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

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti performing “Menopause Man” from his new album Before Today (4AD) for a special 4AD live session.

Ariel Pink’s the talk of the town right now, having just dropped his first widely available new album Before Today on the venerable British 4AD label.  Pink’s reputation is built upon a decade’s worth of home recorded, Animal Collective-endorsed weirdo pop as well as his own demented public persona.  His various public breakdowns are well documented, giving him a the kind of outsider hero status that made Syd Barrett and Roky Erikson legends.  On Before Today pink seems to have finally gotten his shit together and cut an album deserving of his reputation.  Before Today is truly post-millennial – it’s an amalgam of Ween-esque joke rock, 80’s Hall & Oates vocal harmonies, warped 4 track anti-folk. It’s a smorgasbord of sounds and vibes that shouldn’t work together as well as they do; the results are surprisingly catchy, timeless melodies that get stuck firmly in your craw.  Who knows how Pink will hold up to the deluge of hype and expectation that’s being heaped upon him, but if it all goes down in a ball of flame (as it could well do) at least we got one truly great album out of it!

The Playlist

HARLEM Hippies (Matador)
These scrappy young snot nosed punks exorcise the spirit of the scratchy NZ Flying Nun scene and play as if they’re sloppy drunk.

TEENAGE FANCLUB Shadows (Merge)
Glasgow’s finest tunesmiths return with a superb album of understated power pop, the kind on which they built their legend.  Alex Chilton smiles down from the nudie bar in heaven.

RATATAT LP4 (XL)
Brooklyn electro rockers home record another album of deep cuts and slow burners.

SSRI’S Effeminate Godzilla-sized Wind Chimes (self released)
Local rockers press up their very own LP of amped up good time rock!  They’re Georgia Straight cover stars and this is their time to kick out the jams and shine on.

WOVEN BONES In And Out And Back Again (HoZac).
Phew, this is pure dark stomp from Austin TX (truly, it is the land of dark stomp). Woven Bones rock out like haunted Cale-era Velvet Underground.  Fuzz.

TRANS AM Thing (Thrill Jockey)
The preeminent post rock power trio claw their way back from the grave with a heady album of trancy disco rock, featuring album artwork by local boy Jeremy Schmidt (of Black Mountain).

BORN RUFFIANS Say It (Warp)
T-dot’s finest electro poppers Warp it up on album number two of their Animal Collective-esque psych-dance jams.

CRYSTAL CASTLES II (Last Gang)
Crunchy 8-bit goth-dance pill-poppin’ party bangers from the most dangerous duo in the game.

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM This Is Happening (DFA)
This Is Happening is exactly what I want from LCD: dance beats, 80s synth, a little punk swagger, and wry social commentary.

BAND OF HORSES Infinite Arms (Sony)
Townies of the world rejoice!  BoH is the good old time sound of five beardos channelling CSN&Y with added post-aughties swagger.

The Gig

COCO ROSIE at Venue on Thursday June 24th

I have no idea what to expect when CoCo Rosie roll into town and play the Venue on June 24th. Through over three albums and half a decade, the duo have defined themselves as true outsiders. In the early days their songs sounded like demented kids music warped by overindulgence in recreational drugs. Since then they’ve branched out, incorporated a wider palette of sounds, but retain the same sense of bizarre otherworldliness. Critics like to piss all over CoCo Rosie but I can’t help feeling that it’s mostly because these two weirdos just refuse to roll over and play the game. Whether you understand them or not, CoCo Rosie should make for an interesting evening.

The Glance

JUNE

Thu JUN 17
BOYCE AVENUE – MEDIA CLUB
FREQ NASTY – SHINE

Fri JUN 18
THE SSRI’s LP release w/Sorcerers, Bad Fate, Fine Mist – BILTMORE
BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE – COMMODORE – WE ARE SOLD OUT
THE GASLAMP KILLER – 560 SEYMOUR

SAT JUN 19
MOVE THE MOUNTAINS TOUR – COBALT
HANK III & ASSJACK -VENUE – WE ARE SOLD OUT
ROBERT RANDOLF & THE FAMILY BAND – COMMODORE
MATMOS – BILTMORE

SUN JUN 20
SHARON JONES – COMMODORE – try ticketmaster

Tue JUN 22
A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS – 917 MAIN

Thu JUN 24
COCO ROSIE – VENUE
BORGORE – SHINE

Fri JUN 25
ROONEY – THE VENUE -VENUE CHANGED! EARLY SHOW

Sat JUN 26
MINUS THE BEAR – VENUE
MARK FARINA (Nordic Trax Party) – GINGER

Sun JUN 27
PLANET ASIA – FORTUNE SOUND CLUB

Mon JUN 28
LILY FROST – BILTMORE

JULY

Thu JULY 01
NOMEANSNO w/ Slim Cessna & Hermetic – BILTMORE

Fri JULY 02
TY SEGAL + CHAIN AND THE GANG – MEDIA CLUB

Sat JUL 03
HARLEM – COBALT
SLEEPY SUN – BILTMORE
VAN BUREN/ BENASSI – VCC

Mon JUL 05
MELVINS – RICKSHAW – WE ARE SOLD OUT
TURBO FRUITS – BILTMORE

Tue JUL 06
CHARLIE WINSTON – VENUE
SIGNALS – MEDIA CLUB
MINI MANSIONS – BILTMORE

Wed JUL 07
KATCHAFIRE – VENUE

Thu JUL 08
KATCHFIRE – VICTORIA
AGGROLITES – VENUE
SHWAYZE + Dirt Nasty – FORTUNE SOUND CLUB
HIGH ON FIRE – RICKSHAW

Fri JUL 09
NARCOTANGO – WISE HALL
YUCA / COLUMBIA / SONS OF KAIN – SHARK CLUB
AGGROLITES – VICTORIA
THE COUP – BILTMORE