Thank You!

Soundscapes will be closing permanently on September 30th, 2021.

Open every day between Spetember 22nd-30th

We'd like to thank all of our loyal customers over the years, you have made it all worthwhile! The last 20 years have seen a golden age in access to the world's recorded music history both in physical media and online. We were happy to be a part of sharing our knowledge of some of that great music with you. We hope you enjoyed most of what we sold & recommended to you over the years and hope you will continue to seek out the music that matters.

In the meantime we'll be selling our remaining inventory, including thousands of play copies, many of which are rare and/or out-of-print, never to be seen again. Over the next few weeks the discounts will increase and the price of play copies will decrease. Here are the details:

New CDs, LPs, DVDs, Blu-ray, Books 60% off 15% off

Rare & out-of-print new CDs 60% off 50% off

Rare/Premium/Out-of-print play copies $4.99 $14.99

Other play copies $2.99 $8.99

Magazine back issues $1 $2/each or 10 for $5 $15

Adjusted Hours & Ticket Refunds

We will be resuming our closing sale beginning Friday, June 11. Our hours will be as follows:

Wednesday-Saturday 12pm-7pm
Sunday 11am-6pm

Open every day between September 22nd-30th

We will no longer be providing ticket refunds for tickets purchased from the shop, however, you will be able to obtain refunds directly from the promoters of the shows. Please refer to the top of your ticket to determine the promoter. Here is the contact info for the promoters:

Collective Concerts/Horseshoe Tavern Presents/Lee's Palace Presents: shows@collectiveconcerts.com
Embrace Presents: info@embracepresents.com
MRG Concerts: ticketing@themrggroup.com
Live Nation: infotoronto@livenation.com
Venus Fest: venusfesttoronto@gmail.com

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Thank you for your understanding.

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1. TAME IMPALA - The Slow Rush
2. SARAH HARMER - Are We Gone
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4. DESTROYER - Have We Met
5. DRIVE BY TRUCKERS - Unravelling

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Monday
May032010

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE - Forgiveness Rock Record

Some bands are great live; others are great on record. The best are able to do both. Toronto's own Broken Social Scene have built for themselves a rabid worldwide underground (and occasionally overground) fanbase by doing just that, albeit with a distinctly different approach in each medium. On album, BSS have been beguilingly mysterious and steeped in heady self-sabotage, usually at the expense of their most poppy and accessible songs. In concert, however, the same songs that were obscured on record by gauzy production and profane choruses were elevated to arms-wide-open stadium rock that ripped entire pages from Bono and Chris Martin's playbook.

Well, whatever the actual excusing of past sins that drove them to title this album Forgiveness Rock Record, make no mistake that BSS is finally coming clean—folks, this is a rock band and they're singing to all of you ("That's right, even you guys in the back, lemme hear you!!!") For the first time, those choruses and epic hooks that they write so well are allowed to register with honest directness. Sure, there are detours, left turns, moments of noisy disintegration, and Kevin Drew still can't resist populating some of the catchiest tracks with swear words ("Texico Bitches" and "Ungrateful Little Father", for example). But no matter what he and his many cohorts are singing, you finally hear every word with crystal clear fidelity.

More than ever, the 'weirdness' of the band comes not from production, but from the actual songwriting. "Chase Scene" is a perversely entertaining genre-study of, well, soundtracks to cinematic chase scenes. The aforementioned "...Father" shifts beautifully from stone-skipping stream-of-consciousness indie folk to a shimmering sheet of ambient synth tones. And the completely incongruous hoedown that derails the glam-jam of "Water In Hell"—well, it's definitely weird. Producer John McEntire is a big part of this sonic revelation. He’s certainly not without his own bizarro tricks, and he uses them to great effect. But by parting ways with You Forgot It In People and Broken Social Scene producer Dave Newfeld—whose production and mixing were master classes in molasses-thick impressionism—the band stands in front of its listener with a nakedness that is both unexpected and refreshing.

The big question, then, is: when populist rock anthems like “Forced To Love” and “World Sick” (songs that are direct cousins of past hits like “Cause = Time” and “7/4 (Shoreline)”) are stripped of their arty window-dressing, will the blogging elite stand by their man, or will they cry “Sellout!” and shift their love to another band more willing to throw Pollock-esque tantrums over their pop music? Maybe yes, maybe no, but whatever the final verdict, I’m willing to bet that once people hear these songs live, none of it will matter anyway. And you know what? It’s still one weird hour of music.

Reader Comments (2)

It's difficult to take your reviews seriously when you use the word "epic" every five sentences. It may be the latest and greatest in hipster vocabulary, but by definition, I believe this adjective is meant to be used less liberally.

Well, in all fairness, it's only currently used twice on this page across 20 reviews. But it is true, we did use it in The National and BSS reviews. Epic fail! Ha! Get it?

May 14, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterJohnny

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