Bringing back Song of the Week, because I came across this incredible lo-fi version of the one song that can always lift me up when too many lame things happen. I could write a novel about how much this song means to me. The thought that I might not get to hear it played live again for many years makes me incredibly sad.

When I was a kid, you fucked me in the ass, but I took my pen to paper and I passed you.

You all want the lovely music to save your lives. 

Thanks to a very kind friend who knows what a huge BSS fan I am, I ended up with some Broken Social Scene albums I already own on vinyl, and figured it might be nice to do a giveaway for them here in celebration of the decade + of amazing music they gave us, and the end of an era.

So for the next few weeks, once a week, I will be posting up an album to give to you, starting today with their self titled LP on 180 gram vinyl, including a digital download of the album.

To enter, you must first be a Facebook Fan of TTRO, and like the status about this giveaway. If you do not do this, you will not be entered. Secondly, you must leave a comment below using an email address I can contact you at in the space where it asks you for your email, telling me your best Broken Social Scene related story. Contest closes on Thursday when another BSS vinyl will be up for grabs. (Please be aware that if you have never commented before, your comment will have to be approved first before it shows up, you do not need to submit it again).

To get this started I will tell you one of my BSS related stories. After Forgiveness Rock Record was released in 2010 they did a small show here at Parts & Labour, teaming up with Torontoist, that was basically a ‘whoever gets the most likes’ wins 12 tickets to the private show. Top 4 entries got to go, and I ended up in 5th. I still get so sad when I think about what I missed out on, especially now that I don’t know when I will get to see them perform again.

Here’s my favorite track from this album, stripped down, live at Soundscapes:

• Maybe it takes losing the things we take for granted for us to realize their importance? On no longer hating rob ford. 

• If you have yet to grab this, it’s worth checking out - Tribute to Nirvana’s Nevermind.

• So this is cute (perfect for a date night). Food/music blog Turntable Kitchen makes a Pairings Box of curated music and food delivered to your door every month for only 25$ shipping included. (It’s US only for now though, damn).

• An album cover that used a photo of the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11. Too far? Yep.

• Did Pitchfork kill the rock critic?

• Interesting keynote address from Roger McNamee on being a musician in the digital age.

• There’s been a lot of talk lately about why b(r)ands should not join Google+ (which I am on, scroll down my sidebar to add me!)

• More on that topic.

• A 1971 issue of Life magazine with a spread on rock stars with their parents!

• Solid advice on how to advance your career in the music business. Especially love the point about surrounding yourself with winners. There are a lot of very negative people in the industry that will bring you down with them.

• Hilarious and super accurate infographic on the state of the internet right now.

• A great article that explains why musicians should seek guidance on their social media presence. It isn’t just about signing up to every network, you need to use the right tools for your b(r)and.

• I love this. 7 ways to bring back the physical album experience in digital music.

• Before you ever pitch me your bands music, read this.

• YouTube has created a massive 70 page guide to being successful on YouTube. A must reed if you upload any content there.

• Facebook has created something similar for musicians, a 40 page playbook on how to successfully promote through Facebook.

• Here’s a simpler version of the above if you don’t have time for that (but you should make time for it).

• Why vinyl pressing plants keep raising red flags.

• What do you think of the strange Broken Social Scene video for Sweetest Kill? Seems the band has differing opinions.

• 54 life lessons 14 years of travel taught me. This is a must read.

Happy Friday everyone! Happy Pride! Happy CANADA DAY! Hope the Canadian’s out there are enjoying the day off and doing something awesome. It should be noted that I am celebrating my birthday today, so if you want to give me a gift, go click that ‘like’ button -> on the right sidebar! Now for the links…

• Don’t know how I just found this website. Probably old news to many of you but if not, please check out The Voice Project. I posted the cover Broken Social Scene did for this yesterday, but there are a whole bunch of beautifully shot, gorgeous sounding cover songs on there, all for a truly great cause.

• Similarly awesome cover idea, this time from the A.V. Club, Sloan covers Gary Newman’s “Cars”. Epic.

• Read Bruce Springsteen’s Clarence Clemons eulogy. “Clarence doesn’t leave the E Street Band when he dies. He leaves when we die.” Grab a tissue, this made me cry.

• Stereogum’s Indie Song of Summer 2011.

• The Top 5 Indie Rock/Pop Releases in June.

• Billy Joe’s son has a band? Billy Joe has a son old enough to be in a band? WTF. Dookie was the first CD I ever bought. Weird. If there’s such a thing as ‘cutesy punk’ that song is it.

• Patti Smith releases career spanning compilation album. I’m getting this just for her notes on all those classic tracks.

• Justin Timberlake bought MySpace? I thought this guy was in the music industry? Way to throw away millions. I guess that’s what you do when you have it to spare. #thatshipalreadysank #sorrybro

• Absurdly irrelevant D-lister tries to get attention by smearing Michael Jackson’s name two years after his death.

