andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

It’s been a long time since I’ve purchased a brand new album on a whim. As a student, I have little disposable income so you had better believe I expect purchases such as this to pay off.

Well, my friends, I may have hit the proverbial jackpot. In the last two weeks or so, I’ve been carelessly shelling out my rent money for records, yet the return turned out to mean more to me than a roof over my head.

My purchases?

Regina Spektor’s Far. Manchester Orchestra’s Everything to Nothing. Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest.

It wasn’t planned in advance, I didn’t wait in line outside the doors of HMV the day Grizzly Bear’s third album was released, and I actually didn’t even know Regina had been in the studio. As for Manchester Orchestra, it was more peer pressure that led me to buy it. Peer pressure and a steal of a deal at Sonic Boom.

The moral of the story, though, is the pleasant surprise that quickly followed the first few listens of each.

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Sam Roberts Band, IllScarlett, and The Stills will help HMV open the “Store Of The Future” in Toronto on June 17.

The three bands, along with Matthew Barber, Billy Bragg, Zaki Ibrahim, and The Coast, will all play free sets at the unveiling of the revamped HMV store on 50 Bloor St. W.

The newly designed HMV store will open in time for HMV Canada’s 20th anniversary, at 8 a.m. Scheduled for the grand re-opening are: a breakfast, various musical performances, and a draw to win $5,000. Other contests and giveaways are also expected.

Here’s the schedule of performances for the event:

10 a.m. – Matthew Barber
11 a.m. – IllScarlett
12 p.m. – Billy Bragg
1 p.m. – Sam Roberts Band
2 p.m. – Zaki Ibrahim
3 p.m. – The Coast
8:30 p.m. – The Stills