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

JAMES BLAKE Limit to Your Love

by Nic Bragg | Ok, everyone at the shop agrees that 2011 was an amazing year for music. It felt like a year that went right for music with so many feel good stories about bands that finally got their due, not to mention amazing artists that came out of nowhere and really captured the spotlight. Well, 2011 is over. All the ‘best of lists’ are done… and now the exciting stuff starts fresh again! Time to ask the hard questions. For example, in 2012, will James Blake put dubstep on the mainstream map? Will Vancouver finally produce a Polaris Award winning artist in Dan Mangan? Will Bon Iver continue creating fitness videos? Will people care about Lana Del Rey or declare media overload on her much hyped debut? Who will break-up in January and plot a reunion tour in December? Will the Shilohs actually put out their anticipated JCDC produced masterpiece? Can The XX make a record that will stand up to their amazing self-titled one? Will the Fleet Foxes cut their beards and subsequently make barbers all along the West Coast experience a bump in this slumping economy? What will the saxophone do for an encore? Will you buy tickets to see the Strokes perform their Is This It? release in a small club? I would. Will Neil Young ticket prices continue going up? Is there any chance Vincent Gallo will come in the store again in 2012? And finally, will the post-download, post-stream it, post-youtube is my radio, post-mp3 backlash continue – forcing more and more amazing vinyl to occupy a record store near you soon! We hope so. xoxo.

THE PLAYLIST

DAVID LYNCH – Crazy Clown Time

A long time ago I used to just watch David deliver the L.A. weather report on his website. Fact is, Lynch can take anything and make it into a sublime dream. His first proper full length musical release is as entrancing (and dark) as anything he has done on the big screen.

CAT POWER King Rides By

Chan is planning to release something new in 2012. The 50’s reverb on this track gives it a chilling old-time vibe that captures the soul of her The Greatest effort. Is she obsessed with boxing? Pound for pound Manny is my guy too.

LANA DEL REY – Born to Die

I think 6 months ago a regular customer told us that this artist was going to be huge. I wish I remember what I was wearing that day, where I was standing, what the weather was like outside, what stories were big in the news at the time. All kidding aside, Lana Del Rey went direct to video.

ARCADE FIRE – Sprawl II

In 2012, we vow to not over analyze things. That said, Montreal always looks good on film. Vancouver looks good on film too, but not this good. Maybe this was shot on a Canon 5D Mk2? I think that is real rain at the end of the video, not machine made rain, that stuff falls different.

COLIN STETSON Those Who Didn’t Run

This is a fine example of circular breathing as it applies to saxophone. Although I haven’t personally tried it, I am told it is not too hard to get the hang of it. You inhale with your nose as you breath out with your lungs. The health benefits are well documented. We wish everyone good health and much merriment in 2012.

THE GIG

YOUTH LAGOON – The Biltmore Cabaret Friday January 20th

Typically, January is a sluggish month. Very few artists are on the road and live music audiences are more concerned with their credit card bills than scrounging up a few extra bucks for a night out. Also, the body tends to be sluggish too. The festive season features many opportunities to indulge in all the food and drink delights that Vancouver offers. The fine editors at Scout were extremely kind enough to help us all out in both these departments and would now be wise to point out a cool Strathcona gym if such a thing currently exists. Anyway we digress… One good New Year resolution is to take in more live music and to get more involved in local music communities. First up… Youth Lagoon who are making their Vancouver debut at the Biltmore on Friday January 20th. If you dig fuzzy guitar pop a la The Flaming Lips, then you should plan to walk, run, bike, or if it ever decides to be winter in this city, snowshoe down to our favourite neighbourhood cabaret and start a tab with great music.

The Glance

JANUARY

Mon Jan 02 MOTIONS + SUNNY POMPEII – BILTMORE
Fri Jan 06 THE RUGGED MAN – MOTEL NIGHTCLUB
Thu Jan 12 BRAZILIAN GIRLS – BILTMORE
Fri Jan 13 PAUL WOOLFORD – OPEN STUDIOS
Fri Jan 13 ADVENTURECLUB – CELEBRITIES
Sat Jan 14 STANTON WARRIORS – RED ROOM
Wed Jan 18 LADYTRON DJ SET – VENUE
Thu Jan 19 FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS – COMMODORE
Thu Jan 19 THE WAILERS – VENUE
Fri Jan 20 WHITEHORSE – RIO
Fri Jan 20 YOUTH LAGOON – BILTMORE
Sun Jan 22 EXCISION – GOSSIP
Mon Jan 23 HANSON – VOGUE
Tue Jan 24 ATOMIC TOM – MEDIA CLUB
Wed Jan 25 EL TEN ELEVEN – MEDIA
Thu Jan 26 1UP – TUNNEL
Thu Jan 26 CONCRETE BLONDE – RICKSHAW
Sat Jan 28 DOOMTREE – FORTUNE SOUND CLUB
Sat Jan 28 THE PACK AD – RICKSHAW
Sun Jan 29 ALABAMA SHAKES – MEDIA CLUB
Mon Jan 30 EMILE AUTUMN – RICKSHAW