poor lil' canadians

Yesterday I managed to drag myself out of my post-work/post-burrito coma and have a lovely evening out with...myself. The Toronto "collective" Broken Social Scene was playing Central Park's Summerstage, and I'll be damned if I was going to miss one of my favorite bands playing just a few cross-street blocks away from my apartment. There was no way I was going to cough up the $40 ticket price, even if, you know, I actually had $40 (my wild spending days are, alas, over,) but herein lies the beauty of Summerstage. You can sit right outside the venue, not see anything, but hear it all crystal clear.

I totally misjudged when they were going to go on and only got to listen to three songs (and apparently I was not the only one to do so,) but as I crossed over to the east side of the park I could hear one of their many fantastically, weirdly beautiful songs, "Lovers' Spit," grow louder and louder until I finally snuggled my goosebumpy self happily into the crook of a tree. At some point towards the end of their set, the lead singer gave a shout out to his friends in prison, which I thought was rather puzzing until I read the concert reviews online--one member of the band and the producer were arrested and jailed the night before for trying to buy marijuana in Washington Square Park. Apparently, these two folks have not spent much time in New York since about 1982. Delivery service, dudes!

Regardless, Broken Social Scene will always have a place in my heart. They are solidly on my esteemed Most Favorite Bands Ever List, chronologically following Ace of Base (junior high...and shut up you liked them too,) The Beatles (early high school,) U2 (late high school,) Radiohead (college,) and the Canadian Persuasion (post-college) of BSS and The Arcade Fire (I know they don't sound at all the same but there are similarities in the bands themselves and in the role they've played in my life (i.e., helping keep me sane.))

Incidentally, I find it amusing that people are discussing each member (there are, like, 15 members) by name in trying to figure out who the pot-head is. I know the names of some band members but couldn't attribute them to the right people to save my life. But I do know from the photos who is missing. And that person is the one I so desperately wished I could make out with when I saw them play at NYU. Go fucking figure.

Last but not least, did you think I wasn't going to plug their album, eh? Buy it here and if you don't like it after listening to it five times I'll give you a blow job. Or just apologize for wasting your $12.