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

DIVINE FITS Hungry Heart

Having a Springsteen cover in your back pocket is key in this biz. You never know when a pick-up gig in some random roadhouse is going to go sour, and when faced with an increasingly restless crowd a little Boss can go a long way. Britt Daniels of Spoon fame and fellow ragged rocker Dan Boeckner of Wolf Parade have never really had a problem holding down a crowd, and watching them in a stripped down arrangement of acoustics, maracas and beatbox riff on Hungry Heart proves that talent and a little bravado can make anything charming. The Divine Fits are on tour Down under right now. We have nearly worn out their Merge Records debut… Can some local promoter bring them to Vancouver?

THE PLAYLIST

THE SHILOHS The Place Where Nobody Knows I Go

It’s was just a month ago that Spin magazine descended on the streets of Vancouver and started hyping the likes of Japandroids and White Lung. Well, now they have caught wind of one our best kept secrets in The Shilohs! Here’s the first video to support their JCDC (New Pornographers, Destroyer etc) produced release So Wild. Who is this crazy lady?

NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS Jubilee Street

Sexy Beast star Ray Winstone answers the call from Nick Cave to play the part of creepy foot fetish overcoat-loving Brit guy in Cave’s latest video supporting the majestic new Bad Seeds release, Push The Sky Away.

YO LA TENGO I’ll Be Around

Maybe you recognize the star of this next video? Maybe you will freeze the screen and jot down the Spicey Tortilla Soup recipe that comes up. Maybe you will just watch it for the cabin porn that happens towards the end. Oh, so many details. Trust Yo La Tengo to make us focus on the minute details. Beautiful.

JOHN GRANT Pale Green Ghosts

John Grant is not a household name. He hasn’t made a splash on all the heavy hitting blogs. If he played some big-wig festival his name would be written in point size 10. I don’t think we’ve ever sold more than a couple of his first record Queen of Denmark. If you must know he was a member of Czars. We didn’t sell much of that, probably because in was only released on a Cocteau Twins related label in Europe. Shazam won’t help you if you hear John Grant in a shoe store. Give him a chance folks.

FRIGHTENED RABBIT Today’s Cross

It’s hard to imagine the guys in Frighten Rabbit suffering from writer’s block. These Scottish folk rockers have been pretty prolific since their origins in 2006. ‘The Woodpile’ is their latest effort and we definitely think it is their strongest. Anyway, back to writer’s block… so many distractions including going down the youtube rabbit hole. Pun?

THE GIG

TORO Y MOI at BILTMORE CABARET | Tuesday February 26th

Chazwick Bradley Bundick is an awesome name. Sound it out. Let your lips caress the tones. Next time one of your pals has a kid in the oven the hint that Chazwick is rad. Regardless, this Chazwick in question is better known in our neck of the woods by his stage name Toro Y Moi. Since he’s moved to LA and signed to uber-adventurous Carpark Records, Toro Y Moi has been regularly making a Vancouver shows part of his hectic touring schedule. If you are a geek like me, then you really should check out his live show, as the blend of vintage analog keys with more modern midi technology is pretty deft. As you can hear in this pastoral video, there is a total 70’s relaxed vibe to Chazwick’s songs – pulses of Fender Rhodes mix with some tasty low end bass licks all while Chaz (the shortened form) grooves in a most Curtis Mayfield sort of way. Tickets are moving on this one, so act fast.

