by Nic Bragg | From Kitsilano’s Zulu Records, we once again present our monthly Scout feature, the Zulu Report. Within, you’ll find The Track – the song on heavy rotation in the shop this week; The Playlist – which is self-explanatory; The Gig – or 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

MAC DEMARCO Passing Out Pieces

Where does Montreal/Vancouver’s Mac Demarco go from here? His music career is climbing to new heights as gigs in support of his latest groover Salad Days have been bumped up into bigger and bigger venues and are constantly selling out. Curious journalists are lined up to pen in-depth documentaries exploring his wildman history, his love of smokes, and his devil-may-care approach to keeping things light. Video crews give him a microphone and set him free lapping up his wise-cracking ways. Mac is the man of the moment for sure and for that he is awesome. Salad Days is easily one of the finest records of the year and it’s nice to see an Emily Carr guy doing so well. So again, where will he go next? Check this video – Mac’s acting skills are really ripening on the vine…

THE PLAYLIST

HAMILTON LEITHAUSER I Retired

The Walkmen are on an indefinite hiatus. Lead singer Hamilton has already produced a solo album that sees him fleshing out his brooding post-punk aesthetic with songs that weave together folksy styles with doo-wop silhouettes. His signature vocal tone remains intact as he muses on life after the big band fireworks!

WHITE LUNG Face Down

Bombing around LA and Santa Monica in a light blue Volvo 240, our heroes White Lung prove that the VHS camera is nowhere near being played out. This year is a huge one for White Lung – they are releasing Deep Fantasy on a major indie (Domino Records) and touring for months straight, all while constantly updating their fascinating Instagram feed.

MORRISSEY World Peace Is None Of Your Business

Morrissey has always had a message, an opinion, and a style of his own. Art is anything you can get away with, and the Moz has always gotten away with it. Here’s a cool spoken word promo for his new album. The message is pretty clear. Bonus points: Nancy Sinatra holding a briefcase of flowers.

BORIS Vanilla

Everyone’s favourite Japanese noise rockers Boris are prepping a new release of heavy heavy tunes. They are rumoured to be coming to Vancouver too, which will be good. I can see all the fog machines at L&M getting rented that weekend. If you’re into power trios that make use of blazing leads then this is your flavour…Vanilla!

MIREL WAGNER Oak Tree

Dream dream dream sweet dreams! Londoner Mirel Wagner is known for her haunting and hushed folk ballads. Here’s the first cut from her forthcoming Sub Pop release – and as one would think it’s a stripped down acoustic ode that carries a ton of tension. The classic black and white, single light source photography is perfect here!

FUCKED UP Sun Glass

Fucked Up have a heavy new album. This video feels like a tribute to Suicidal Tendencies. Damon is in prime form. The slow motion smoke shots are particularly intense. Heavy and grouchy, Fucked Up are back and at Fortune August 15th .

THE GIG

THE SHILOHS | Album Release Party Thursday June 19th at Fortune Sound Club

Things are happening fast for Vancouver’s charming classic pop quartet The Shilohs. In a short time they’ve been out on the road touring with American indie-rock stalwarts Real Estate, performed a couple showcases in Austin for SXSW, hooked up for more US shows with fellow jingle-janglers The Fresh And Onlys, and most importantly – released their sophomore LP for local Light Organ Records. Man, they’ve even been name-checked in Rolling Stone and Spin! They have momentum, and are currently ‘on top of their game’ with a swaggery carefree attitude that finds them chewing through their catalogue of intellectual rock songs with fervour and a rare sort of instinctual nerve. This is their record release show…a lot of bigwigs will be there, their families will be there, and their friends drinking their beer will be there. The pressure will be on. Time to nail it!

A deeper look at Vancouver’s gigscape for JUNE is after the jump…

THE GLANCE

Tue Jun 03 EAGULLS – MEDIA CLUB
Wed Jun 04 JONATHAN RICHMAN – BILTMORE
Wed Jun 04 MIMOSA – CELEBRITIES
Thu Jun 05 TERRAVITA – GOSSIP
Fri Jun 06 NICE PETER – RICKSHAW
Fri Jun 06 SOKO – IMPERIAL
Fri Jun 06 DESTRUCTO- SHINE
Fri Jun 06 LEIF w/ RUTS CELEBRITIES
Sat Jun 07 A WILHELM SCREAM – BILTMORE
Tue Jun 10 METRONOMY – FORTUNE
Thu Jun 12 DESTROYER (SOLO) – RICKSHAW
Thu Jun 12 SAGE FRANCIS – FORTUNE
Thu Jun 12 OLD MAN MARKLEY – BILTMORE
Thu Jun 12 ASAP TWELVY – KILLJOY
Thu Jun 12 HEY OCEAN – IMPERIAL
Thu Jun 12 YANN TIERSEN – RIO – EARLY SHOW
Fri Jun 13 THE ZOLAS – IMPERIAL
Fri Jun 13 JAYTECH – IMPERIAL
Fri Jun 13 YOUSEF – SHINE
Sat Jun 14 JOSH ROUSE – BILTMORE
Sat Jun 14 THE DUDES – IMPERIAL
Sat Jun 14 MOKA ONLY – FORTUNE
Sat Jun 14 YANN TIERSEN – RIO
Sat Jun 14 DANNY AVILA – CELEBRITIES
Mon Jun 16 JOLIE HOLLAND – BILTMORE
Wed Jun 18 LOLLIPOP RECORDS SHOWCASE – ELECTRIC OWL
Wed Jun 18 12TH PLANET – CELEBRITIES
Thu Jun 19 THE: FLAVR: BLUE – VENUE
Fri Jun 20 JEREMY OLANDER – CELEBRITIES
Fri Jun 20 DUSKY – SHINE
Fri Jun 20 STWO – FORTUNE
Fri Jun 20 THE ELECTRIC DEMONS – RICKSHAW
Sat Jun 21 LILY MADELEINE – MEDIA CLUB – EARLY SHOW
Sat Jun 21 FAR EAST MOVEMENT – VENUE –
Tue Jun 24 PHAROAHE MONCH – VENUE
Wed Jun 25 RUN RIVER NORTH – MEDIA CLUB
Wed Jun 25 ASHER ROTH – FORTUNE
Fri Jun 27 PETER MURPHY – RICKSHAW
Fri Jun 27 DEAN WAREHAM – BILTMORE
Fri Jun 27 JIMMY EDGAR – SHINE
Sat Jun 28 WU-TANG CLAN – ORPHEUM – WE’RE SOLD OUT
Sat Jun 28 THE KNOCKS & ASTR – MEDIA
Sat Jun 28 SYN + COLE – CELEBRITIES
Sun Jun 29 BIG DADDY KANE/SJS – COMMODORE
Mon Jun 30 S. CAREY – BILTMORE