• Fight Club writer to pen Trent Reznor’s new HBO show… This could be awesome or awful. Probably awful.

• Last but not least, the Pope joined Twitter.

Yep.

At this time last week I was on my way to the Air Canada Centre. The three musicians I’ve listed in the title were more than enough reason for me to attend the Junos with pride this year. In the past, watching the Juno ceremony could be a painful experience with the so called ‘talent’ being awarded ranging from the likes of Nickelback to Avril Lavigne. But this year (in time for their 40th anniversary) they actually started to wake up, much like the Grammys (maybe they took a hint?) and really highlight the the plethora of incredible music Canada should be known for, instead of the shit we are known for. (Okay so some Bieber was inevitable, but he was not the star of the night taking home only the two awards I predicted he would win).

As for my predictions, of the 22 awards I speculated on, I was right more than half the time. That is pretty good considering I was going more for my personal taste than who I thought would win, and it would have been even more had I not let my love for Broken Social Scene overshadow the obvious roll Arcade Fire has been on at Awards shows this year. The deserving winner list speaks volumes for the improvement those in charge have made. Real music was the focus, and that made for a great night.

Most importantly of course was the fact that Neil Young was attending for the first time in 29 years (and his standing ovation was the only one truly deserved, sorry Shania). I know I chose him as the winner, but I don’t think he even expected to take home Artist of the Year – stating something along the lines of “Bieber, what can I say?” haha. It was an honor to watch him receive his much deserved Humanitarian Award which he gave most credit to his family for, but it was even better to watch him take home the Awards for his work this year on Le Noise. I may not think it’s the best album in his catalog, but it was surely the best Adult Alternative Album of the Year.

As much as I wasn’t looking forward to Drake hosting the ceremony, he surprisingly wasn’t half bad. He didn’t even seem too upset about losing in all his nominated categories, including Rap Album of the Year . There was even a really funny bit he did as well that’s worth checking out if you missed it:

Was I a little bummed that Broken Social Scene only won a Juno for their album artwork when I truly believed they had the best album of the year by a mile? Yes, and I still think they should have at least won Alternative Album of the Year, but I understand why they didn’t when up against the Arcade Fire monster. Amazingly enough, I had the chance to attend the Broken Social Scene/Arts & Crafts after party that night, and no one from the crew seemed at all upset about the loss, as both bands share a mutual respect for each other. Oh and their performance of World Sick was also the best live performance of the night, if you ask me (note the wonderful words ‘Vote Harper Out Now‘ on Andrew’s guitar!):

Another highlight was the tribute to The Band, Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Young, and Joni Mitchell. Again the trend towards promoting our best continued with City and Colour performing Young’s Old Man; Sarah Harmer performing Mitchell’s Carey; Sarah Slean and Jim Cuddy performing an awesome rendition of Lightfoot’s If You Could Read My Mind; Kevin Hearn performing The Band’s The Genetic Method; and Hearn, Derek Miller, Blue Rodeo’s Greg Keelor, Justin Rutledge, Serena Ryder and The Sadies performing The Band’s The Shape I’m In. What an honor it must have been to sing Neil’s best song while he is in the room watching. And speaking of The Band, Robbie Robertson also introduced a great little retrospective video honoring the Toronto music scene they helped build.

All this praise is not to say it was a perfect night. There was some choices in performers that didn’t quite make sense to me. Hedley? Really? No thanks. But Chromeo closing the show instead of Arcade Fire was really the biggest mistake. They can close the biggest music award ceremony around but not ours, back in their homeland, after taking home a suitcase full of awards that night? Lame.

Most embarrassingly though, were the tweets that came following the ceremony by what I can only assume/hope are 12 year old girls enraged about Justin Bieber’s loss of Artist of the Year, asking “Who is Neil Young!!!?” Even being a 12 year old girl is not a good enough excuse for such words. I – as a 12 year old girl – was obsessed with the Backstreet Boys, but I still knew who Neil Young was. Maybe that’s because I had parents with enough taste to raise me on albums like Harvest, but it’s still shocking to me that any living Canadian could publicly ask that question and not feel incredibly stupid. I realize the same thing happened on a larger scale when Arcade Fire beat Eminem at the Grammys, but somehow it’s more forgivable to not know of an indie band than it is to not know of the greatest musician of all time after Bob Dylan.

When all was said and done, the night made me feel so happy to be in Canada, where the current music scene really is stronger than ever. And it made me realize how lucky I am to be living in Toronto where events like this happen, and where I have been able to see every single band I’ve ever been interested in perform live. I watched Arcade Fire perform at Massey Hall the same year I watched Neil Young perform there.

2011 – The year the Juno Awards became relevant again.

See the full list of winners here.