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 HORRORS Changing The Rain

UK’s gothic prog-rockers The Horrors have always hinted at greatness! They mix up all the best elements of Can, Spiritualized, Mbv, and Joy Division in a way that is not only super pleasing but also free of all the immense pitfalls that would normally accompany any band cooking with such potent ingredients. Their second release, 2011’s game changing Skying, saw them moving deeper into the trance-like side of their bombast as synths, strings, and a fair bit more of the blissed out ambience bubbled higher in the mix. The anime on acid approach to this new video also lends well to this newer dreamy sonic tack, and if you read the liner-notes you will find that it was created by Horrors pal and fellow psychedelic rocker Pete Fowler of Super Furry Animals fame! Enjoy!

The Playlist

TINDERSTICKS A Night So Still

There has always been an elegance to Sheffield’s Tindersticks that one cannot help but admire. They are the classic, well-tailored band, making highly emotive songs that have an air of effortless cool to them. Here we peer into the group’s home studio and see some of the dark atmosphere that accompanies the magic. It is a dream place!

BOWERBIRDS Tuck the Darkness In

Forgive the pun… Bowerbirds always seem to fly under the radar. For years we have ordered their records just because they are on our pal Phil Waldorf’s label Dead Oceans… so time to man up and find out exactly why this band is slowly becoming a force to reckon with in the indie rock world! This simple video has a pretty fun narrative – catch and release!

THE SHINS It’s Only Life

It’s only life. It’s only natural. So James Mercer tells us he unrolls his new incarnation of The Shins on SNL in support of his latest Port of Morrow. This is the most low-key anthem I’ve heard in a while and it is nice to see that the Garden State game changers can get sensitive without getting sappy. PS. His band is a bunch of all-stars!

SUN WIZARD World’s Got A Handle

As we watch local rockers Sun Wizard motor past boggy fields in the Valley, we can all take thanks knowing that Spring is fast approaching! What’s up with SW? When is a new record in the works? Have to say that if Fender guitars hasn’t called them yet, then Leo has to get a new marketing department. After all, nothing sells Telecasters like these epic shots of a pickup with hay bales!

COEUR DE PIRATE Golden Baby

Honestly, not a lot of people had heard of this upstart artist from Quebec until the release of 2011’s Blonde album. Now she has exploded on the scene in both Europe and North America with many sold out prochain spectacles including a standing room only Vancouver show May 27th at Venue.

TENNIS Petition

As you know, Tennis are currently on tour supporting their second release, Young and Old. They are slotted in to play Jay Leno and the drummer wants to wear a shirt from Vancouver’s The Shilohs – the kind of camaraderie money can’t buy! That said, we are hoping to use it to our advantage to get them to do a Northern Zulu Session here at the shack!

NICK LOWE Sensitive Man

Sure you have heard Cohen’s Old Ideas, but now it is time to turn your attention to Nick Lowe’s Old Magic! Bubbling over with 50’s era Sun Records tones, Lowe’s latest masterpiece is utterly fantastic and presents pop music with straight-up honesty and dignity – no wonder Nick has been Costello’s foil for all these years! Hey, did you catch the Robyn Hitchcock cameo?

THE GIG

SONIC BOOM Wednesday March 28th THE WALDORF 3-D Mini Festival

Even before our good pals at the Waldorf Hotel announced the line-up for their 3 day mini festival of music, we knew that this event in late March would be something that pushed the envelope of awesomeness! There has been something exciting to everything that has been going on at the Waldorf lately, and they have refused to rest on their laurels as simply the hippest place to hang out, drink and listen to music. Yes, the 3-D Mini Festival proves that anything is possible at the Waldorf and that they will do whatever it takes to program adventurous art, music, and culture. Who else would bring to town the infamous singer of prog-rock legends CAN, the original architect of drone-freakout rockers SPACEMEN 3, and one of the most desirable names in neo-primitive fuzz rock, SUN ARAW! For three nights you can get off your head and check out some the freakout sound of all these names, plus a bunch of local lo-fi post-psychedelic rockers as they create loud body-music for tripping. Take me to the other side!

