bonus EP, ''EP to Be You and Me'', a play on

Marlo Thomas Margaret Julia "Marlo" Thomas (born November 21, 1937) is an American actress, producer, author, and social activist. She is best known for starring on the sitcom ''That Girl'' (1966–1971) and her children's franchise '' Free to Be... You and ...

' children's record album '' Free to Be... You and Me''. The Japanese release is still issued with the EP. The vinyl pressing was released on two records, the first three sides being the album and the fourth being the EP. The album was certified Gold in Canada on September 14, 2012.

Background

The album was originally to be titled ''Windsurfing Nation''. Additionally, the original artwork was to be a cartoon rendition of

Pangaea Pangaea or Pangea () was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. It assembled from the earlier continental units of Gondwana, Euramerica and Siberia during the Carboniferous approximately 335 million y ...

, which was later scrapped in favor of the current artwork drawn by lead singer Kevin Drew. The song "Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day)" refers to Canadian novelist

Ibi Kaslik Ibolya "Ibi" Kaslik (born August 20, 1973) is a Canadian novelist, freelance journalist, and professor of creative writing at the University of Toronto. Early life Born in Toronto, Ontario, Kaslik attended high school at Etobicoke School of th ...

, a friend of the band. It is also suggested that Broken Social Scene is used as basis for a band that appears in Kaslik's second novel ''The Angel Riots'', about a rising indie rock band from

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

. Kaslik attended the

Etobicoke School of the Arts The Etobicoke School of the Arts (ESA) is a specialized public arts-academic high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located in Etobicoke, it has been housed in the former Royal York Collegiate Institute facility since 1983. Founded on September ...

with members of the band and helped them on their first tour of Canada and the United States. Although Kaslik stated "It's definitely based on a world that I know", she brushed off claims that the connection goes very deep, saying "it would be mistaken and scurrilous to try to identify individual people". She warns against "scouring the pages for thinly disguised characterizations of ..

Kevin Drew Kevin Drew (born September 9, 1976) is a Canadian musician and songwriter who, together with Brendan Canning, founded the expansive Toronto baroque-pop collective Broken Social Scene. He was also part of the lesser-known KC Accidental, which con ...

, ..

Emily Haines Emily Savitri Haines (born 25 January 1974) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is the lead singer, keyboardist and songwriter of the rock band Metric and a member of the musical collective Broken Social Scene. As a solo artist, she has pe ...

or .. Amy Millan".

Awards and reviews

At the 2006

Juno Awards The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

it won the award for Alternative Album of the Year. It was also shortlisted for the

2006 Polaris Music Prize The inaugural edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize presented on September 18, 2006, at Toronto's Phoenix Concert Theatre. The winning album was Final Fantasy's ''He Poos Clouds''. Nominees The prize's list of 10 finalist albums, chosen fr ...

. However, the album divided critics more than its predecessor, 2002's '' You Forgot It in People''. Whereas the earlier album had received almost universal critical praise, ''Broken Social Scene''s looser, less structured songs were praised by some critics, but derided by others as self-indulgent and sloppy. Nevertheless, the album reached the number-one position on American college charts and received widespread critical acclaim in the UK. As of 2008, sales in the United States have exceeded 108,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Track listing

All songs written by

and

Brendan Canning Brendan may refer to: People * Saint Brendan the Navigator (c. 484 – c. 577) was an Irish monastic saint. * Saint Brendan of Birr (died 573), Abbot of Birr in Co. Offaly, contemporaneous with the above * Brendan (given name), a masculine given ...

''EP to Be You and Me''

Despite the EP having a limited release, two

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

s were made for the songs, "Her Disappearing Theme" and "Major Label Debut (Fast)".

Singles

# "Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day)" b/w "All the Gods" (2005, 7") # "7/4 (Shoreline)" b/w "Stars and Spit" (2006, 7") # "7/4 (Shoreline)" b/w "Stars and Spit" & "Death Cock" (2006, CDS) # "Fire Eye'd Boy" b/w "Canada vs. America (Exhaust Pipe Remix)" (2006, 7")

Personnel

Andrew Whiteman David Andrew Patrick Whiteman is a Canadian musician and songwriter. Forming the Bourbon Tabernacle Choir in Toronto out of high school, he eventually left the band in 1993 after eight years. Whiteman went on to record ''Fear of Zen'' in 1995 ...

* Charles Spearin *

John Crossingham John Crossingham is a Canadian indie rock singer-songwriter based in Toronto, Ontario. He performs with the bands Raising the Fawn and Broken Social Scene Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock band, a musical collective including as few ...

Evan Cranley Evan Cranley is a Canadian musician based in Montreal, Quebec. He records with the bands Stars and Broken Social Scene, although he considered joining the band Metric before finally joining Stars. Musical career Early on, Cranley was in the band ...

Justin Peroff Justin Peter Papadimitriou (born October 13, 1977), family name changed to Peroff, is best known as the drummer for the Toronto-based indie rock collective Broken Social Scene. He is a credited actor, appearing in the major motion picture '' How t ...

* James Shaw * Feist *

Jessica Moss Jessica Moss is a Canadian musician best known for playing violin and singing backing vocals in the post-rock band Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band since 2001, and is a founding member of Black Ox Orkestar. In addition ...

Ohad Benchetrit Ohad Benchetrit is a Canadian musician. He plays guitar, bass, saxophone and flute for the post-rock band Do Make Say Think, and has also contributed to albums by Broken Social Scene, Feist, The Hidden Cameras and Charles Spearin. He coll ...

* Martin Davis Kinack *

Torquil Campbell Torquil Campbell (born 17 March 1972) is the co-lead singer and a songwriter for the Montreal-based indie rock band Stars. In addition to singing, he also plays the melodica, trumpet, synthesizer, and tambourine. Campbell is also an actor and ...

* Jo-ann Goldsmith * David Newfeld * Julie Penner * Jason Tait * K-os * Murray Lightburn *

Noah Mintz Noah Mintz (born September 12, 1969) is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist and mastering engineer. Mintz founded the band hHead with Brendan Canning in the 1990s. He released solo material under the name Noah's Arkweld following the br ...

* Louise Upperton

In popular culture

The instrumental introduction to "7/4 (Shoreline)" is used as the theme music for

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of C ...

's ''Mainstreet'' programme broadcast on CBHA in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

References

{{Authority control 2005 albums Broken Social Scene albums Arts & Crafts Productions albums Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year albums