I was down in Boston a few weeks ago and there was an awkward moment involving Drake. I was riding around with a couple local Bostonians and the driver turned around and asked, “so being Canadian, you all must be into the Drake right?” We all gave him blank stares and he lost his shit. So let me update you on this so that it doesn’t happen you too.

If you ever watched Degrassi: The Next Generation you might remember him as Jimmy Brooks. If your like me and never watched that show, he’s a Canadian rapper / r&b artist making a lot of noise on Lil’ Wayne’s Young Money Records. I hesitate to call him rap as much as I do calling him r&b.

Suffice to say if you’re not into Kanye West and more particularly 808’s and heartbreak you probably won’t get into Drake. On his 2009 EP So Far Gone, he raps over songs from Peter, Bjorn and John, Santigold and Lykke Li. On the other hand his single from that album “Best I Ever Had” sounds like a straight up top 40’s radio hit. His first full length album is scheduled to come out in 2010 and is entitled Thank Me Later.

The track Forever has been getting a lot of attention lately, considering it is a rework of a mixtape song from last summer. It features Drake along with Kanye West, Lil’ Wayne and Eminem. This much hip hop star power could only the be result of something like…a Lebron James documentary! It’s called More Than a Game. The song itself pretty formulaic but I thought it was worth mentioning anyways.

Drake – Ignant Shit [feat. Lil' Wayne] (zshare)

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Drake – Unstoppable [feat. Santogold] (zshare)

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You might wonder why I would preface a post about Pop Montreal announcements with a photo of a white dog sporting a red collar. The answer is because that dog has a 12 million dollar trust fund that’s why. Hotel heiress Leona Helmsley left the fund to her beloved dog after she passed away a few weeks ago.

Anyways, some of the headliners include Fever Ray, Jay Reatard and of course Yo La Tengo. It’s just a taste of what’s to come this October.

Also Sufjan Stevens is having a rare performance in Montreal during the festival but not associated with it. His entire tour is already sold out, but I thought I’d mention that anyways.

Yo La Tengo – Little Eyes (zshare)

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Detroit based indie rock band The High Strung has been playing shows in libraries across America for years now. Chicago public radio even covered their exploits on the popular quirk program This American Life. The band’s appearance were part of national program to trick young people into visiting their local libraries. Recently, they capped it all off by accepting an invitation to play at the Guantanamo Bay Library. The trip was chronicled in a recent Vanity Fair article, complete with awkward moments and intrusive security checks. Their newest album is called Ode To The Inverse Of The Dude features this song, among others.

The High Strung – The Lifestyle That Got Away (zshare)

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Lach

I missed this wonderful cover of Islands In The Stream by Feist and The Constantines when I posted the original and the Mya/ODB version a few weeks ago. A friend of mine caught my mistake and here it is for you. It has much different vibe; being slow and maybe less romantic. Above is a fingerpooting, (drawing) done for me based on a three word request (Business man riding werewolf) over twitter. To get your own personalised fingerpooting just send a three word tweet here.

Feist and the Constantines – Islands In The Stream (zshare)

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Washed Out is a South Carolina project by Ernest Greene with a handful of relaxing and engaging songs like this one. Hoping to see a full release sometime soon.

Washed out – Feel It All Around (zshare)

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via (robertashley)