Northern Zulu Sessions: Scenes From The “Tennis” Show At Kitsilano’s Zulu Records

Scout Magazine and Northern Transmissions are proud to present the fourth instalment of The Northern Zulu Sessions, a series of in-store concerts at West 4th’s Zulu Records that showcase local and international talent. The films are a collaboration by Warmland Films, Zulu Records, and Overgrowth Productions. This week, it’s Tennis!

Zulu Report: Everything That You Should Listen To This Week

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, which details the best gigs on the immediate horizon. From their ears to yours, enjoy…

THE TRACK

AESOP ROCK Zero Dark Thirty

Sonically this latest Aesop offering is really, really interesting. Ian Mattihas Bavitz (a.k.a. Aesop Rock) has always kept the lyrical side of his game super fresh but we at Zulu are absolutely blown away by the potent combo of beats, samples and overall production verve that accompanies his lyrical fury! Check this “Roving packs of elusive young, become choke-lore writers over boosted drums, in the terrifying face of a future tongue”… major throw down to those at his heels. Vancouver’s hip hop scene is super tight and has deep ties to the Rhymesayers crew, so we can only hope that when Rock takes to the road in support of July’s Skelethon from Fifth Element that he hooks it up at Fortune! Tight sounds. Read more

Northern Zulu Sessions: Scenes From The “Great Lake Swimmers” Gig At Zulu Records

Scout Magazine and Northern Transmissions are proud to present the third instalment of The Northern Zulu Sessions, a series of in-store concerts taking place at Kitsilano’s Zulu Records (the home of our weekly Zulu Report) to showcase local and international talent. The films are a collaboration by Warmland Films, Zulu Records, and Overgrowth Productions. This week, it’s Ontario’s phenomenal Great Lake Swimmers!

Northern Zulu Sessions: Philadelphia’s “The War On Drugs” At Kitsilano’s Zulu Records

Northern Transmissions is proud to present the second installment of The Northern Zulu Sessions, a series of in-store concerts taking place at Kitsilano’s Zulu Records (the home of Scout’s weekly Zulu Report). They’re each a collaboration of Warmland Films, Zulu Records, and Overgrowth Productions to showcase local and international talents. This week, they are happy to presen Secretly Canadian recording artists The War on Drugs from Philadelphia, PA. Enjoy.

Zulu Report: Everything That You Should Listen To This Week

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, which details the best gigs on the immediate horizon. From their ears to yours, enjoy…

THE TRACK

JACK WHITE Sixteen Saltines

Jack has been creating a ton of buzz in advance of his first proper solo release on his own Third Man Records label. In fact, the label reached out to us to see if we would be interested in test driving an advance copy of the wax on Record Store Day this Saturday, April 21st. Knowing how much detail these guys put into their thick vinyl pressings, we instantly knew that this advance copy of White’s righteous Blunderbuss release would be our best chance to hear it early in super high-fidelity. So, stop by at high noon that day as we drop the needle on one of the most anticipated LPs of 2012! This is a special listening party only on RSD 2012, and we are the only place in the city you will hear it. And get this: at the end of the day we will raffle off this instant collector’s item to one lucky vinyl junkie! In the meantime, check out the lead single Sixteen Saltines which showcases Jack at his balls-out best as he takes the riffage up a notch. Elsewhere, Blunderbuss is a more varied and complex listen. Another standout, Love Interruption, (premiered on SNL a month ago) is a sweet, folky ditty that broods with forlorn passion. Trust us, this epic record has it all! Read more

Zulu Report: Everything That You Should Listen To This Week

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; and The Gig, the must see show of the week. From their ears to yours, enjoy…

The Track

SANDRO PERRI Love & Light

Revisiting some of the records that got away can always prove a fruitful plan. There are always a number of amazing records that come out in a year that for some reason or another fly under everyone’s general radar. One such overlooked treasure is the 2011 release from Toronto’s nibble multi-instrumentalist Sandro Perri entitled Impossible Spaces. Released on Constellation Records (Godspeed!, Do Make Say Think, etc.), this record finds Perri and pals in a definite loose jazzy-prog experimentalism mode as the songs feel more like light workouts of ideas and have an efficient buoyancy that keeps them constantly bubbling along with tons of interwoven melodies. Few bands can do this. It requires not only chops, but a focused sense of space, and like Sandro’s title implies, he’s keenly concerned with tight, restricting spaces. Looking back on this record is like a lesson in focused listening – notice the subtle guitar line that darts in and out, or the swells of pads and horns – it’s very detailed. Looking forward from this record, Sandro and Co. are slotted to open for Destroyer’s North American dates – should be awesome! Read more

Zulu Report: Everything That You Should Listen To This Week

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. Read more

Zulu Report: Everything That You Should Listen To This Week

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 HORRORS Changing The Rain

UK’s gothic prog-rockers The Horrors have always hinted at greatness! They mix up all the best elements of Can, Spiritualized, Mbv, and Joy Division in a way that is not only super pleasing but also free of all the immense pitfalls that would normally accompany any band cooking with such potent ingredients. Their second release, 2011’s game changing Skying, saw them moving deeper into the trance-like side of their bombast as synths, strings, and a fair bit more of the blissed out ambience bubbled higher in the mix. The anime on acid approach to this new video also lends well to this newer dreamy sonic tack, and if you read the liner-notes you will find that it was created by Horrors pal and fellow psychedelic rocker Pete Fowler of Super Furry Animals fame! Enjoy! Read more

Zulu Report: Everything That You Should Listen To This Week

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 WOODEN SKY Child of the Valley

Any time a band plays in an old church you know it’s going to sound and feel infinitely cool. The high ceilings reverberate in ways that an ordinary studio can only hint at, and the austere setting adds a real sense of drama to a song’s emotive quality. Toronto’s indie-upstarts The Wooden Sky must have realized this well in advance of this recent session at Toronto’s legendary Grace on the Hill Church, as they’ve really dialed in the vibe for this performance. Recorded during an extreme weather alert, complete with rolling thunder and whooshing wind, their fragile acoustic songs take on a near haunting serenity akin to a prayer before the approaching storm. This track really has a layered richness to it – acoustic guitar and voice are the song’s base and slowly organ, harmonies and simple percussion all chime in building into an amazingly more complex whole. Here at the shop we are currently really into their new release Every Child A Daughter. It has been flying off the shelves – we even have had a discussion with them about bringing some of their haunting aesthetic into the store on April 11th for an impromptu jam – stay tuned! Read more

Zulu Report: Everything That You Should Listen To This Week

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

GIRLS My Ma

Last year San Francisco’s Girls really set the bar high with their sophomore release Father, Son, Holy Ghost. It vaulted the band and its enigmatic leader Christopher Owens into a new realm of both respect and scrutiny. Owens offered up some of the most candid and outspoken interviews of 2011, elaborating in great detail about his upbringing as a member of Children of God cult, his heroin addiction, and his complicated relationship with his mother – any curious readers can easily find all the gory details online elsewhere. This track was always one of our favourites off of their Pitchfork 9.3 out of 10 approved outing, as it has everything that makes pop music so dramatic and absorbing – intricate instrumentation, sweet licks, clever melodies and a certain amount of attitude. My Ma is the third single from the record and one of the more straight ahead forlorn numbers. This video captures the feel of the song and the vintage lens vibe only adds a sense of isolation, despair, time-passing, and general anguish. It really speaks to the aging Laurel Canyon hippy in a poncho dream… Read more

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