by Nic Bragg | From Kitsilano’s Zulu Records, we once again present our weekly Scout feature, the Zulu Report. Within, we provide The Track – the song that is on heavy rotation in the shop this week; The Playlist – which is pretty self-explanatory; The Gig – the ‘must see’ show of the week; and The Glance – which details the best live acts that are on the immediate horizon. From our ears to yours, enjoy…

THE TRACK

NU SENSAE Spit Gifting

Ok…in the last report we went on and on about how Japandroids had had a break out year. Cool, right? Well, we also want to mention that White Lung as well as long time Zulu faves Nu Sensae (who both put out totally devastating albums last year and now have cropped up in the pages of Rolling Stone) have declared that the YVR punk scene is set to explode. Andrea and Daniel of Nu Sensae are two of the hardest working musicians we know (they have lived in their van for the last two years), so it’s great to see them finally breaking through to a larger sphere. Spit Gifting is a straight up rocker off of their debut for Seattle-based Suicide Squeeze. The rest of the album benefits from the production skills of local psyche-garage enthusiast Josh Stevenson (Von Bingen, Castexotic, Otic Sound) as the distorted carnage take on a more blissfully disorienting texture. Nu Sensae are a band to watch in 2013.

THE PLAYLIST

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS We No Who U R

Here it is, the first sneak peak into Nick Cave’s 2013 album Push Back The Sky! Compared to the raw intensity of his recent Grinderman outings, this relaxed piano-led track recalls the mellower moments of his landmark Boatman’s Call era. Nick Cave never fails. Walk with him deep into the dark woods!

MAC DEMARCO Dreamin’

Mac gets dolled up as an 18th Century Versailles king, and while not smoking on the couch, roams the woods and Wallmart parking lots looking for good times.

FOXYGEN San Francisco

Expect to be hearing lots about this band in the coming months. They’ve been steadily cropping up on the obscure tumblrs that our team of insiders follow. They are a clever psychedelic duo from Los Angeles who have a Byrds meets Beck vibe going for them.

BRIAN ENO Day Of Light

The man who gave us Music for Airports and Discreet Music (two landmark ‘ambient’ records) drops another soothing release. The video is a series of stills uploaded to his site from fans as part of a complex audio-visual installation designed to coincide with the album’s release. Face it, Eno is still the master!

BEACH HOUSE New Year

2012’s smash hit Bloom made a lot of new fans for this amazing duo from Baltimore. They have a signature sound all build around Victoria’s voice and Alex’s super tasteful guitar lines. This video is shot in the studio (yes, they are already working on a follow up!).

DAVID BOWIE Where Are We Now?

I’ve always kind of dug Bowie in his crooner mode. Is Bowie the new Sinatra? He has definitely done things his way for a long time. This new track is really beautiful. Let’s hope the whole record is just as good, and that he’s not serious when he says he’s done playing live.

THE GIG

MARK KOZELEK Thursday Feb 7th Biltmore Cabaret

Mark Kozelek is best known for his work as Red House Painters and Sun Kil Moon and has collaborated with a long list of acclaimed indie singer-songwriters including Will Oldham and Ben Gibbard. He has also appeared in front of Hollywood cameras in films such as Almost Famous and Vanilla Sky. Throughout his career he has maintained an air of detached enigmatic intrigue. He rarely tours and is very selective about which engagements he keeps with the press (all the more reason to stick to your New Year’s resolution to get out and support music venues, arts centers, and artists everywhere).

The Glance

Wed Jan 23 NIKI AND THE DOVE – ELECCTRIC OWL
Thu Jan 24 JACQUES GREENE – WALDORF
Fri Jan 25 WILLY MASON – MEDIA
Fri Jan 25 PORTAGE & MAIN – BILTMORE
Fri Jan 25 SEBASTIEN LEGER – SHINE
Fri Jan 25 CHRIS MURRAY/LOS FURIOS – RICKSHAW
Fri Jan 25 THE FUNK HUNTERS – 560 Club
Sat Jan 26 HE’S MY BROTHER SHE’S MY SISTER – ELECTRIC OWL
Wed Jan 30 GTA & EXPENDABLE YOUTH – SHINE
Thu Jan 31 KEN STRINGFELLOW – BILTMORE
Thu Jan 31 THE BOOM BOOMS – JOES APARTMENT

FEBRUARY

Fri Feb 01 CHOKE – BILTMORE
Fri Feb 01 DANIEL ASH – WALDORF
Sat Feb 02 OH SHIT! – ELECTRIC OWL
Sat Feb 02 CODY CHESTNUTT – FORTUNE
Sun Feb 03 BLACKALICIOUS – FORTUNE
Tue Feb 05 ADAM GREEN & BIKINI SHAPIRO – MEDIA CLUB
Tue Feb 05 EMILIE AUTUMN – RIO
Wed Feb 06 BUILT TO SPILL – RICKSHAW
Wed Feb 06 BAUER & JUST BLAZE – VENUE
Thu Feb 07 MARK KOZELEK – BILTMORE
Fri Feb 08 BENJAMIN FRANCIS LEFTWICH – MEDIA – RESCHEDULED SHOW
Fri Feb 08 PHONIQUE – WALDORF
Sat Feb 09 BOB MARLEY BIRTHDAY BASH – GRANDVIEW LEGION
Sat Feb 09 HOT WATER MUSIC – VOGUE
Sat Feb 09 NICKI BLUHM AND THE GAMBLERS – MEDIA
Sun Feb 10 THE WOOD BROTHERS – RIO
Sun Feb 10 OM – MEDIA CLUB
Sun Feb 10 YOUSEF – ELECTRIC OWL
Tue Feb 12 OFF! – FORTUNE
Wed Feb 13 THE GROWLERS – ELECTRIC OWL
Thu Feb 14 BUKE AND GASE – MEDIA
Sat Feb 16 THE RUBY SUNS – BILTMORE
Sat Feb 16 GRAMATIK – ELECTRIC OWL – NEW VENUE
Mon Feb 18 COHEED AND CAMBRIA – VOGUE
Thu Feb 21 ICEAGE – BILTMORE
Thu Feb 21 SPARTA – BILTMORE
Thu Feb 21 BROKEN WATER – ELECTRIC OWL
Fri Feb 22 ELECTRIC DEMONS, MAN THE WOLF, KICKED OFF THE FARM – RICKSHAW
Fri Feb 22 YUCA & GUEST – VENUE
Sat Feb 23 THE WAILERS – COMMODORE
Sat Feb 23 R. STEVIE MOORE – WALDORF
Sat Feb 23 OTT & THE ALL-SEEING I – RICKSHAW
Sat Feb 23 KISHI BASHI – BILTMORE
Tue Feb 26 TORO Y MOI – BILTMORE
Thu Feb 28 GHOSTFACE KILLAH – GOSSIP