[SRK]

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Lots of hip content in this, but they buried the lede a bit with Kevin drew talking about 'finishing a new gord album' that is a bunch of letters to his loved ones. Interesting.

[tlightle]

Sure sounds like it !!

[andrew sharpe]

Strange article.

At the Hoffman Institute, counsellors advise him to stop working with the Tragically Hip – a band that lubricates recording with Coors Light, Guinness and wine, referred to as "goof juice."

Counsellors? Goof juice? What?

I've never really gotten BSS...Hug of Thunder???

But, thanks for posting. Interesting to hear about another GD album...

[Moof_Milker]

Best paragraph:

"I'm finishing a record with him that, when we made it, we didn't know he was going to be here. You know how amazing that makes me feel? To turn around and see him on the couch and say, 'Should we eat sushi tonight, babe?' My heart is bigger than the building."

[edgoffin]

Strange article, sort of hard to follow the timeline. BSS are a band I feel I should like, but have never really given the time or been in the right mood. I do plan of checking them out at Ottawa Folk Fest.

Gord recording letters to loved ones -- I think that was mentioned, possibly in an article in the Globe last year? I remember reading that he was doing it, but sounded unsure if it would be publically released or just songs for the intended.

[direwolf74]

Never got into BSS. I bought their 2nd album (You Forgot it in People) years ago when they were being hyped up by the music press. It's a solid record, but I didn't listen to it all that much, and I lost interest in them pretty quickly after that. Saw them open for the Hip in 2011 and I thought they were just ok. In their defence though, they had to go on after Hey Rosetta, who blew them off the stage.

This new Gord album sounds interesting. Hopefully it gets an official release.

[andrew sharpe]

In their defence though, they had to go on after Hey Rosetta, who blew them off the stage.

Maybe the most underrated band in Canada.

[carebread]

In their defence though, they had to go on after Hey Rosetta, who blew them off the stage.

Maybe the most underrated band in Canada.

I don't understand why they haven't made it bigger - they seem to avoid making radio-friendly songs, though.

Love 'em.

[andrew sharpe]

In their defence though, they had to go on after Hey Rosetta, who blew them off the stage.

Maybe the most underrated band in Canada.

I don't understand why they haven't made it bigger - they seem to avoid making radio-friendly songs, though.

Maybe it's Newfoundland...nobody seems to make it big from there lately. Mark Bragg is also super talented and toured the mainland extensively to limited success.

[potsie]

Best paragraph:

"I'm finishing a record with him that, when we made it, we didn't know he was going to be here. You know how amazing that makes me feel? To turn around and see him on the couch and say, 'Should we eat sushi tonight, babe?' My heart is bigger than the building."

Did Kevin Drew actually call Gord "babe"? Huh... and here I thought he preferred to be called "brah".

That article was a huge sprawling mess, not unlike Broken Social Scene themselves at times. Very disjointed without any sense of chronology. Yet interesting, nonetheless.

This is the quote from the Globe article last fall that edgoffin alludes to:
A month after the first seizure last December, he wrote and recorded 17 as yet unpublished songs with Kevin Drew, in four days. The songs were about people who have meant something to him, and contain a detail only that person will recognize. Very Gord. It was a freer way of writing. “I kept trying to write them in the way I’m talking to you, or the way I talked to, you know, Mansbridge. Taylor Mansbridge.” This time it’s an intentional joke. (He makes lots of those.) “I came home from that recording session thinking that I had reached the peak of the hill, the, you know, learning curve. And then two days later I had this horrendous seizure.” That led to operation two, to chemo and radiation. Six weeks before the summer tour, he couldn’t remember the names of his albums. He has recorded some music with the Hip since, but has written very little in his ever-present Moleskine notebook. He labels them with letters of the alphabet. He’s up to Y. He says he’s not worried.

[edgoffin]

Yes, that's the interview I was thinking about -- I remembered there was something personal about the songs, but not that they would not be released but a "detail only they would recognize".

[potsie]

His father seems to have been a strong presence in his life and thus I would imagine he will be the subject of one of these "love letter songs". You would have to think that at least one will be written for his kids (if not one song for each of the four). However, I wonder if any of the 17 will be written for a bandmate(s)? Writing a personal song directed towards a current bandmate would be relatively uncharted ground to cover in rock music. I can't think of any band that has taken this approach. I can only come up with a few that were written for ex-bandmates (e.g. Floyd's "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" written about Barrett and Harrison's "All Those Years Ago" written about Lennon). It will also be interesting to see if the emotional tone of the record takes on a strong feeling of melancholy given his head space (not long after the diagnosis) at the time the songs were written.

[Moof_Milker]

You would have to think that at least one will be written for his kids (if not one song for each of the four).

The Apple, Zippo, Metronome & Compass Suite

[robbroncs]

as awesome as kevin drew is, it's nice to hear what other producers can do with gord. Grand Bounce with Chris Walla is my favorite Hip/Sideproject release this past decade. the kev relationship is starting to feel like the new bob rock.....

[Scotty12]

His father seems to have been a strong presence in his life and thus I would imagine he will be the subject of one of these "love letter songs". You would have to think that at least one will be written for his kids (if not one song for each of the four). However, I wonder if any of the 17 will be written for a bandmate(s)? Writing a personal song directed towards a current bandmate would be relatively uncharted ground to cover in rock music. I can't think of any band that has taken this approach. I can only come up with a few that were written for ex-bandmates (e.g. Floyd's "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" written about Barrett and Harrison's "All Those Years Ago" written about Lennon). It will also be interesting to see if the emotional tone of the record takes on a strong feeling of melancholy given his head space (not long after the diagnosis) at the time the songs were written.

Needle and the damage done?

It would be so interesting to hear the songs from those sessions. I have wondered if they may be kept private and given as gifts to friends and family, not for purchase by fans. Has it been confirmed that all (or any) of these 17 tracks will be released publicly?