Hundreds of fans stopped by HMV in downtown Toronto to score their seven seconds in heaven with Drake on Monday – some having been there since as early as 8 p.m. the night before! Talk about dedicated fans.

In an interview with MuchMusic’s T-Rexxx, who hosts Rap City, Drake admitted that once he heard the stories of people coming from all over the country just to meet him, there was no way he could leave without making sure he met every single fan. Drake even stopped to take pictures with some of the lucky fans, after it had been made clear in the ads that it would strictly be an autograph session only.

Drake ended up staying for around three hours more than scheduled in his effort to make sure all his fans got the attention they deserved.

I never thought it would be possible to respect Drake any more than I already do, but after hearing this, he has shot up to the top of my list. It’s nice to find out that fame and fortune hasn’t gotten to everyone, and that Drake will always remember being Aubrey Graham from Toronto. I’m so proud of you, Drake! Make sure to pick up your copy of Drake’s latest album, “Take Care”, which is in stores now.

Check out more pictures from the signing here.

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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.

In a bold move, I declare Far my album of 2009. It is everything Regina Spektor has made herself – quirky, mouthy, melodramatic – but with the solemn edge that briefly reared its head on “Begin To Hope”, now fully-formed and reckoned with. “Laughing With” is an interesting choice for a single – a friend of mine has tried to call it her “What If God Was One of Us” – yet the lyrics miss soppy altogether. Its Regina’s artistic accuracy that take her piano pop to a different stratosphere than the Vanessa Carlton’s of the world. Like Ben Folds, this generation’s piano man, Regina has lip and a throat to back it up.

But before this blog turns to an album review, or an all-out love fest for my favourite Soviet songstress, let’s move on.

To the next big thing in scene-rock, a genre from which I had distanced myself after The Format broke up and phrase band names came in vogue. Listening to Manchester Orchestra, though, I was reminded of all the reasons I became a scenester in the first place.

Not only is this record positively drenched with angst, vocalist Andy Hull gets the point across without shredding his vocal chords. His pleading wail gives them an indie tinge, reminiscent of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, probably due in part to producer Brad Fisher who has been in the studio with ambient rockers The Shins and My Morning Jacket.

The album flits between dance-rock and epic ballads, all the time grungy but delicately so. (See “I Can Feel a Hot One”, almost a capella complete with an obo’s mourn drifting behind the sluggish tempo.)

It’s a rounded listen, addictive from front to back with lulls in all the right places.

And there is Grizzly Bear, almost all lull but a captivating kind of quiet. I hadn’t heard of this band until reviews for their latest album speckled every inch of my computer screen and magazines. When it was finally released, I was drawn like a moth to the beautiful flame of the album cover. Of course, I had heard “Two Weeks” and was totally enraptured by the percussive hook, which is incidentally the best example of the band’s penchant for genius rhythm, even if it’s not always danceable.

Now, I can’t say I actually love this album. It has its moments, “Two Weeks” is undoubtedly my song of the summer. And sure, there are other single potentials, but I prefer to listen to it in one sitting, allowing my imagination and attention to wander through its hazy soundscape. It’s the kind of album you would enjoy on a rooftop patio in mid-afternoon, possibly sitting next to a four-hosed hookah pipe and weaving a hemp bracelet. And while I can’t say that opportunity has yet presented itself, I’ve been enjoying Veckatimest all the same.

Obviously these albums are worlds apart from one another, but they share a common thread of roundedness – from front to back they flow, unwavering in each of their respective traits.

Maybe I’m only getting this impression because it’s the summer and I have the time to sit around and appreciate whole albums at a time. But I think even if it were the dead of winter and the very real potential of sleeping in the snowy streets of Ottawa lay before me, I would still have handed over my hard-earned pennies for all three of these albums.

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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

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance