Zulu Report: Really, It’s OK To Be Addicted To Pantha Du Prince

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 tune currently on heavy rotation…

Pantha Du Prince | “Stick By My Side” from the album Black Noise (Rough Trade)

Pantha Du Prince has pulled off a remarkable feat with his beautiful sound poem of an album, Black Noise. Recorded in the Swiss Alps (and heavily inspired by those surroundings), Black Noise features forest sounds seamlessly integrated into minimal techno jams. Like Burial, The Field and the entire K7! label, Pantha Du Prince works within the “electro house” genre, but this is hardly the soulless, brainless throb that you’d expect by that tag. This is lush, blissed out, feeling music, as this track, Stick By My Side, attests. Having Panda Bear guest vocalize on this album will boost the songs appeal, but this is Pantha’s show all the way. Watch this video and be transported into the future by gazing into the deepness of humanity’s collective forest-past.

The Playlist

Click the links for some audible flavour…

A SUNNY DAY IN GLASGOW Nitetime EP (Mijos Os Discos)
Philly dream-poppers follow up last year’s stunner album with an EP of new songs and surprisingly solid remixes, providing further proof of the supremacy of their hazed-out musical vision.

THE MAGNETIC FIELDS Realism (Merge)
NY’s wry purveyors of intelligent pop magic turn folky and old-timey on an album of thirteen new classics.

THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? (A)
Anton Newcombe detoxes in Iceland and enlists a fresh cast to back him up on his freshest album in years.

MASSIVE ATTACK Heligo Land (EMI)
Bristol, England’s Massive Attack brooding trip hop-i-delica is tailor-made for Vancouver’s gray and overcast post-Olympics hangover.

NOUVELLE VAGUE 3 (Peacefrog)
3 is an all star affair, with Martin Gore (Depeche Mode), Ian McCulloch and others joining Nouvelle Vague in creating striking new versions of classic 80’s hits.

STRANGE BOYS Be Brave (In The Red)
Demented, dumbo garage rock that wraps around your head in a choke-hold and doesn’t let go until you cry ‘Uncle’.

SPOON RIVER Kingdom Of The Burned (Northern Electric)
Vancouver by way of Montreal husband and wife super folky rock group that broods like Cohen and rocks like Neil. Homegrown is the way to be, people.

A SILVER MOUNT ZION Kollaps Tradixionales (Constellation)
ASM are the voice of artistic political dissent, creating Ernst-esque sound tapestries that haunt and inspire in equal measure.

SMITH WESTERNS s/t (HOZAC)
The Smith Westerns are guaranteed to be posters boys for the sound of scrappy pop circa 2010, as their self-titled debut proves. Hooks and sound-gunk to keep you pacified.

POSTDATA s/t (EMI)
Raw missives from Wintersleep frontman Paul Murphy as he confronts the fragility of life and inevitability of pain and suffering. Heavy but necessary.

The Gig

The Big Pink w/ A Place To Bury Strangers at Venue Sat March 13

This show is going to be massive. And by massive I mean you can expect infinitely elongated waves of reverb and distortion, like multi-coloured waves of sound washing over you. I mean…what a team up! The Big Pink, England’s latest shoegaze revival act, who are no slouches with the pop hooks, and NY’s fine A Place To Bury Strangers, who like their shows to be LOUD and their visuals to be wildly psychedelic. It’s rare that a headlining band and support act sync up so nicely, so this show will be a rare treat. It’s time for us locals to venture back onto Granville street and reclaim the city from the stuffed animal mascots and mouth-breathing hockey nuts who descended upon it during that whole Olympics thing. This Saturday’s show seems like an ideal chance to do just that.

The Glance

Fine local shows on the immediate horizon…

Tue MAR 09

THE APPLESEED CAST – BILTMORE

Wed MAR 10

THE COOL KIDS – VENUE (VENUE CHANGE)
FAKE BLOOD – FORTUNE SOUND CLUB

Fri MAR 12

GOMEZ – ORPHEUM
RICKARD BERGLOF – THE FALL
JACK BEATS & AC SLATER – CELEBRITIES
EFTERKLANG – BILTMORE

Sat MAR 13

THE BIG PINK – VENUE
PEZZNER – J LOUNGE
TRUS’ ME – COBALT
WARREL DAME – RED ROOM
MIKE DOUGHTY – BILTMORE

Sun MAR 14

DIPLO & PAUL DEVRO – VENUE

Fri MAR 19

JOHN DIGWEED – CELEBRITIES

Indie Profile: Five Minutes With MGB Principal Michelle Biggar

Michelle Biggar is an Australian interior designer who has made her home in Vancouver. She is a principal at mcfarlane | green | biggar  ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN INC, better known as MGB. Gathering 11 years of international experience, Michelle has worked professionally in Australia, the UK and in Canada on a vast range of projects from multi-residential interiors to fashion retail, offices, and restaurants. Some of her recently completed Vancouver projects include Giovane café, bakery + deli and Oru restaurant (both in Vancouver’s new Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel), Obakki’s flagship store in Gastown and an office and gallery for Bob Rennie in Chinatown.  She believes in beautiful, timeless solutions born of intelligent design. Her aesthetic is clean, modern, and contemplative. Her calm and clement manner, while indispensable on multi-million dollar projects, comes in handy at home, where she is the proud mother of Max Lucy Biggar, born February 6th, 2009.

Scout Q&A

Three things about your neighbourhood that make you want to live there: I am lucky to live in Lynn Valley on the beautiful North Shore. The things I love most about it are the proximity to beautiful mountains and endless trails for walking my dog, Sumo (a lab and retriever cross); that the location is a little more removed and quiet yet we are only 20 minutes to downtown and East Van; and the luxury of space – the lots are larger and there is more greenery surrounding properties (growing up in Australia bred a real desire for space).

When you finish a project and stand within it – what do you hope to feel? I hope to be able to come back to the project five years later and feel that the space is still current, thoughtful and beautiful.

What inspires your choice materials for a given project? I like to use a minimal palette of natural materials such as wood and stone, working them in a unique way. This neutral base provides a timeless backdrop for additional layers of accessories such as art and furniture, that can transform the space over time. And you can never have enough simple white walls!

Best place for one-of-a-kind furniture in the city: Metropolitan Home on Hastings is great for second hand classic pieces, and Vancouver Special on Main carries a couple of great lines. In general though, well designed affordable furniture is an area that Vancouver really lacks in.

A Vancouver room or building that you have always wanted to have your way with? My bathroom.

Favourite Vancouver restaurant from a completely aesthetic point of view? The Salt Cellar in the basement of Salt Tasting Room in Blood Alley. It’s one of the few unique dining experiences in town. I love the communal table, the raw concrete walls and the slabs of meat hanging in the glass cooler.

Why is Vancouver a good city for design? Vancouver can be a little conservative when it comes to design (and liquor licenses!) which leaves plenty of room for great design to emerge and for designers to challenge and inspire us.

Is there a local designer or artist that you really admire? I love the rigor and innovation of Molo designers Stephanie Forsythe and Todd MacAllen. They use materials in a unique way to create beautiful products.

If you were going to recommend a Vancouver personality for Scout to interview, who would it be? Brent Comber. He is a North Vancouver artist working with cast-off wood to create stunning furniture and sculptural pieces, and he’s a fun guy.

Favourite Vancouver building/landmark? The top of Grouse mountain for its view back down on the city.

Three places you like to take out of town guests: Hernando Island off the Sunshine Coast. My husband’s parents have a cabin there and it’s a small piece of untouched BC paradise; Portobello West market on the last Sunday of every month. Local markets are a must in every city. Some of my favourite exhibititors include Leanne McElroy of Elroy Apparel (she makes great dresses made from sustainable fabrics), Snugglings’ baby toques and leg warmers, and Superfly Lullabies baby blankets; Café Medina for breakfast…yum.

Where do you enjoy shopping in Vancouver? Tell us about some of your favourite local haunts: Lately I love to shop for my baby girl Max so some of my favourite spots include: jack + lola, dandelion kids, modern kid and Zara kids. Vancouver Special (Main Street), Mooncruise (Gastown), Provide (Beatty Street), and Mei (4th Ave) are a few of my favourites for homewares and unique items. Otherwise I love to browse Gastown and Main for the boutique-style fashion and jewelry stores. I also always love the jewelry line Konzuk, which is available at Inform and Giovane Café.

Best Vancouver place to be inspired by emerging artistic talent: As a designer it’s important to look globally rather than locally for inspiration. Go travel.

More Interesting Locals

The Restaurant Trade Was Once A Den Of Depraved Criminals…

Artist Dr. Lou Jacobs has put together a pretty interesting show in Portland, Maine called “Food Industry Mug Shots 1899-1954″. From Good:

On March 12, 1942, Donald Smith, a cook in Iowa, was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct. His case history describes his crime: “During an altercation in the kitchen of the Red Feather Cafe, subject stabbed one Ted Anderson with a butcher knife.”

