Quill & Quire
September 2009 will mark a decade since the inception of Broken Social Scene, a pillar of the Toronto indie-rock community. Eye Weekly online editor Stuart Berman chronicles the group from its unassuming beginnings to its critically acclaimed heights in a series of carefully arranged interviews and photographs that comprise a comprehensive snapshot of the Toronto independent music scene. The band is a collective of dozens of musical talents – such as Leslie Feist, Emily Haines, and Kevin Drew – so it’s fitting that Berman’s lively, conversational narrative is structured as a polyvocal oral history, with each individual providing a unique perspective on the community cultivated by the band. Berman has set himself a difficult task by attempting to remain true to Broken Social Scene’s chaotic artistic sensibility while creating a cohesive narrative out of an agglomeration of so many different voices. For the most part he succeeds, though in the early going the book lacks a certain coherence, and it takes time for the reader to adapt to the piecemeal storytelling. Berman’s love of Broken Social Scene is clear from the start. His thoughtful, energetic, and playful retelling of the band’s history – from the decline and rebuilding of Toronto’s independent music scene in the 1990s to the creation of the Arts & Crafts label and beyond – shows us the band in a broader cultural context.
This Book Is Broken effectively illustrates how hard artists must work to achieve results and stands as a testament to Broken Social Scene’s relevance in 2009.
Review
“A Fantastical account of a powerful music movement in Canadian indie rock.” --Exclaim! May 2009
~ Fleet Foxes
~ Patrick Watson
by Ibi Kaslik
~ Broken Social Scene
~ Modest Mouse
