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

Watch the mighty Broken Social Scene performing Texaco Bitches from their new album Forgiveness Rock Record (Arts & Crafts).

So much of Canada’s relatively recent indie-rock cred can be traced directly back to the Broken Social Scene/Arts & Crafts axis. For so long the musical exports for which our nation’s musical heritage was known for (Tragically Hip and a tenuous link to Neil Young), BSS really were the leaders of the pack that’s since stormed the gates of credible rock press. So how are they holding up? Listening to Forgiveness Rock Record, I’d say just fine. BSS’s strength is their range of songwriters all contributing towards hooky anthems. They’re a band that sounds as good in the car as at home on the hi-fi, which is itself a bit of a feat. As Texaco Bitches attests, BSS know the value of a classic rock hook. When their combined harmonies and guitars kick in the song feels like an old jean jacket: comfy, familiar, and never out of style.

The Playlist

KAREN ELSON The Ghost Who Walks (XL)
Mention must be made to the fact that Elson is both a supermodel and wife to Jack White. More importantly, Elson is a natural chanteuse, a graveyard-stalking femme fatale, a dark eyed angel on the stereo.

NO UFO’S Soft Coast (Nice Up Int’l)
Soft Coast is a very exciting local cassette release by a mysterious man, Konrad. As No UFO’S, Konrad travels the spaceways, evokes everything from Kraftwerk to the might Kompakt label, never missteps, and generally nails down a vibe that’s all his own. Excellent.

DANIEL HIGGS Say God (Thrill Jockey)
The former Lungfish frontman explores devotional improv-performance-poetry for bells banjo and voice, sounding like a latter day Allen Ginsburg for the HTC-loving blogger set.

DAMIEN JURADO Saint Bartlett (Secretly Canadian)
Jurado is a master of the kind of hushed, home-recorded tenderness that Will Oldham, Smog and Bon Iver are known for. Saint Bartlett plays out like a secret wiretap recording of man possessed by longing.

FROG EYES Paul’s Tomb: A Tribute (Dead Oceans).
Frog Eyes’ brand of hyper-literate, frazzled art rock is almost Wagnerian in its epic scope and the perfect foundation for Carey Mercer’s CAPS LOCK’ed lyrics of love, betrayal, war and concealed daggers.

THE NATIONAL High Violet
The number one moody, brooding band to beat is The National. I’m not sure what it says about the state of the world with an album that chronicles heartache and creeping paranoia finds such a broad audience. The backbeat for end days.

BAND OF HORSES Infinite Arms (Sony)
BoH broaden their evolved sound with bigger harmonies and greater range of instrumentation but retain the same down home, whiskey-soaked vibe of a county fair bar band having way too much fun doing what they do.

MUMFORD AND SONS Sigh No More (Glassnote)
England’s answer to Fleet Foxes deliver an album of artful-folkiness for a generation that has absorbed the tropes of Nick Drake and CSN&Y but hungers for more.

THE PONYS Deathbed Plus 4 (Matador)
A delightful return from my favourite Chicago fuzzed out shoegaze garagers. It’s a simple recipe that works: stomping hooks with lots of room for free flying guitar-pedal heroics.

PUFFY AREOLAS In The Army 1981 (Siltbreeze)
The mighty Siltbreeze label of Philadelphia bases its impeccable indie-pedigree on releasing albums for many great bands prior to their getting famous and integrated into the greater mainstream. It’s a tradition that continues with the Puffy Areolas.

The Gig

WOODS at the Media Club on Tuesday June 8.

It’s always a joy to see a new band in an intimate setting, before they either make it big and play huge venues, or worse, implode. I had the pleasure of seeing Brooklyn’s Woods play in a tiny artspace on Main St, playing on a tiny stage to thirty or so people. They were great, dishing out one catchy psych pop song after another. Since then the band has risen in stature, been courted by Pitchfork, and release a stunning to album. The Media Club is only a slightly larger venue  so I know it will be a great show. You’ll have the bragging rights of seeing a spicy new band before they get completely gobbled by hype.

The Glance

The better shows to see over the few two weeks…

Fri JUN 04
THE SADIES – BILTMORE
NOIZE 2010 – ANNEX STUDIOS
STRIKE ANYWHERE/BANE – RICKSHAW

Sat JUN 05
CHUTNEY – SULLIVAN HALL

Sun JUN 06
TORTOISE – VENUE
THE MISFITS- RICKSHAW

Mon JUN 07
DELOREAN – BILTMORE – WE ARE SOLD OUT

Tue JUN 08
AN HORSE – BILTMORE
WOODS – MEDIA CLUB

Wed JUN 09
BORN RUFFIANS – BILTMORE – WE ARE SOLD OUT

Thu JUN 10
THUNDERHEIST – VENUE

Fri JUN 11
RETURN TO TIKI – WALDORF

Sat JUN 12
METRIC – MALKIN BOWL – WE ARE SOLD OUT

Sun JUN 13
METRIC – MALKIN BOWL – NOTE JUN 11 SHOW MOVED TO NEW DATE

Sat JUN 12
DELTA SPIRIT – VENUE

Mon JUN 14
JAMIE LIDELL – VENUE

Tue JUN 15
ATHLETE – VENUE
IMOGEN HEAP – COMMODORE – WE ARE SOLD OUT
BOB LOG III – BILTMORE

Wed JUN 16
SPILL CANVAS – RICKSHAW

Thu JUN 17
BOYCE AVENUE – MEDIA CLUB

Fri JUN 18
THE SSRI’s LP release w/Sorcerers, Bad Fate, Fine Mist – BILTMORE
BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE – COMMODORE – WE ARE SOLD OUT
THE GASLAMP KILLER – 560 SEYMOUR

SAT JUN 19
MOVE THE MOUNTAINS TOUR – COBALT
HANK III & ASSJACK -VENUE – WE ARE SOLD OUT
ROBERT RANDOLF & THE FAMILY BAND – COMMODORE

SUN JUN 20
SHARON JONES – COMMODORE – try ticketmaster

Tue JUN 22
A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS – 917 MAIN

Thu JUN 24
COCO ROSIE – VENUE

Fri JUN 25
ROONEY – MEDIA CLUB

Sat JUN 26
MINUS THE BEAR – VENUE

Mon JUN 28
LILY FROST – BILTMORE