Maybe bad-ass chefs like Anthony Bourdain and David Chang aren’t really anything new. Restaurants have seedy, sometimes violent, underbellies. And sometimes, cooks get caught doing what they shouldn’t.

Four years ago, Dr. Lou Jacobs found a mug shot and started collecting original images from the dark side of the food world. He found bartenders, cooks, and waiters who had been pushed over the edge and were accused of murder, theft, pimping and pandering, and drunken and disorderly conduct.

So not much has changed. See more of Jacobs’ curated mugshots here.

PS. The genial Ted Anderson, chef de cuisine at West 4th’s Refuel, is perfectly fine.

Four Seasons’ Yew Restaurant + Bar Joins The Scout Community

The good folks at YEW restaurant + bar in the Four Seasons Hotel are now proud member supporters of Scout. We will be publishing their news and press releases on our front page and hosting a page for them in our list of recommended restaurants. Click ahead or jump to their Scout page here. Read more

Pan-American Wine Bar “Latitude” On Main St. Now Open For Lunch

News from Scout supporter Latitude

Vancouver, BC | Main Street’s Latitude Restaurant and Wine Bar is now open for lunch from 11:30am – 2:30pm Monday to Saturday.  With our relaxed atmosphere and central location, our new service promises to be as successful as our dinners have become since opening last spring. Latitude’s lunch menu departs from its dinner selections while maintaining a refined Latin American tilt.  Try our gourmet Tacos, Southwestern Seafood Chowder, Caesar Salad with Tabasco and Clamato sauteed side stripe prawns from Tofino’s Wildside Seafood, Bison Flat Iron Steak Sandwich with chimichurri mayo, or White Bean and Chicken Chili with smoked jalapeno buttered cornbread. Read more

Scout List: Italian Eats At Yew And Secrets Beyond The Door…

The main objective of this website is to scout out and promote the things that make Vancouver such a sweet place to be. We do this with an emphasis on the city’s independent spirit to foster a sense of connectedness within and between our communities, and to introduce our readers to the people who grow and cook our food, play the raddest tunes in our better venues, create our most interesting art, and design everything from what we wear to the spaces we inhabit.

The Scout List is our carefully considered first rate list of super awesome things that we’re either doing, wishing that we could do, or conspiring to do this week. From our calendar to yours…

Food…

Four Seasons Milano

Being part of a high-end global hotel chain means each chef can dip into a vast pool of culinary knowledge. With this in mind, executive chef Oliver Beckett at YEW Restaurant in The Four Seasons has put together a three course $35 prix fixe based on dishes from the Four Seasons in Milan. The special menu, which can be paired with Italian-inspired cocktails (and don’t forget the 300 wines by the glass) will be available for the entire month of March.
Now until March 31st | Reserve at 604-692-4939 | Yew Website

Perogies!

The first Friday of the month means it’s perogy night at the Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral on 10th (just off Main). The delicious, old-school perogies are handmade by church volunteers. A “regular dinner” consisting of 6 perogies, 2 cabbage rolls, sauerkraut or salad and Ukrainian sausage will cost you $11. If you’re looking for something a little lighter, borscht served with rye bread is only three bucks. Hit ‘em up this month because they are skipping April.
March 5 | 5 till 8 pm | Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral | 154 E 10th | $3 – $14

Music

Bluebeard’s Castle

This Sunday, Opera Pro Cantanti presents an fairy tale evening with Bluebeard’s Castle. “Bluebeard lives in a world of darkness, and [his new bride] Judith is determined to bring light and love into her husband’s life. When Bluebeard forbids her to open the seven locked doors of his castle, Judith passionately insists that her love for Bluebeard gives her the right to know everything about him. Thus begins a battle of the wills that ends in tragedy, as Judith learns the truth about the man she has married.” The show will begin with an introductory presentation discussing the original Bluebeard fairy tale and its many adaptations. Sung in the original Hungarian!
March 7th | 7:30pm | Cambrian Hall (215 E17th Ave)| $15

The Nautical Miles

There’s a cool sort of show going down at the Little Mountain Gallery this weekend. Check it out: 12 months. 12 songs. 12 works of art. “Every month last year, The Nautical Miles released a brand new song on their website, accompanied by a piece of visual art created by one of their friends. On March 6th, The Nautical Miles will play the project in its entirety, with many of the guests that played with them over the course of the year. The artwork will be projected on the wall behind them.”
March 6 | 7:30pm | Little Mountain Gallery

