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 Zulu Report

We all like to drink at Six Acres a lot. They play some optimal tunes to make the nights blurry. We salute them and their beer & whiskey selection. This is what we would spin if we could hijack the stereo for just one hour.

The Track

SHE & HIM | In the Sun from Volume 2 out now on Merge Records.

Rock n Roll and drinking go hand in hand – this should be clear to everyone.  She & Him know this fact, it’s plain obvious from listening to their music. Sure, they aren’t “rock” in the sense that say Van Halen are rock, so they don’t invoke images of tailgate parties and people puking down their shirts.  No, they’re more along the lines of the original rock n roll, like Roy Orbison and the Everly Brothers, with a touch of slick 70’s AM country. Their songs are formed from gentle acoustic guitar strums, Deschanel and Ward harmonies, and most importantly, a megalithic bath of golden reverb. And what is reverb if not the magical aural equivalent of a nice golden booze-buzz?  She & Him isn’t the soundtrack for getting monstrously tanked, and really that’s not the kind of place Gastown’s esteemed Six Acres is meant for (although I have had my share of nights exiting the place more than a little tipsy). No, what links the music of She & Him with this fine drinking establishment are the darkened corners, the storytelling that naturally arises out of our social species, and the desire to get lost in the bubbly, golden, mysterious reverberations of life.

The Playlist

Click the links for some audible flavour…

EFTERKLANG Modern Drift from Magic Chairs (4AD)
Don’t worry if you can’t pronounce it. Imported from Copenhagen, this band with hints of electronics goes down easy.

BIG STAR Ballad Of El Goodo from Big Star #1 Record (Ardent)
Ok. Go grab yourself a double of Lagavulin and savour the long peaty finish as we sit and remember Alex Chilton and Big Star, one of the finest bands to ever fly under the radar. Adios.

THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS Your Hands from the forthcoming Together (Matador)
When in town, they rehearse a block away from Six Acres. Trays of Blackstone Porter are said to have been enjoyed.

TITUS ANDRONICUS No Future from The Monitor (XL Records)
Install a ping pong table on the balcony and hold an annual Gastown championship tourney. The members of this hipster New Jersey band would win.

ALICE COLTRANE Journey In Satchidananda (Impulse)
Alice on the harp and Pharoah Sanders on tenor sax – the prefect blend of rich tones and wild freak out free jazz. This is where the night gets spiritual.

LOSCIL Strathcona (Strathcona Variations)
Reflective, complex, contemplative, meditative…are we describing Scott Morgan’s ambient masterpiece or the bubbles of a 500ml Hefeweizen?

BROKEN BELLS The High Road from s/t (Sony)
Shins’ James Mercer and Danger Mouse collaborate on this hoppy track spiced with Mercer’s signature West Coast pop vocals.

LIARS Scissor from Sisterworld (Mute Records)
You are not dreaming. Noise and lofty strings can indeed be disorienting but we wouldn’t take it any other way in the Liars’ Sisterworld.

THE MORNING BENDERS Excuses from Big Echoes (Rough Trade)
The best of the Sartorialist show up on this indie rock debut from a ‘band to watch’ a.k.a. a ‘band to be seen act’.

PAVEMENT Fight This Generation from Quarantine the Past (Matador Records)
Nostalgia! Charge your glasses as Malkmus and company reform just in time for us all to get old.

The Gig

The one show we’re really looking forward to checking out…

DEAD MEADOW at Biltmore Cabaret Friday April 2nd

When I was a young boy I traveled to Brazil to visit my Dad. I remember going to a very rudimentary wrestling event that featured a fairly blood soaked cage match between the two top rivals. No one could escape, no one could jump out of the ring and run, no one could grab a chair or have their pals strut out from the wings to their rescue. Man, it was nuts. Anyway, Dead Meadow going head to head with Black Mountain in a cage match to decide who has the heaviest stoner rock riffs would definitely be a coin toss. Or maybe it would just degenerate into an epic jam of Orange and Marshall Super Lead amps. Anyway, like our local Druganaut heroes, Washington D.C.’s Dead Meadow have dialed in their sound and brought an extra modicum of intensity and tightness to the often over-wrought and bloated genre. On the eve of the release of their Three Kings old school rock and roll movie, we suggest you catch them. They kick ass live in a small local club, knowing full well that they are destined for bigger stages and cages soon!!

The Glance

These are the better shows to see in the next two weeks…

Thu APR 01

DADA LIFE & SOUND OF STEREO – FORTUNE SOUND CLUB
FALL OF TROY – RICKSHAW
TITUS ADRONICUS – 917 MAIN ST.
ADAM GREEN – VENUE
LOTUS LONG WEEKEND- LOTUS, HONEY, LICK
HERCULES + LA (DJ SET) – SHINE

Fri APR 02

HUGH CORNWELL – MEDIA CLUB
DEAD MEADOW – BILTMORE

Sat APR 03

PIERCED ARROWS + Lullabye Arkestra – BILTMORE
DATA – SHINE
AKUFEN – LOTUS

Sun APR 04

CONGOROCK + HARVARD BASS – VENUE
WILD KINGDOM FETISH- CELEBRITIES

Mon APR 05

SURFER BLOOD w/ Turbo Fruits- BILTMORE

Tue APR 06

YUKON BLONDE w/ In-Flight Safety – BILTMORE
JONSI (from SIGUR ROS) – VOGUE
RETRIBUTION GOSPEL CHOIR – MEDIA CLUB

Wed APR 07

JONSI (from SIGUR ROS) – VOGUE

Thu APR 08

THE BALCONIES / GHOSTKEEPER- PIT PUB

Fri APR 09

TREASURE FINGERS – CELEBRITIES
THE RUBY SUNS – BILTMORE
THE JESSICA STEWART FEW- WISE HALL
FLATLINERS- MEDIA CLUB
DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN – RICKSHAW

Sat APR 10

SIA – COMMODORE
LITTLE DRAGON – BILTMORE
WE ARE THE CITY – 560 SEYMOUR

Sun APR 11

PASSION PIT – COMMODORE
BEACH HOUSE – RICKSHAW
LMFAO – GOSSIP
WILL I AM (DJ SET) – VENUE

Mon APR 12

MIiKE SNOW – SHINE
KING KHAN – VENUE

Tue APR 13

THE XX – COMMODORE
THE XX (DJ SET) – SHINE

Wed APR 14

FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE – COMMODORE

Thu APR 15

FRANK TURNER – MEDIA CLUB
WE ARE WOLVES – BILTMORE
JOHN BROWN’S BODY- RICHARDS
OVER KILL – RED ROOM