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

NICHOLAS KURGOVICH City Of Night

Vancouverites are no strangers to the work of Nick Kurgovich. I think he first burst on the scene with a cassette release as P:ano, and at the early age of 18 (ish) was the only person around into riffing on the complex arrangements of Webb, Bacharach, Wilson and the countless lesser known Hollywood writers who made orchestral pop so enchanting. A couple years ago Kurgovich took an extended trip to L.A. to distance himself from his days leading P:ano and No Kids. He also needed time for writing songs about writing songs and to chase the abstract beauty that is Los Angeles at night. Thankfully, he’s now back home and his John Collins (The New Pornographers) co-produced release ‘On Sunset’ exists outside of his dropbox folder. To support the release, Kurgovich drops his best dance moves up in the Hollywood hills. Yeah, it’s cool to dig Prefab Sprout and Mark Hollis – Talk Talk’s Spirit of Eden is hallucinatory – and it’s also cool to get down with Kurgovich’s next level quiet storm raves. Very limited edition vinyl exists, as breaking even is the sweetest taboo.

The Playlist

GOAT Hide From the Sun

Next time you go foraging for mushrooms on the North Shore take along the new  ‘Commune’ album from Goat. These Swedish freak rockers know how to create a very trippy psyche voyage soundtrack!

TY SEGALL The Singer

Shot on location in Ty’s messy LA loft, this new video to support his epic Manipulator release makes use of a very basic tight locked-off shot…and then shit gets weird. Spoiler: at the 2:54 mark Ty drops one of his more tasteful guitar solos ever and then levitates.

FOXYGEN Coulda Been My Love

Foxygen are positioning themselves as heirs to the Ariel Pink L.A. psyche-pop throne. They’re about to release a massive 24 track double album that attempts to capture the shambolic hedonistic vibe of Exile on Main Street. They have tons of talent and tons of guests sessioning in on the songs, so it should be good.

THE DRUMS I Can’t Pretend

I’m not really fond of Aquariums. I can’t pretend to enjoy seeing the fish swim around and look back at you. The Drums were just in town at Fortune Sound Club, which is the perfect setting for this washed out pop duo. Their echo-ey sound is ideal for a room with a massive soundsystem.

SEBASTIAN TELLIER Love

If you’ve ever dreamed of flying naked on a bird to an exotic paradise then this new cut from Parisian orchestral pop mastermind Sebastian Tellier is for you. Loaded with David Axelrod-isms, Love is a very heavy track.

TENNIS I’m Callin’

Denver’s husband and wife pop team are two of the sweetest people you will ever meet. Johnny from Zulu has toured with them a bunch and will attest that they’re nothing like the people in this twisted video. What would you do if you found a severed finger in a field?

THE GIG

MARTIN REV Nov 18th At FOX CABARET

Martin Rev is of course one half of highly influential NYC post-punk outfit, Suicide. To the best of my knowledge they never performed in Vancouver back in the day, so there is already a massive buzz within local outsider rock circles for this November 18th gig. We booked in the tickets just a couple days ago and people are already starting to make plans. Together with Alan Vega, Martin Rev has gone on to influence everybody from Bruce Springsteen (he ripped them on “Nebraska”), Arcade Fire (they riffed on them after the Boss did), as well as fellow freakout outfits like Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized. Known for more of the heavy fuzz beats behind Suicide, Rev’s use of primitive electronics also shaped the sound of Stereolab and other 90’s shoe-gaze groups. Do yourself a favour and get a ticket early for this likely legendary night.