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

MOGWAI The Lord Is Out of Control

I keep watching this video waiting for something terrible or horrifying to happen, but it never does. Scottish post-rockers Mogwai know how to create mood, capture one’s attention and focus our listening experience. There’s a hypnotic slow burn to their compositions. Using classic vintage synth swells and fried fuzz guitars, the tones flow together perfectly into an enthralling elixir. The video was shot on location in Hawaii, capturing the eerie beauty of its natural setting inter-cut with some really nice footage of late night acrobatics classes, a man living off the grid and raising masks to the sun, and a woman trekking out to take in the sunrise. In the back of your mind you know that Mogwai live for the blissed out massive volume distortion rock outs, so when this new song just manages to keep the intensity in check the result is really seductive. Mogwai’s Rave Tapes release is one to look forward to in 2014.

THE PLAYLIST

BONNIE PRINCE BILLY Black Captain

Will Oldham drops a nugget from his songbook for Greenpeace’s boat The Arctic Sunrise which was detained by on piracy charges in September after they attempted to protest offshore drilling in the Russian Arctic. Black Captain is already a highly moving song, but in this politicized context and with Will just set up on a dock strumming his guitar, you can’t help but feel the vibe.

DISAPPEARS Kone

Remember the good old days when bands could jam on drone rock for 14 minutes in a vain attempt to capture the glory of Can and Faust? Those days are alive and well in the city of Chicago! Long live the trippy sound of Jazzmasters running through Roland Space Echo!

CALIFONE 3Voor12 Session

Next November when you are planning your escape from town I strongly suggest a cheap flight to Amsterdam, a train to the tiny University town of Utrecht, and a 3 day pass to one of the most underground music festivals in Europe – Le Guess Who. The shows all have a unified intimacy that makes you feel like you’re witnessing something special and unique. Here we see Chicago blues rockers Califone in a more stripped down incarnation entertaining fans in the Village Coffee Shop (not that kind of coffee shop!).

NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS Higgs Boson Blues

This week we took an informal poll on Twitter to find out from our customers/followers their favourite live show of the year. Nick Cave’s sold out April 6th performance at the marvelous Vogue Theater received a ton of votes and provided a fine excuse to relive the glory of seeing an amazing band in an amazing setting with an amazing set of fans loving every minute of it. The good news is Cave and Co. have a new live record and have announced another Vancouver show (in a larger room). The bad news is that it’s sold out already!

BLOUSE A Feeling Like This

Every New Year you should really make a point of discovering a few new young bands. Choose a label you like and do a little bit of investigating. Portland’s latest breakout band is Blouse, and with the impending release on Captured Tracks they should be making waves in 2014. This is a nice black and white tone poem that plays with one’s subconscious dream psyche.

SUPERCHUNK Void

“The venue is condemned but they still do shows on the weekend”… Hilarious chit-chat from an a-list of American hipster comedians (including Superchunk drummer Jon W.) as they line up to get into the club. If you can’t laugh at yourself…

THE GIG

TENNIS Monday January 6th FORTUNE SOUND CLUB

The idea that Denver’s slick indie pop outfit Tennis will be on the road this early in the year is crazy! Most bands wait for things to start to thaw before booking shows. Maybe they just have lots of practice booting around the icy Rockies roads en route to the next gig. Anyway, mark your 2014 calendars with this show and make it your New Year’s resolution to get out and see more bands. Tennis offer the sharp hooks of bigger more acclaimed bands such as Grizzly Bear and Vampire Weekend and will definitely have to bring their a-game if they want to outshine local openers The Shilohs who round out the bill. Take a deeper look at Vancouver’s gigscape for the rest of December after the jump…

The Glance

Mon Dec 09 JAGWAR MA – FORTUNE
Tue Dec 10 THE WHITE BUFFALO – BILTMORE
Wed Dec 11 PHUTUREPRIMITIVE – ANZA – WE’RE SOLD OUT
Wed Dec 11 FLATLINERS – BILTMORE
Thu Dec 12 CITY OF GLASS – RICKSHAW
Thu Dec 12 TOP LESS GAY LOVE TEKNO PARTY – VENUE
Thu Dec 12 THE MOONDOGGIES – BILTMORE
Thu Dec 12 SUB FOCUS – FORTUNE
Fri Dec 13 SASHA – CELEBRITIES
Fri Dec 13 BIG K.R.I.T. – VENUE
Fri Dec 13 KING KRULE – FORTUNE – WE’RE SOLD OUT
Fri Dec 13 JON AND ROY HOLIDAY SPECIAL w/ BUCK 65 – VOGUE
Fri Dec 13 CLANCEY’S ANGELS – WISE HALL
Fri Dec 13 XMAS IN SKAVILLE – FAN CLUB
Sat Dec 14 FRED EVERYTHING – ELECTRIC OWL
Sat Dec 14 CLANCEY’S ANGELS – WISE HALL
Dec 13-14 DIECEMBER FEST – RICKSHAW / FUNKY W.
Sat Dec 14 MIDLAKE – FORTUNE
Sat Dec 14 GOOD FOR GRAPES – VOGUE
Sat Dec 14 PERE UBU – BILTMORE
Sun Dec 15 HOLOGRAMS – ELECTRIC OWL
Mon Dec 16 YUNA – MEDIA CLUB
Thu Dec 19 DOMINIQUE FRICOT – ELECTRIC OWL – early show
Thu Dec 19 RUSTIE – ELECTRIC OWL
Thu Dec 19 TWISTED XMAS COMEDY SHOW – RICKSHAW
Fri Dec 20 KEITHMAS FUNDRAISER- ELECTRIC OWL
Fri Dec 20 KINGFISHER BLUESZ XMAS – COBALT
Tue Dec 31 88 NYE – VENUE TO BE ANNOUNCED
Tue Dec 31 ONE NIGHT STAND VI NYE – RICKSHAW