Ah, Toronto. Home of the CN Tower and the Toronto Maple Leafs, but more importantly, home to the indie supergroup, Broken Social Scene. If you know me personally, you will know that I am a huge fan of BSS. Founded by Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew, the band is composed of several members of bands signed to the prestigious Canadian indie label, Arts & Crafts. Some people who have lended their musical talent to BSS include Leslie Feist (aka Feist), Amy Millan and Evan Cranley from Stars, Emily Haines and James Shaw from Metric. Needless to say, this culmination of minds never ceases to produce mystical musical magic.
BSS have released 4 albums as a group, including a collection of B-sides; but more recently, the two founding members have produced respective solo albums with the band backing them up. These albums include Kevin Drew's Spirit If..., released in 2007, and Brendan Canning's Something for All of Us, released last year. I'd like to bring the focus to the latter album.
Throughout the entire album, Canning channels the BSS feel, with the uptempo songs like the title track Something for All of Us, Hit the Wall, and Churches Under the Stairs (which feels very Fire Eye'd Boy-ish). After Churches Under the Stairs is the track Love is New, which starts to bring the tempo of the album down a notch. The song carries a 70's disco feel, while still being reminiscent of Hotel off BSS' title album. From there, the songs dive into pool of mellowness, with the synth and brass-driven All The Best Wooden Toys Come From Germany, and the lite collaboration of voices on Been At It So Long. Canning's solo album has me salivating for a new BSS album. Till then, you can always catch Broken Social Scene on tour, since they seem to be touring 365 days a year.
Jordan
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