Zulu Report: Friendly Fires Play And Tom Waits Meets The Press

Our friends over at Kitsilano’s Zulu Records once again present their weekly Scout feature, the Zulu Report. Within, staff from the West 4th music store provide The Track, the song that is on heavy rotation that week; The Playlist, which is pretty self-explanatory; The Gig, the must see show of the week; and The Glance, a view ahead to music on the horizon. From their ears to yours, enjoy…

The Track

TOM WAITS | Glitter and Doom out now on ANTI RECORDS

It is a grave understatement to say that Tom Waits marches to his own beat. In fact those that have been fortunate enough to witness his transcendental live performances will know that he doesn’t merely march about the stage, but also stomps, prances and sways in animated interpretation of his verbose tunes. His last Vancouver appearance at the Commodore has become the stuff of legend, as fans will attest. Waits, consummately in character, infuses assorted sea-shanties, murder ballads, and brooding odes with truly enigmatic performance and style. For this new record we get an extremely absorbing glimpse at Tom’s universe as one disc features the best of his sold out 2008 world tour – while the another CD is just him telling the audience stories from his clandestine daily experiences. Tom’s tales take one through his encounters with elephants in India, his job at a graveyard, and more! This is indeed Waits at his daring best.

The Playlist

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS I Told You I Was Freaky (Sub Pop)
The Grammys still recognize comedy records, why won’t you? Hilarious ‘folk comedy’ from New Zealand’s famous duo.

DEVENDRA BANHART What Will Be (Warner Music)
Like the sun god to the new freak-folk scene, people worship this kooky guy who has all the talents to replace Neil Young, Paul Simon, and James Taylor in the folk Parthenon.

TEGAN AND SARA Sainthood (Sire Records)
Produced by Vancouver’s own Howard Redkopp! Shout outs Cedar Cottage’s most laid back resident.

LADY GAGA The Fame Monster (Streamline Records)
When Rolling Stone calls you ‘the defining pop star of 2009’ you know that the pressure is on – good thing Gaga delivers!

THE SLITS Trapped Animal (Narnack Records)
Their first record in 25 years, they remain the measure of essential punk angst and alienation!

THE FEELIES Crazy Rhythms ( Bar None)
Back in 1977 four nerdy guys from New Jersey put out this incredible album of post-punk pop songs, now it is finally remastered for Vampire Weekend fans to enjoy.

NIRVANA Live at Reading (Universal)
This already being heralded as the best live rock and roll record ever… Merry Christmas music industry.

THE FLAMING LIPS Embryonic (Warner)
This longtime Zulu fave has always had a screwed up tripped-out side to them and finally we have a record that captures the darker freaked out beauty of their sound.

THE ANTLERS Hospice (French Kiss)
Take the last exit to hipster Brooklyn and you will go right past the practice space of this explosive indie rock quintet.

CALVIN HARRIS Ready For The Weekend (Sony Records)
Scottish DJ extraordinaire Harris knows how to put a serious dent in your late night mind as his weekends last extra long.

The Gig

FRIENDLY FIRES and THE XX @ The COMMODORE | Thursday November 26th

Kudos to our good friends at Sealed With A Kiss Presents who have the auspicious task of hosting one of the most eagerly anticipated shows on our ticket board! Since sewing up this gig both of these upstart UK acts have exploded as a result of blogosphere hype. Originally scheduled for a tiny room, this show is now pushing capacity at the Commodore (there were even rumours of a second show being added!) and will certainly make the scene outside the club crazy as people try and exploit whatever far flung connections they may have just to get inside. This is a must see for anyone interested in taking the temperature of the current English dance-punk-meets-shoegaze scene – akin to being able say you got to see Joy Division and Wire back in the day. Note…if you are on the outside looking in, both bands will be spinning records later at an after party at Venue. And if you really want, you can always stop by Zulu at 5pm that day and see The XX live – for free.

The Glance

Wed NOV 25

MONEEN – VENUE
AMY GOODMAN – VPL
PEACHES – COMMODORE
HIDDEN CAMERAS – BILTMORE
GLOBAL DEEJAYS – MODERN
SAID THE WHALE (EARLY/LATE SHOWS) – ST.JAMES

Thu NOV 26

JOKER + NOMAD – BILTMORE
FRIENDLY FIRES – COMMODORE
FRIENDLY FIRES/ XX DJ SET – VENUE
VIC CHESTNUTT – RED ROOM
ABOVE & BEYOND – CELEBRITIES

Fri NOV 27

SULTAN – CELEBRITIES
OVER THE EDGE – EDGEWATER
SNFU – BILTMORE
PARLOUR STEPS STRIDE ELEMENTARY and ADALINE – RICKSHAW
JOE AMOUZOU & SAFARI LEAGUE – HUNGARIAN HALL
RISE UP! SALMON RESCUE BENEFIT – MARITIME LABOUR
LOS FURIOS – GRANDVIEW

Sat NOV 28

WOODHANDS – BILTMORE
BREAKBOT – SHINE

Sun NOV 29

MAX TUNDRA & DEASTRO – MEDIA CLUB
MIGHTY FOOLS – VENUE