Nic Bragg over at Kitsilano’s Zulu Records once again present his 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

BELLE AND SEBASTIAN Crash

As you can probably imagine, we see many, many records every week and often find some old gems that have long been out of print. A few weeks ago someone traded in the entire Primitives collection on super clean UK import wax. We spun them and it was instantly clear that Coventry’s late 80’s shoegazers were a band that definitely should have been remembered for more than one glorious single (‘Crash’). They hit the scene in 1988 with the first big explosion of oceanic rock bands from the UK that included My Bloody Valentine and Jesus and the Mary Chain. By 1991, they disappeared into ‘one-hit wonder’ obscurity, shoegaze compilations, and the lore of record store nerds. Well, we just sent off a huge thank-you card to our pals in Belle and Sebastian who today turn in a strangely bouncy version of the Primitives’ only real enduring top 5 single. The original features some really dreamy fuzz guitar and the classic English JMAC jack-beat percussion – so this is a pretty radical re-invention of the affair, and while I can’t yet say whether it is grand or not, it sure is cool to hear the classic opening couplet “here you go way too fast, don’t slow down you’re gonna crash” one more time.

The Playlist

RAE SPOON Ocean Blue

The canals of Venice have always been romanticized. Locking down this location would have been tough, but trust Rae to pull out all the punches on this exquisite display of cinematography! Awesome.

MARGOT AND THE NUCLEAR SO AND SO Shannon

SXSW is officially over and with it a new batch of bands are ready to take to the road fueled on the hype from the most highly concentrated gathering of music executives, journalists, and fans anywhere! Here’s a band to watch…especially if you like pagan burial rituals.

TANLINES All of Me

My guy at Beggars Banquet is totally all over these guys. He loves everything that True Panther Sounds signs and they way they do their biz. Tanlines are two for two with their videos in support of Mixed Emotions. Scouting could have gone down at the Legion on Main.

MIREL WAGNER En Concert A Emporter

A couple months ago we first posted about the sparse acoustic songs of Mirel and now we are happy to report that one of our longtime faves, LaBlogotheque, tracked her down in France to give us another hearing of these gorgeous songs. Can’t wait for this one to hit North America!

ALABAMA SHAKES Hold On

We expect a line up on April 9th when this band releases their debut record, Boys & Girls. By then they will be on the road opening for Jack White and everyone knows what a potential exposure windfall that can be. They already pretty much shredded the Media Club back in January, so beware, their barking blues have some bite.

CEREMONY Adult

America in the 60’s…suburban life, domestic bliss, the last era of mass cool architecture, knick knacks, real food on every table, automobiles that weren’t disposable. Loud riff rockers Ceremony show us why everything gets dark…real dark.

THE GIG

NEIL HAMBURGER Friday April 6th THE WALDORF HOTEL

We started following Neil Hamburger a.k.a. America’s Funnyman on twitter about a year ago. He uses the social media medium to engage in a pretty cutting conversation with some of America’s most asinine corporate marketing ploys. Check this… @Purex: 6 Word Essay Challenge: What Purex means to you? Neil Hamburger: Something to poison my enemies with… or @Brawny_Towels: You are at lunch and spill ketchup all over your jeans. What do you do? Neil Hamburger: Double my dose of anti-depressants. Yes, while clearly Neil’s deadpan humour is not for everyone, he is the perfect antidote for today’s dour times. He is complex, cold and miserable, and as a result has become quite the celebrity on both the underground comedy circuit, as well as the big league tour scene, opening for huge bands like the Foo Fighters and Tenacious D. This special night at The Waldorf promises to be a serious crack up!

The Glance

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