Eve Egoyan

Music on Main delivers the goods this week with a performance by Eve Egoyan.  From a recent press release: “Toronto’s Eve Egoyan is a singular pianist whose passion for the music of today is unrivalled. Her recording of Ann Southam’s mesmerizing “Simple Lines of Enquiry” was named as one of the “2009: Ten Exceptional Recordings” by Alex Ross in The New Yorker. Don’t miss her Vancouver appearance in the intimate Cellar.”
March 9 | doors 6pm – music 9pm | 6:30 pm Cellar Restaurant & Jazz Club (3611 Broadway ) | $20

Culture Stuff…

Kaori Kasai Blims

The opening reception at Blim this weekend is worth a peek for an introduction to their March artist in residence – Kaori Kasai. Deets on the artist : “Using androgynous characters, Kasai creates storyboards of short vignettes about kinship, alienation, emotional boundaries and our interactions with physical environments.” Snacks, refreshments, music, meet the artist on Thursday night.
March 4 | 8-11pm | Blim | Free

Photogenic

There’s a new exhibit opening at Blanket: works by Markus Amm, Walead Beshty, Liz Deschenes, Lorna Macintyre, László Moholy-Nagy, Mark Soo, and James Welling. Here’s a Scout List-sized edit of what to expect: “Beyond a set of formal similarities, the artists share prevailing interest in materiality and process as concrete manifestations of a specific set of conditions offering unique visual energies and questioning the assumptions about photography.” Get the full explanation here and hit the opening reception on Friday to experience it first hand.
March 5 – April 10 | Blanket Gallery | FREE

Jo-Anne Birnie Danzker

As the Emily Carr promo explains: “Jo-Anne Birnie Danzker is a specialist in the history of the Modern and was exhibition director of the international research and exhibition projects The Short Century (curator Okwui Enwezor), as well as Shanghai Modern and Art of Tomorrow: Hilla von Rebay and Solomon R. Guggenheim which she also co-curated. She is currently the Director of the Frye Art Museum in Seattle. Birnie Danzker will engage in a dialogue with Sadira Rodrigues, Director of Continuing Studies at Emily Carr.”
March 11 | 6pm | Emily Carr – South Building Lecture Hall| FREE

Flicks…

Get Oscar ready

Out at the Norm this weekend you can brush up on your Oscar Nominated flicks by catching either Precious or An Education for the very reasonable price of $3 each.
March 3 – 7 | 7 & 9 pm | Norm Theatre | $3

Neil Young Trunk Show

If his brief appearance at the Olympics whet your appetite for a little more Neil – you can get your fix at the Vancity Theatre this week: “a traveling display of unique goods, packed and unpacked along the way…Jonathan Demme’s follow up and reaction to the acclaimed concert film Heart of Gold, drawn from two December 2007 shows at the Tower Theatre, Pennsylvania. Shifting from delicately offered acoustic numbers like “Sad Movies” and “Mexico” to searing, chaotic anthems including “Like a Hurricane” and “Cinammon Girl”; rarely performed pieces like “Kansas” and “Ambulance Blues”; and the blistering 22-minute electric tornado of “No Hidden Path” (which Rolling Stone likened to a high-speed car chase in an action thriller) this is Neil Young letting rip and rocking raw.”  Check a stitch of it on Youtube.
Special Advance Loud Show – March 5 | 7pm | Vancity Theatre | 10 beans

Secrets Beyond the Door

Cruise over to Pacific Cinémathèque to catch Secrets Beyond the Door: Treasures from the UCLA Festival of Preservation (starting next Thursday). Here’s the skinny from Pacific Cinémathèque (sounds pretty cool): “As part of the ongoing program of public film screenings we present as a cinematheque, Pacific Cinémathèque takes pleasure in showcasing the important preservation and restoration work being done by other cinema archives, film studios and speciality distribution companies around the globe — providing our audience not only with rare big-screen access to cinema’s greatest classics and treasures, but also the even rarer opportunity to see them projected from beautiful, pristine celluloid prints (the way they were meant to be seen). The UCLA Film and Television Archive’s Festival of Preservation, currently on North American tour and making its first-ever Vancouver (and only scheduled Canadian) stop, offers a true embarrassment of such riches. The festival features, in sparkling 35mm prints, 14 wide-ranging programs of major classics and undiscovered gems spanning a wide spectrum of film history, from the silent era to the new American independent cinema of the 1980s. Among the stellar offerings are one of the most historically and culturally significant films ever shot in British Columbia; an important landmark of Sri Lanka’s national cinema; a breakthrough work of gay cinema; and feature films from a cinephile’s-dream list of directors, including Fritz Lang, John Cassavetes, Joseph Losey, Frank Borzage, Josef von Sternberg, Edgar G. Ulmer, and others.”
March 11-29 | Various times  (usually 7 or 9pm) |Pacific Cinémathèque (1131 Howe) | $10

