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

TAKEN FROM ZULU STAFF TOP 10 of 2009

Wilco – You & I,  taken from Wilco (the album) released by Warner Brothers

No one would’ve predicted that Wilco would be the band they are today. The band’s roots date back to lead man Jeff Tweedy’s early 90s No-Depression alt country band, Uncle Tupelo. That’s only going back maybe 15 years, but in popular music years it may as well be a lifetime. What Tweedy’s accomplished with Wilco is really quite remarkable; his group stands as one of the most consistent, reliably interesting rock bands operating in a field crowded with hacks and over-hyped poseurs. The turning point for Wilco was Yankee Foxtrot Hotel, an album that was rejected by their label, then leaked by the band to the internet, and still it went on to sell over a half million copies. Since then, Wilco has excelled at crafting their own hybrid style of urban, guitar rock Americana. They’ve gracefully shed the more overtly country tropes of their No-Depression root but maintained the hooks and musical left turns which make their songs seem both instantly familiar as well as totally their own. You & I comes from their Zulu-approved, strangely self-referencing album called Wilco (The Album), which the band will no doubt be playing tunes from when they play Vancouver with Feist during the Olympics.

The Playlist

TAKEN FROM ZULU STAFF TOP 10 of 2009

Pink Moutaintops “Outside Love” (Jagjagwaur)
McBean’s finest, most mature outing to date finds strings, shoegazing guitars and melancholic melodies gliding effortlessly over the gayest of sunbeams

Bill Callahan “Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle” (Drag City)
Zulu’s favourite sad boy-man finds a sliver of light amidst the black birds and crooked rivers of his haunted journey.

Apollo Ghosts “Forgotten Triangle” (Apollo Ghosts)
Sunshine pop perfection from a local combo that makes gems like this look easy.

Fever Ray “s/t” (Capitol)
The female half of France’s The Knife goes solo for a moody electronic meditation – stunning!

Chain & the Gang “Down with liberty…up with chains!” (KRS)
Marxist garage rock stompers infiltrate your stereo system like some kind of homegrown terrorist cell.

Blues Control “Local Flavour” (Siltbreeze)
New York musical outsiders drop an album of beats, keys and savage guitar riffery, inventing a dozen new genres of music in the process. Nice one.

Neko Case “Middle Cyclone” (Anti Records)
One time local lady explodes the “alt-country” genre and rides the cyclone to the peak of pop perfection.

Yeah Yeah Yeah’s “Its Blitz” (Universal)
Karen O and the boys survive the dance-punk hype of ’02 and deliver an album with some of the best dance floor bangers of the year.

Bonnie Prince Billy “Beware” (Drag City)
Weirdo-beardo Will Oldham tosses off classic songs which would make a lesser artist’s career, and Beware doesn’t skimp on them.

Richard Hawley “Truelove’s Gutter” (Mute Records)
Hawley is like Scott Walker, Nic Cave and Serge Gainsbourgh rolled into one. The result? Pure Euro class.

For more ZULU STAFF TOP 10 of 2009, click here.

The Gig

THE POINTED STICKS – RIO THEATER Saturday December 19th

The Pointed Sticks are true blue Vancouver punk survivors. Their roots go about as deep into the punk scene as anyone could get in this city, having played long-since-gone bars and party houses of Vancouver-past, even sporting a cameo in Dennis Hopper’s 1980 Out Of The Blue, filmed right in here in the terminal city. The Pointed Sticks always stood out from their contemporaries because they had solid gold hooks, mixing some well crafted power pop in with their razor sharp punk riffs. They were inactive for over ten years but reformed last year to play some reunion shows. Said shows were very well received, resulting in their just released new album Three Lefts Make A Right. If you’ve heard about Vancouver’s storied punk rock past and want to experience firsthand some of this city’s fine heritage – or if you’ve never even heard of The Pointed Sticks but want to check out a band that’s got hooks to spare – consider these Rio Theater shows.

The Glance

Tue DEC 15

SLOAN – COMMODORE
PEAK XMAS W/ TV HEART ATTACK – VENUE
WOLFGANG GARTNER – MODERN

Fri DEC 18

JOACHIM GARRAUD – CELEBRITIES
SIC ALPS / MAGIK MARKERS
HEY OCEAN (ALL AGES) – VOGUE

Sat DEC 19

SUMNER BROTHERS XMAS – WISE HALL
POINTED STICKS (ALL AGES) – RIO
POINTED STICKS (19+) – RIO
WINTER HARP – ST.ANDREWS
BAD SANTA’S XMAS – BILTMORE

Sun DEC 20

STEVE AOKI – VENUE/RICKSHAW

Mon DEC 21

STEVE AOKI – GARFINKELS
CHRISTMASSACRE – BILTMORE

Sun DEC 27

DEC 27 CLASSIXX – VENUE

Thu DEC 31

CARIBBEAN NEW YEARS – SULLIVAN HALL
KILLAHBEEZ NEW YEAR’S – J LOUNGE

Fri JAN 08

CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE – BILTMORE
THE ENIGMAS – BOURBON

Thu JAN 14

SWITCH + MAJOR LAZER – POP OPERA