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 – our selection of videos; and The Gig – the “must-see show” on the horizon. From our ears to yours, enjoy…

THE TRACK

SOAK Sea Creatures

A couple years ago The Guardian introduced us to the new voice of Bridie Monds-Watson and her delightful short EP of strange atmospheric folk tunes. Now at the age of 18 the Irish singer-songwriter has embarked on the next phase of her career by postponing her music studies at University and signing with taste-maker Rough Trade Records to focus on honing in the sound of her full-length debut. Drawing from classic songwriter influences such as Joni Mitchell to inform the structure of her tunes, as well as the textured tones of her contemporary UK chillwave peers like James Blake and The XX, Watson has hit upon a sound that works perfectly with her unique vocal delivery. She represents a new wave of young balladeers (a la King Krule) who are shaping the new sound of the UK. Sea Creatures is super catchy and the video features Bridie in full on late night chill mode. Enjoy!

THE PLAYLIST

S CAREY Neverending Fountain

Eau Claire Wisconsin resident S. Carey is a musician who has made his name by shying away from the limelight while occasionally offering up some sweet meditative orchestral compositions. Of course he is also a sideman in Justin Vernon’s band Bon Iver, but Carey rarely leverages that for his own sonic output. This new track is from a forthcoming EP that features a series of songs exploring piano and strings. The time-lapse nature shots are a bit overused at present but it still works.

MATTHEW E. WHITE Rock and Roll Is Cold

When older people ask me why Steely Dan and Fleetwood Mac are popular again with young kids, I tell ‘em they just don’t get tumblerock and that’s probably cool. Here’s a song that moves in the same way as classic Rumours, Aja, and Naturally, but also features the lyrics “Rock and Roll has no soul” alongside “Everybody gets that gospel licks are gifs”. Is this on point or highly problematic?

FATHER JOHN MISTY I Went To The Store One Day

Josh Tillman (ex-Fleet Foxes) was just in town at the Commodore as Father John Misty. Here to support his critically acclaimed sophomore release under this moniker, he has fleshed out his hedonistic playboy meets peyote drifter burnout persona, and taken on more of a Newman sings Nilsson sort of vibe. The songs are based around his recent marriage to his Honeybear as well as a cultural critic of the American Dream. Gotta love the La Blogothèque treatment here.

BJORK Black Lake Trailer

From one relationship record to another, here is the trailer for Bjork’s intense new release Vulnicura release, which graphically details her break-up from her longtime partner. The record itself was leaked early online so the promo materials, marketing plans, interviews etc. are all scrambling to catch up, but in a weird way the music speaks for itself without a constructed universe to support it, mythologize things, and take the mystery away. Here we see Bjork literally torn in two, lying in the ground, painfully recounting the album’s subject matter. Awesome.

GAP DREAM Chill Spot

Here is the latest Lexus-sponsored Pitchfork Radio Sessions shot in the famous Santa Monica recording studio ‘The Village’. The monstrous studio space that has cooked up classic catalog hits for Dylan and Neil Young, and once featured a lengthy waiting list for bands to book months of recording time, is now vacant and used as a set to feature a steady stream of young performers with a day off in LA. Here, Gap Dream’s founder Gabe Fulvimar rips off a quick synthpop ditty.

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE Black Sun

Ben Gibbard is the frontman in Seattle’s Death Cab for Cutie and here plays a film director on the set of a stunt-filled film. The song itself is classic DCFC and will surely please longtime loyal fans who may have worried bigger changes were coming with the departure of wizard guitarist Chris Walla. Fear not… their 8th (!) album Kintsugi looks to be right on form.

THE SOFT MOON Far

The members of Soft Moon are definitely into chorus guitar and the paranoid fever pitch rhythms that Robert Smith made popular when your mum was in high school. Brooklyn’s finest indie label Captured Tracks is releasing this new record at the end of March and historically The Soft Moon have pounced on shows at the Biltmore Cabaret to support, so start saving up for your replica Trans Am now.

THE GIG

CARIBOU March 5th at The Commodore

Caribou is, of course, the electronic project of Toronto-based Merge Records artist and sequencing genius Dan Snaith. Joined by longtime live collaborators Ryan Smith, Brad Weber, and John Schmersal, Snaith has grown Caribou into one of the most in demand ‘live-electronic’ outfits going, as together they take a more hands-on jamming it out approach to Caribou’s blissed out catalog. Live instrumentation blends seamlessly with MacBook rocking beats and ecstatic tracks of synth pleasure. When this show was announced at the Commodore instead of a much larger venue, fans went nuts and it sold out within minutes. As a result the guys at Blueprint convinced Snaith to put on two shows on the same night…and a late show was added! As a bonus, our pals at Merge Records have given us two free guestlist spots for this late show – email info [at] zulurecords.com with Caribou in the subject line to be entered in the contest!