Time for one of those periodic roundups of all things Broken and Social. The photo of the ladies of Broken Social Scene comes from Fashion Magazine, via Soaring With Eagles (follow the link for a BIG version).

SWE also points us to this video interview CTV did with Feist a few weeks ago when she was in town for a couple sold-out shows at the Danforth Music Hall. PopMatters has a non-talkies interview with Ms Leslie and The San Francisco Chronicle gets some quotes from her – three, exactly.

Moving along, James and Emily of Metric keep a tour diary for The Toronto Star (Bugmenot).

Stars have added a third day and a fourth show to their residency at Lee’s Palace next month. In addition to the evening show on December 16 and the matinee and evening shows on the 17th, they’ll also be playing on the 15th.

And as far as the mothership goes, the big news is that they’ve finally announced a hometown show in support of the new record – circle January 21, 2006 on your calendar, that’s when they’ll play the Kool Haus. Yes, that’s right, the Kool Haus. The jump to a large venue like that has been inevitable for some time now, and I’m personally impressed they’ve managed to put it off for so long. There’ll surely be the typical grousing and bellyaching about the choice, but really – does anyone have any better ideas? A week-long stand at the Danforth? Not likely. It’s a shame there aren’t any larger, more personable venues in this town, but you take what you can get. Tickets are $25 and go on sale tomorrow, and nota bene – this is an all ages shows, so be prepared for ankle biters.

And from the media end of things, a couple of Scenesters who are not Kevin Drew get some air time. Charles Spearin talks to Canada.com and Junkmedia draws Andrew Whiteman’s straw. The Scene are currently on the road in the US, and recently stopped in Dallas – Gorilla Vs Bear was there, and has photos (more photos here). And the band was on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic yesterday – you can listen to or watch the performance here.

Carrying on, I picked up the Oh Canada issue of Under The Radar, in which many things BSS (and not) are featured. I’m only about halfway through the 30+ pages of Canuck-o-centric features, photos and interviews, and am quite impressed at how they’re actually good reading – not standard “Oh look at what’s going on in Canada” fare, but genuinely interesting and insightful stuff with both high-profile and lesser-known artists from across the country. They were smart in hitting the Hillside Festival this past Summer to catch all bright lights of the scene in one place. The mag should now be available in all Chapters and Indigos, and hopefully also in the local independent peridocals seller of your choice.

UTR has improved immeasurably since I first discovered them a couple years ago – the content and direction was always good, but their early issues were rife with poor editing, some questionable layouts and just general growing pains. I’m glad they’ve managed to get through that and are now putting out a top-notch magazine. And Wendy Lynch’s photographs are always nothing short of amazing (More photos here).

Some more shows of the Anglo persuasion: The Psychedelic Furs are in town at The Phoenix on December 13, tickets $25, and The Subways show at the Mod Club that had been scheduled for Decmber 9 has been postponed just a wee bit… it’ll now happen on March 11 of next year. Oh, and those Coldplay dudes are at the Air Canada Centre on March 22.

np – The Wrens / The Meadowlands