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

The Piano Drop from Tim Hecker’s masterful new album Ravedeath, 1972 (Kranky).

Tim Hecker has long been a Zulu fave; the man is a master of ambient music in the full sense of that genre. Whether it be Eno-esque melancholic synth washes or harsh, jagged guitar tones common to Northern European death metal, Hecker is always producing “next-level” shit. To be sure, the world of ambient synth has become mighty crowded in recent years – no one can keep up with all the micro-edition, cassette-only ambient noise albums that come out each month – but Hecker stands out from the crowd because of the consistent high quality of his output as well as the conceptual element that defines each of his albums. Ravedeath 1972 is based on the idea of sonic decay; the digital waste of the recent past and far future. It’s the product of field recordings of Hecker playing an organ in a cave in Iceland, which were then chopped and edited in his Montreal home.

The Playlist

SIC ALPS Napa Asylum (Drag City)

A true album in the old-school sense, Napa Asylum is a gnarled flower that slowly, beautifully unfurls. There are twenty two petals to this flower.

SONIC YOUTH SYR 9: Simon Werner Disparu (SYR)

NY’s finest revive their SYR imprint for their soundtrack of a French film. A great and moody, almost Godspeed-y collection of jams.

WHITE FENCE Is Growing Faith (Woodsist)

Delightfully ragged Kinks-ims mixed with a healthy dose of West Coast pastoral dandelion flower psych, all lovingly held together by keen songwriting skills. Each listen bares greater rewards.

MITOCHONDRIAN Parasignosis (PFL)

The heaviest riffery to hit the Zulu sound system in quite some time, Canada’s own Mitochondrian are epic death metal, conjuring molten-lava riffs from the centre of the earth. The first three songs are titled in ancient Greek…

A HAWK AND A HACKSAW Cervantine (Langspielplatte)

The Athens Georgia/Elephant 6 legacy rolls on! Jeremy Barnes’ Hacksaw project finds them pilfering the world of Eastern European folk and Balkan drinking music.

MOGWAI Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will (Sub Pop)

Maybe what separates Mogwai from their post-rock brethren is their willingness to embrace humour, as this album title displays. Of course, writing epic, swirling chasms of noise is no laughing matter for these guys.

V/A Kompakt Pop Ambient 2011 (Kompakt)

Kompakt’s Pop Ambient series has, over the course of ten years, become a kind of institution. The label’s distinct style of slowly evolving, introspective, minimal electronic composition is beautiful and, frankly, pretty addictive! 2011’s edition features heavyweights of the scene Alva Noto, label owner Wolfgang Voigt, Jurgen Paape, among others.

OFF! First Four EPs (Vice)

Classic 80’s hardcore greatness from people who were actually around when it all went down! Former Circle Jerks/Black Flag frontman Keith Morris sounds brought back to life by his new band and the results.

THE SOFT MOON s/t (Captured Tracks)

Dystopian soundtracks for torn romantics of the new millennium – that’s how I describe Soft Moon’s particular brand of angular, post punk meets krautrock. I like.

The Gig

Thu MAR 17 | DESTROYER w/ WAR ON DRUGS @ The Commodore

We still have a limited amount of tickets for this show which is sure to sell out. Bejar doesn’t play town too often, which alone makes any local show an event. On top of that, his newest offering, Kaputt, is a smooth, late night good time. What’s more, it’ll be interesting to see how this album translates to a live setting. If you want to go, don’t wait to get tickets. Get ’em now.

The Glance

February

Sun FEB 27
TWISTA – RED ROOM

Mon FEB 28
WILD NOTHING + ABE VIGODA – BILTMORE – WE ARE SOLD OUT
LYNCH MOB – RICKSHAW
THE WHITE BUFFALO – MEDIA

March

Tue MAR 1
CONCRETES -BILTMORE

Thu MAR 3
MORCHEEBA – COMMODORE – WE ARE SOLD OUT
THE IDLERS – YALE

Fri MAR 4
KATAKLYSM – RICKSHAW
DEVOTCHKA – COMMODORE
YANN TIERSEN – VOGUE
100 MONKEYS – VENUE
HEY ROSETTA! – RICKSHAW – WE ARE SOLD OUT

Sat Mar 05
HEY ROSETTA! – RIO THEATRE – WE ARE SOLD OUT
ASOBI SEKSU – BILTMORE
41st AND HOME – RED ROOM
COLD WAR KIDS – VOGUE – WE ARE SOLD OUT

Mon MAR 7
CRYSTAL CASTLES – COMMODORE – WE ARE SOLD OUT

Wed MAR 9
GZA – FORTUNE

Thu MAR 10
DATSIK – GOSSIP

Fri MAR 11
DRIVE BY TRUCKERS – COMMODORE – WE ARE SOLD OUT

Sat MAR 12
KAKI KING – BILTMORE
HUGH CORNWELL – VENUE
MARCY PLAYGROUND – BILTMORE
BORN RUFFIANS – RICKSHAW
GEOFF BERNER – WISE HALL

Mon MAR 14
TOTALLY ENORMOUS EXTINCT DINOSAURS – VENUE

Wed MAR 16
MICKEY AVALON – VENUE
FAKE BLOOD – FORTUNE

Thu MAR 17
DESTROYER w/ WAR ON DRUGS- COMMODORE

Fri MAR 18
THE TOWN PANTS – COMMODORE
DIRTY SOUTH – CELEBRITIES

Sat MAR 19
WARPAINT – BILTMORE
WEST COAST REGGAE CARIBBEAN MUSIC AWARDS – DIAMOND BANQUET HALL
THE RESIDENTS – RICKSHAW
BASS KLEPH – GINGER 62

Tue MAR 22
GOLD PANDA – FORTUNE
MEN – BILTMORE

Thu MAR 24
TATE RADIO – BILTMORE

Fri MAR 25
ELECTRIC SIX – COMMODORE
AKRON FAMILY – BILTMORE

Sat MAR 26
THE PARLOTONES – BILTMORE
ESBEN AND THE WITCH – WALDORF

Sun MAR 27
TELEKINESIS – MEDIA CLUB

Mon MAR 28
TORO Y MOI + BRAIDS – BILTMORE

Tue MAR 29
ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE – BILTMORE
SHARON VAN ETTEN – MEDIA

Wed MAR 30
SAY HI – MEDIA CLUB
O’DEATH + STRANGE BOYS – BILTMORE

Thu MAR 31
MOUNT KIMBIE – BILTMORE
THE DODOS – RICKSHAW