Break a leg, Broken Social Scene

Danielle St. LaurentI suspect that I will be one of the only people in any way related to the Toronto music scene not on hand at Garrison Common tomorrow for Field Trip, the day-long festival marking the 10th anniversary of the Arts & Crafts label, headlined by the “reunited” (having only been inactive for less than two years, they get the air quotes) Broken Social Scene playing in full their watershed 2002 album You Forgot It In People.

It’s not that I wasn’t tempted. This blog was in existence barely a month before People was released, and there’s no denying that it – and the emergence of Toronto and Canada on the indie rock world stage in its wake – made the 416 beat an infinitely more interesting place to cover. But you know, you see a band as many times as I did in those early years and you can get a bit burnt out – their headlining slot to close out the first Virgin Fest in 2006 was pretty much the last time I would make any kind of effort to see the band, and with Amy, Emily, and Leslie all singing “Anthems For A Seventeen-Year-Old Girl” together, it was really the right note to go out on. Not that our paths wouldn’t cross again – there was one stop of their 2010 in-store tour and then again that December – mainly to see Superchunk, but also to affirm that hey, we had some good times but I think we’re done. There’s just not enough nostalgia in my tank to spend a day seeing a lineup of bands I’ve seen a million times already. So everyone else in the city, have a great time tomorrow, happy anniversary Arts & Crafts, have a great show Broken Social Scene. I’ll be at home installing some blinds.

But if you’re in the spirit of the occasion, do read this piece in Rolling Stone about the BSS “reunion” and A&C anniversary, another in Huffington Post, as well as this one in Interview with Brendan Canning about those same topics as well as what he’s up to at the moment. And also this week’s cover story in The Grid about the evolution of the independent music scene in Toronto over the past decades – not just post-BSS – and the companion piece by author Michael Barclay at his own Radio Free Canuckistan. And you can watch last night’s “reunion” warm-up performances of “Almost Crimes” and “7/4 Shoreline” on Jimmy Fallon at Pitchfork. Update: A full transcript of the interview with Kevin Drew that went into the Rolling Stone piece is up courtesy of the author.

MP3: Broken Social Scene – “Deathcock”
MP3: Broken Social Scene – “World Sick”

The Music Nerd Chronicles and The Independent talk to Hayden, who’s also playing Field Trip and got in touch with his crafty side in a video feature for Etsy.

Pitchfork are streaming the new Braids EP “In Kind//Amends”, out June 11. They play The Comfort Zone for NXNE on June 15 and the new full-length Flourish//Perish is out August 20.

Stream: Braids / In Kind//Amends

DIY gets to know Diana; they’re at The Horseshoe on June 13 for NXNE, opening for Tegan & Sara and fun. at Downsview Park on July 6, and will release their debut full-length Perpetual Surrender on August 20.

Exclaim gets a bit of context to that Halifax-heavy showcase happening at The Great Hall on the Friday night of NXNE, June 14; it’s to mark the 21st anniversary of Murderrecords, and will feature Sloan performing their debut Peppermint EP in its entirety (plus some other songs because the EP is only like 23 minutes long), and will also have the first-ever vinyl pressing of The Super Friendz’s debut Mock Up, Scale Down available for sale – I may prevail upon someone to grab me a copy since I probably won’t make it to the show – and the release of a commemorative book about the label. For those not rocking NXNE wristbands, advance tickets are $23 and available now.

Nylon has a feature piece on Majical Cloudz, doing the NXNE thing on June 15 at BLK BOX.

Lightning Dust are streaming another new song from their forthcoming Fantasy, out June 25.

Stream: Lightning Dust – “Loaded Gun”

Exclaim is streaming another new song from Louise Burns’ forthcoming solo record The Midnight Mass, out July 9.

Stream: Louise Burns – “Jasper”

The Grid and Huffington Post check in with Tokyo Police Club about the status of their next album, possibly/probably due out in the Fall.

Muso’s Guide interviews Hooded Fang.