Blood Into Wine

Heads up for next week – because it would be a shame to miss it – the documentary film that makes Sideways look like a soft and silly chick flick screens at the Rio. Blood Into Wine focuses on Maynard James Keenan (Tool/A Perfect Circle) and his “…mission to bring credibility and sustainability to a newly born Arizona wine industry.” Be sure to stay late on Friday to catch Steve Martin in The Jerk.
March 12 | 7 and 9:30 | Rio Theatre | $10

Nature Stuff…

Owl Prowl

For a different way to start your weekend – consider an evening with the owls in Stanley Park. “Join renowned birder Al Grass for an evening with the owls in Stanley Park. An indoor presentation will be followed by a walk to Beaver Lake to listen for these secretive and nocturnal creatures. Registration required. Hit up conservation@stanleyparkecology.ca
March 5 | 7 – 9pm | Stanley Park Dining Pavilion | Pay what you can

Journey of the Blue Whale

The fine and learned crowd over at the Vancouver Institute once again use their powers for good and bring us a lecture on the Blue Whale. The scoop: “Dr Trites’ main area of research is the interaction between marine mammals and commercial fisheries. This includes the population biology and bioenergetics of seals, sea lions and whales, and involves a combination of field, captive and computer studies. The nutrition of animals and how much fish they take leads, inevitably, to conflict between the animals and fisheries: “We are applying our results in an attempt to find ways of resolving that conflict.” Dr Trites has convened workshops, including interactions between vessels and killer whales, and the effects of human disturbance on Steller sea lions. He is currently directing the recovery of the skeletal remains of a blue whale, the world’s largest mammal, to be prominently displayed in a glass-sided museum in the centre of UBC. ” Dr. Andrew Trites is the Director, Marine Mammal Research Unit, UBC Fisheries Centre – that some serious street cred in the world of marine science.
March 6 | 8:15 | Woodward Instructional Resources Centre,  UBC | FREE

Moss Walk

Mix it up this weekend with a closer look at lichens and mosses. Grab your magnifying glass and hook up with Renfrew Park Community Centre staff as they lead you through the beautiful ravine trail and explain to you the magical world of moss and lichens. Dress for the weather – there is a good chance of rain. Moss loves rain. Meet at Renfrew Park Community Centre-library side entance.
March 7 | 7 – 9pm | Renfrew Park Community Centre (2929 East 22nd Avenue)| $2

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Michelle Sproule grew up in Kitsilano and attended Bond University in Australia and the University of Victoria before receiving her graduate degree in Library Sciences from The University of Toronto. She lives by the beach in Vancouver and enjoys wandering aimlessly through the city’s shops and streets with her best friend – a beat up, sticky, grimy, and uncooperative camera.

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Zulu Report: Chain & the Gang Plays And Babe Window Freaks

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 tune currently on heavy rotation…

Joanna Newsom | Have One On Me taken from the album Have One On Me.

Joanna Newsom – who’da thunk?  I never would’ve predicted that a harp-playing Middle Earth forest nymph would rise to become a bona fide, A-list musical darling. All joking aside, Newsom is obviously an artist of exceedingly rare talent and vision. Over the course of three albums she’s gone from being regarded as a highlight of the “freak folk” genre to more recently being recognized a totally singular artist, untethered to any bullshit scene. “Have One On Me” is three discs of folky, jazzy west coast pop music. Certainly there are some vaguely Joni Mitchell-esque signifiers (another singular artist), but really this is Newsom’s show all the way. Whether or not you “get” Newsom or not, she’s proved at a young age that she’s got goods. This clip doesn’t have bells and whistles, let alone any animatronic or CGI freakiness. It’s just a beautiful song, set up karaoke-style, so that you can sing along and pretend to be a middle earth queenie, like Newsom. Read more

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