The Glance

Thu Feb 14 BUKE AND GASE – MEDIA
Thu Feb 14 KYPRIOS – BAR NONE
Fri Feb 15 RUCKUS – BAR NONE
Fri Feb 15 THE SHILOHS RELEASE PARTY – ANZA CLUB
Sat Feb 16 NEVERLAND BURLESQUE – RUSSIAN HALL
Sat Feb 16 THE RUBY SUNS – BILTMORE
Sat Feb 16 GRAMATIK – ELECTRIC OWL – WE’RE SOLD OUT
Sun Feb 17 GYPTIAN – REPUBLIC
Mon Feb 18 COHEED AND CAMBRIA – VOGUE
Wed Feb 20 OFFICIAL DILLA DAY: FRANK NITT, ILLA J & more – FORTUNE
Thu Feb 21 SPARTA – BILTMORE
Thu Feb 21 JOKERS OF THE SCENE – REPUBLIC
Thu Feb 21 MATMOS – MEDIA
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
Fri Feb 22 FREEBOUND, CEDAR SENIOR & APPLICATION – BLVD 22
Sat Feb 23 THE JIMMY BALDWIN BAND CD RELEASE – ST JAMES
Sat Feb 23 THE WAILERS – COMMODORE – WE’RE SOLD OUT
Sat Feb 23 R. STEVIE MOORE – PAT’S PUB – NEW VENUE!
Sat Feb 23 OTT & THE ALL-SEEING I – RICKSHAW
Sat Feb 23 KISHI BASHI – BILTMORE
Tue Feb 26 RAKIM – FORTUNE
Tue Feb 26 TORO Y MOI – BILTMORE – WE’RE SOLD OUT
Thu Feb 28 GHOSTFACE KILLAH – GOSSIP
Thu Feb 28 VINCE VACCARO – JOE’S APARTMENT

MARCH

Fri Mar 01 BLUES CONTROL – ELECTRIC OWL – NEW VENUE
Sat Mar 02 WHY? – BILTMORE
Sat Mar 02 WHITE LUNG & NU SENSAE TOUR KICK OFF! – INTERURBAN
Sat Mar 02 BLKOUT – ELECTRIC OWL
Sat Mar 02 THE SLACKERS – HUNGARIAN HALL
Sun Mar 03 PSYCHIC ILLS – ELECTRIC OWL – NEW VENUE
Sun Mar 03 SWINGING UTTERS – RICKSHAW
Mon Mar 04 DARWIN DEEZ – FORTUNE
Tue Mar 05 MARDUK / MOONSPELL – RICKSHAW
Thu Mar 07 AUTRE NE VEUT – ELECTRIC OWL
Thu Mar 07 HEROES X VILLAINS – FORTUNE
Fri Mar 08 ROSKA – ELECTRIC OWL
Sat Mar 09 MASON JENNINGS – ELECTRIC OWL
Sat Mar 09 THE FUGITIVES – BILTMORE
Sat Mar 09 ELECTRIC SIX – VENUE
Sat Mar 09 MARCUS FOSTER – MEDIA
Wed Mar 13 AEROPLANE – 560
Thu Mar 14 EFTERKLANG – BILTMORE
Sat Mar 16 DREADNAUGHTS – RICKSHAW
Sat Mar 16 FIGURE – BLVD22
Sat Mar 16 MILK MUSIC w/ GUN OUTFIT – BILTMORE
Sat Mar 16 HARRY MANX – RIO THEATER
Sat Mar 16 NAWROZ CELEBRATION: CANADIAN WOMEN FOR WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN – ROYAL PALACE BANQUET HALL
Tue Mar 19 WISHBONE ASH – VENUE
Wed Mar 20 ICEAGE – BILTMORE
Thu Mar 21 DEATHFIX – MEDIA
Fri Mar 22 VERONICA FALLS – MEDIA
Sat Mar 23 KITTY (PRIDE) – FORTUNE
Sat Mar 23 UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA – MEDIA – WE’RE SOLD OUT
Sun Mar 24 THE LAST BISON – MEDIA
Mon Mar 25 AMOR DE DIAS – MEDIA
Tue Mar 26 BREAKBOT (ED BANGER) – FORTUNE
Tue Mar 26 CITIZENS! – MEDIA
Thu Mar 28 THE STANFIELDS – VENUE
Fri Mar 29 MERCHANDISE – MEDIA
Fri Mar 29 CHRISTOPHER OWENS – BILTMORE
Sun Mar 31 ESBEN & THE WITCH – MEDIA
Sun Mar 31 TALIB KWELI – BAR NONE