Zulu Report: On Serving Up The Web’s Most Delicious Ear Candy

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

GRINDERMAN Heathen Child from GRINDERMAN 2 (Anti Records)

There is something incredibly potent about the music of Grinderman – the latest musical vehicle for Nick Cave. Having wrought havoc on the cannon of rock and roll as a member of Boys Next Door, The Birthday Party and The Bad Seeds, Nick’s legacy as a writer, composer and general bad ass has been firmly cemented, thus making any notion of reinventing himself an incredibly tricky proposition. Enter Grinderman, a band’s band that celebrates the more immediate and visceral nature of deafeningly loud amplified song. Cave with old pals Warren Ellis, Martyn Casey and Jim Sclavunos, took a baseball bat to any precious notions associated with his craft and instead focused on the more improvised side of things, unleashing blasts of noise over top of violin loops and bluesy beats like crude sculptors that want to capture something quickly before it is gone. While this video hams it up a bit, the actual music on rest of Grinderman 2 comes of like a magnificently gritty collection of desperate ballads and barn shakers. There is a conscious effort to fuck things up and see where they go. I guess that is what one gets after years of finely produced releases from the walls of Abbey Road. Have fun in the bath tonight….

The Playlist

click the links for audible awesomeness…

INTERPOL – S/T (Matador Records)
The best dressed men in rock ruled your record collection with two amazing releases for Matador. Well, now you have reason to channel all your depressing Joy Division-esque moodiness into another amazing release – on our fave label Matador Records! Welcome home.

SUPERCHUNK – Majestic Shredding (Merge Records)
Mac and co. have always been faves around the shop, and so their eternal blasts of chunky guitar signal the new rock season at our shack. Also, without a doubt this is the best title for a record we’ve heard in a long time.

MAVIS STAPLES – You Are Not Alone (Anti Records)
Jeff Tweedy produces this stylish return from soul diva Mavis Staples. A warm record that hits the spot on a cool autumn day, this is further proof that soul music is sunshine for the heart.

THE WALKMEN – Lisbon (Fat Possum)
This is now the time for NYC’s Walkmen. Having just opened locally for The National and now delivered their defining record of post-young man’s angst rock, they are finally rising as a matured band to be reckoned with! Excellent.

OF MONTREAL – False Priest (Polyvinyl)
Frontman Kevin Barnes has always had a certain flair and a vision for a dramatic over the top presentation of his beautiful psychedelic rock songs. You can think of him as the new Prince, but of course only if that is cool with the old Prince.

BLACK MOUNTAIN – Wilderness (Outside Music)
For their third release, our local heroes fully flesh out their bombastic sound while showcasing a more singer-songwriter side that was previously not felt in their army. Killer keys, amazing vocal harmonies, and of course a serious ass-kicking of sludge – this has it all!

BLACK ANGELS – Phosphene Dream (Blue Horizon Ventures)
Black Angels give you bad vibrations and so that makes them the opposite of the Beach Boys… drones, riffs and a haze of smoke, this is awesome. Can’t wait to see them with Black Mountain!

CROCODILES – Sleep Forever (Fat Possum)
Fuzzed out bass, reverby vocals, and the second coming of Mo Tucker on the drums. Crocodiles have a recipe for a serious cool.

THE VASELINES – Sex With An X (Sub Pop)
Jesus still wants you for a sunbeam! Scotland’s Vaselines have always been easy to love – their tarted up pop songs are infectious without being overly cute and of course having Kurt Cobain sing your praises for years certainly helps.

LES SAVY FAV – Root For Ruin (French Kiss Records)
Help LSF quit their day jobs. Sure you love them live – an incredible show in which the hilarious singer Tim somehow engages the audience leaving everyone smiling – but now you have to make a commitment, you have to help them quit the IT biz before it goes down the tubes.

The Gig

FLYING LOTUS w/ LOW LIMIT of LAZER SWORD + RICO UNO at The Commodore | Wednesday Sept. 22nd

The Glance

Thu SEP 16
HELMET w/ Bison BC – VENUE
EFTERKLANG – THE MEDIA CLUB
SCISSOR SISTERS – MALKIN BOWL
CUFF THE DUKE – BILTMORE

Fri SEP 17
OMAR S – W2
DOCTOR P – POP OPERA
WOLFGANG GARTNER – POP OPERA
THE Dø – THE BILTMORE
PENNYWISE – COMMODORE

Sat SEP 18
DANNY MICHEL – BILTMORE
REID JAMIESON – ST.JAMES HALL
ROCKY VOLTOTALO – WAVES ON HOWE

Sun SEP 19
CASPA – VENUE
GOSPEL CRUISE W/ THE SOJOURNERS – QUEEN OF DIAMONDS BOAT

Mon SEP 20
TRUTH + SALVAGE Co. – MEDIA CLUB

Tue SEP 21
BLITZEN TRAPPER – RICKSHAW
PANTHA DU PRINCE w/ The Sight Below – BILTMORE

Wed SEP 22
DEAKIN w/ PRINCE RAMA + FLASH PALACE – COBALT
ROOTZ UNDERGROUND – VENUE
FLYING LOTUS w/ LOW LIMIT of LAZER SWORD + RICO UNO (The Freshest) – COMMODORE
KATATONIA – RICKSHAW

Thu SEP 23
COLLIE BUDDZ – BAR NONE
CHALI 2NA – BILTMORE
DADA LIFE – POP OPERA

Fri SEP 24
LAUGH GALLERY – RICKSHAW
BINGO PLAYERS – CELEBRITIES
SERGE DEVANT – POP OPERA
TEGAN AND SARA – MALKIN BOWL
HOT HOT HEAT – COMMODORE

Sat SEP 25
STEELE – SHARKS CLUB
CAJUN HONKY TONK – ST.JAMES HALL
THE WOODEN SKY w/ Yukon Blonde – BILTMORE
K’NAAN – MALKIN BOWL
REVENGE OF THE TOTAL CHINESE BUFFET – TINSELTOWN
PRIMUS – PNE FORUM