Broken Social Scene
is a Canadian indie rock band, a musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed in 1999 by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning. All of its members currently play in various other groups and solo projects, mainly based around the city of Toronto. The band refuses the label "supergroup," based on size or the ubiquity of their members, claiming that in the indie scene everyone is involved in more than one project. The group's sound could be considered a combination of all of its members' respective musical projects, and is occasionally considered baroque pop. It is characterized by a very large number of sounds, grand orchestrations featuring guitars, horns, woodwinds, and violins, unusual song structures, and an experimental, and sometimes chaotic production style from David Newfeld, who produced the second and third albums.
Albums
- Feel Good Lost (2001)
- You Forgot It in People (2002)
- Broken Social Scene (2005)
- Forgiveness Rock Record (2010)
Apostle of Hustle
The band is more or less the brainchild of Andrew Whiteman, who has been in such groups as Bourbon Tabernacle Choir and Que Vida. He released a solo effort titled Fear of Zen in 1995.. He is also the lead guitarist for the indie supergroup Broken Social Scene of Toronto. Whiteman returned to his native Toronto to resume writing and recording with Broken Social Scene after a two-month stay with his godmother's family in Cuba. He learned to play the tres, a Cuban guitar, during that time.
But in the midst of making the Juno Award-winning You Forgot It in People, Whiteman couldn't escape the Spanish musical flavors of his time spent in El Barrio Santo Suarez. Whiteman returned to Toronto invigorated about a possible music that did not yet exist.
Knowing he wanted to create it, Whiteman took up residency at a local dive as Apostle Of Hustle, a quartet that includes Julian Brown, who also tours with Feist, Whiteman's former girlfriend, BSS bandmate and his travel companion to Cuba. The band played Brazilian and Cuban folk songs, as well as Tom Waits/PJ Harvey/Marc Ribot covers..
Albums
- Folkloric Feel (2004)
- National Anthem of Nowhere (2007)
- My Sword Hand's Anger (EP, 2007)
- U King (EP 2007)
- Eats Darkness (2009)
Stars
is an indie pop band from Canada. Originally formed in Toronto by vocalist Torquil Campbell and keyboardist Chris Seligman, the band relocated to New York City and then subsequently to Montreal.
All members of the band are also members of the indie band Broken Social Scene, with whom they once shared a record label, Arts & Crafts. Campbell is an actor who has appeared on the television shows Sex and the City and Law & Order. Millan has released two solo albums, Honey from the Tombs in 2006 and Masters of the Burial in 2009.
Albums
- Nightsongs (2001)
- Heart (2003)
- Set Yourself on Fire (2004)
- In Our Bedroom after the War (2007)
- The Five Ghosts (2010)
The Most Serene Republic
is a Canadian indie rock band based in Milton, Ontario. It takes its name from the sobriquet of formerly independent Venice under the Doges, which was regarded as "The Most Serene Republic of Venice".
The roots of the band were planted in 2003 when Ryan Lenssen and Adrian Jewett formed Thee Oneironauts (O-nye-rawn-nauts). The pair recorded and self-released an EP entitled Night of the Lawnchairs on the GROK Studios imprint, which had also released Lenssen's concept band "Rushing To Redlights". The Oneironauts grew to trio status with the addition of Nick Greaves on guitar before ultimately becoming The Most Serene Republic.
Albums
- Underwater Cinematographer (2005)
- Population (2007)
- ...And the Ever Expanding Universe (2009)
Los Campesinos!
are a seven piece indie pop band from Cardiff, Wales that formed in early 2006 at Cardiff University. Despite the band forming in Wales, none of its members are actually Welsh. They released their debut album, Hold on Now, Youngster..., in February 2008 and followed this up by releasing a record titled We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, in October that year. Whilst many consider it to be an album due to its length, the band have always referred to it as a 'record' or EEP (Extended EP) due to contractual and artistic reasons. Their second official album, entitled Romance Is Boring, was released on February 1, 2010.
Albums
- Hold on Now, Youngster... (2008)
- We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed (2008)
- Romance Is Boring (2010)
Constantines
"One of the more slightly awkward questions asked in the course of small talk is often, "Who's your favourite band?" -You're supposed to answer, "I don't have one favourite, but I like" which will lead to a discussion of genres and tastes. I am one of the few with a definitive answer: Constantines."
"I can't recall the first time I heard them, but it would have been on CD, their first, self-titled 2000 release. It came in a beautiful hand-made package that contained a wooden match, an appropriate way to light a long creative fuse that led to 2002's brilliant Shine a Light, through to the even stronger Tournament of Hearts in 2005, and culminating now in the explosive Kensington Heights."