Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Music: First Impressions with Broken Social Scene Presents Brendan Canning, "Something For All of Us..."

Arts & Crafts puts a lot of effort into their packaging, and their releases really stand out on the record store shelves. This album is no exception.

The cover is a drawing of the Broken Social Scene crew and various other musicians with Brendan Canning standing in the center with his hands in his pockets staring out at the listener. I think that Leslie Feist may be over his left shoulder.

It's a gatefold CD case with some really nice watercolor artwork on the inside. If Arts & Crafts releases this as a gatefold vinyl then that would be a really nice addition to your record collection.

The contributing musicians is a long list which includes your usual suspects from BSS, and a few other Canadians- like Amy Millan(swoon!).

This is not an album where all of the songs sound the same. The album title, "Something For Everyone" is a rather apt description.

The opening title track, "Something For Everyone" opens with some serious guitar fuzz that recalls Sonic Youth at their pop best(ie- Rather Ripped).

The second track, "Chameleon" includes the first Amy Millan sighting. This song is almost an indie rock waltz. This is the song that performed live will make the couples hold eachother and sway.

"Snowballs and Icicles" is a slower acoustic number with a synth and violin backing that draws inspiration from the best of Eliott Smith.

Other songs even delve into the indie dance genre.

On first inspection, this is a really good album that shows that Brendan Canning has a large part in the direction and success of Broken Social Scene. If you like BSS then I would highly recommend picking this one up.

My pick for best song title- "Antique Bull" which I just find to be very clever.

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