Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record

So I've been really busy lately. I wish I had more time off from work but until the new year starts, I am out of personal and vacation time. Lately, I've been pre-occupied with trying to work on 'extra-curricular' activities while trying to balance my personal/work life. To look at something I've been recently working on, you can read anything on this page (http://www.adequacy.net/) to get an idea of the fruits of my labor. I also recently wrote stuff for a few other places but alas, I am probably done writing about music for the year. It's pretty sad really; I operate on a schedule, my close friends call me a task-man. And that means that music gets shuffled into a tight, neat schedule where I can evaluate a year and then move on. For now, it has to be like that - otherwise it's far too overwhelming - and plus it gives me a concrete excuse to say, "Hey, well I need to write about it." Whatever the case is, it'd be awesome to let loose, like on Black Swan (which if you haven't seen yet, please do) but even Natalie Portman gets tired right?

So with that, my personal top whatever of 2010 is almost over. I've mentioned before about listening to stuff and trying to grasp what I feel for it. Your own music loves/likes will surely be personal but I try not to make it entirely subjective because then, everything would be all about the emotionally moving stuff. Still, Broken Social Scene has been one of those steady loves that never seems to pale, when compared to other flickering lights. They're like that great girl that you can always turn to and know that she has all the right goods for you, instead of being damaged goods, haha. Bad jokes aside, I remember showing 2005's self-titled album to Nick a while back and he really liked what he heard. I had the new one on me for a while, the greatly titled Forgiveness Rock Record, and lately, it's hit a new shift for me. The sounds are still sprawling and I've never considered BSS to be an 'easy' band to listen to but man is this music good. "Sweetest Kill" is a downtrodden smooth ride that peels back the layers of the band's huge sounds to reveal an honest and genuine sound. Lead man Kevin Drew leads in with gorgeous lines like "All the time, we get by, trying to figure out our lives. Like a fade out." Definitely a stand out here.


I had almost entirely forgotten about this band and this new album until I finally realized how foolish I had been. I've been trying to make some kind of final list, maybe I can post that within the next few days. Sometimes I wish I had more time to just chill and live a casual life. I desperately miss when I could just go to school and jam out to music on the side. And I especially miss walking around the music stores in town and just grabbing a ton of music to lose myself in. Speaking of losing yourself, I was talking to an awesome girl yesterday and she mentioned something about her love for instrumental music, with tons of guitar. "Romance to the Grave" doesn't have 'tons of guitar' but it showcases BSS as one of the most musical bands still around. Beginning with tranquil shifts in strings and volume, the vocals come through with a dynamic presence. I remember eating up the huge walls of sound they achieved on previous albums and nothing changes on Forgiveness Rock Record - other than that cool name of course - it's probably just as good as their previous stuff. Maybe I'm biased since I've always liked them but there's not much to dislike here. - Bryan