The Glance

Fri Mar 23 Lonely Dear – MEDIA CLUB
Fri Mar 23 ELECTRIC SIX – VENUE
Fri Mar 23 White Rabbits – BILTMORE
Sat Mar 24 SHARON VAN ETTEN + WAR ON DRUGS – BILTMORE
Sat Mar 24 HUNX AND HIS PUNX – WALDORF
Sat Mar 24 THE POLYERA SPRING MASQUERADE W/ MOKA ONLY – RICKSHAW
Sat Mar 24 TV ROCK – GINGER 62
Sat Mar 24 KAISER CHIEFS – COMMODORE
Sun Mar 25 OF MONSTERS AND MEN – VENUE
Sun Mar 25 NADA SURF – RICKSHAW
Mon Mar 26 FOREIGN BEGGARS – VENUE
Tue Mar 27 BLISS N ESO – FORTUNE
Tue Mar 27 HOWLER – MEDIA CLUB
Tue Mar 27 SUN ARAW (3-D MINI MUSIC FEST) – WALDORF
Wed Mar 28 SONIC BOOM: Spaceman 3 & Spectrum Founder (3-D MINI MUSIC FEST) – WALDORF
Thu Mar 29 FEDDE LE GRAND – CAPRICE
Thu Mar 29 THE BOOM BOOMS – VENUE
Thu Mar 29 SPENCER & HILL – FORTUNE
Thu Mar 29 THE HOOD INTERNET – REPUBLIC
Thu Mar 29 GOOD OLD WAR – MEDIA
Fri Mar 30 HALLOW MOON / THE SHILOHS / THE HIGH DROPS – INTERURBAN
Fri Mar 30 CRAZY8’S GALA SCREENING – VANCOUVER PERFORMANCE ARTS
Fri Mar 30 YPPAH – ELECTRIC OWL
Fri Mar 30 FALSE-O-WEEN – 560
Fri Mar 30 LADYHAWK – BILTMORE
Fri Mar 30 MIMOSA – CELEBRITIES
Sat Mar 31 JOHN K SAMSON – BILTMORE
Sat Mar 31 TIM MASON – GINGER 62
Sat Mar 31 SEPALCURE – WALDORF
Sat Mar 31 DOMINIQUE FRICOT – INTERURBAN

APRIL

Sun Apr 01 DAMO SUZUKI w/ Von Bingen (3-D MINI MUSIC FEST) – WALDORF
Sun Apr 01 HELMS ALEE + THRONES (all ages) – IRON ROAD
Sun Apr 01 THE LUMINEERS – MEDIA
Mon Apr 02 NIMBUS SHOWCASE FINALS – MEDIA CLUB
Wed Apr 04 CANCER BATS – BILTMORE
Wed Apr 04 ROCOCODE – ELECTRIC OWL
Thu Apr 05 AWOLNATION – COMMODORE
Thu Apr 05 MIKE DOUGHTY & BOOK OF DRUGS – MEDIA
Thu Apr 05 HOUSSE DE RACKET – ELECTRIC OWL
Thu Apr 05 WEDDING PRESENT – BILTMORE
Thu Apr 05 CAZZETTE – VENUE
Thu Apr 05 BOOT CAMP CLICK TOUR – FORTUNE
Fri Apr 06 NEIL HAMBURGER – WALDORF
Fri Apr 06 LOXY -W2
Fri Apr 06 KATHLEEN EDWARDS – COMMODORE
Fri Apr 06 OBERHOFER – BILTMORE
Fri Apr 06 CHAIRLIFT – ELECTRIC OWL
Fri Apr 06 TYPHOON – RICKSHAW
Sat Apr 07 POLYPHONIC SPREE – VENUE
Sat Apr 07 TIPPER & SHAMANOID – RED ROOM
Sat Apr 07 JAMES – COMMODORE