The PopPicks are a weekly offering meant to highlight some of the potentially better shows happening in Montreal from each Wednesday to Tuesday following. At least according to whomever is writing them.

Can you feel that? That's a sea change. Shit's going down! America might yet survive! Yeah, it started sometime around Oct 5th, I'd say, around the same time Joanna Newsom was blowing everyone's minds here in Montreal with her festival highlight performance. Her own little Leaves of Grass, Ys, will be out next week, and it couldn't be better timed. Time to get behind those grandiose epics and believe again, people! The PopPicks are back!

We needed a bit of time to recover from Pop 06, but rest assured the wheels of 06-07 are comfortably in motion. Some final wrap-up episodes of the PopCast are on the way (as well as a very special IcePopCast all the way from the Iceland Airwaves Festival), but being that Bob Dylan is in town at the Bell Centre tonight, I figured what better time that to get back on the wagon. I already saw Ramblin' Jack Elliott perform Don't Think Twice this year, but I have to say, all those creepy 1986 interviews with Dylan I've been watching on YouTube lately make the Bell Centre a strangely tempting destination. But there's also a great Ontario-offering at La Sala Rossa tonight, with the Hidden Cameras headlining a bill that includes Spiral Beach and the inimitable Laura Barrett.

My pick of the week, though, goes to the loaded Friday Friendship Cove lineup. Bookend-ing the show are a couple artists that put on what I think were two of Pop Montreal's more underrated performances, namely Dishwasher, and the latest local hip hop phenom, Lil Pip. That's enough on its own, but you've also got Parenthetical Girls, Alden Penner performing with Noh Cars Go, and Mixalodian in there. So go early. It's apparently a benefit for planet earth.

There's lots of Canadian hip hop of all kinds to be had on Saturday night, from Cadence Weapon opening for the legendary Jurassic 5 at the Spectrum, to Ninja High School and Giselle # 1 at the Main Hall (along with the World Provider).

And you've got no excuse missing the Bell Orchestre and Final Fantasy show at Le National on Tuesday the 14th next week. This one's indoors, so rain or snow or shine your shivers should be of the desirable variety.