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 PACK A.D. – “Sirens” — Unperson (Mint)

Took me a while for this one to hit, but once it did, it did. Lots of walking-through-crowds-wearing-sunglasses-in-slow-motion imagery on this record, as well as some cracking-a-smile-after-exacting-evil-revenge-on-someone-in-slow-motion imagery. What I’m saying is this: the record is extremely badass, to the point of being disturbing and upsetting. Really heavy blues rock from Vancouver.

The Playlist

MASTODON The Hunter (Roadrunner)

I’m not going to pretend to be a metalhead for the purposes of this week’s Report, but I am finally at the age where I’m ready to start getting into metal (as a youngster I had trouble handling anything heavier than Sevendust) – which is lucky for me. Had I not been more prepared, I would have dismissed this Mastodon record prematurely. Now I get it. Soaring vocals, proggy metal riffs and blasted out drums combine to fill out the sludgy fifth album from these bros.

ZOLA JESUS Conatus (Sacred Bones)

Whoa. Gothy girl from my homestate of Wisconsin brings us her third full-length on the continually solid Sacred Bones. That haunting voice keeps my eyes wide open at night when I’m trying to fall asleep…super creepy, super good.

CLOUDSPLITTER Cloudsplitter (Offseason Records)

One of my favorite (and unfortunately frequently overlooked) local acts anchored by the sturdy and wise vocals of Dave Gowans. This album wraps around you and reminds you why the Pacific Northwest is the only region worth living in.

DJ SHADOW The Less You Know, The Better (Verve)

What the heck? Shadow’s up to his old tricks again, but it sounds WAY different than his previous work. Mashing up metal guitar riffs with break beats, throwin’ in a few humorous conversational clips for good measure and you got yourself a headbanger to soundtrack your next tagging adventure.

CROOKED FINGERS Breaks in the Armor (Merge)

Intensely quiet distortion on the guitars only add to the passionate croon from our old friend Eric Bachmann. That quiet intensity is something The National have been ripping off for YEARS. Snag this heartbreaker as soon as you can get your butt down to Zulu.

The Gig

Thursday NOV 18 Grimes @ Electric Owl

My buddies have been bugging me about Grimes for months. I have to admit this shouldn’t be to my liking, as this style of music is normally outside my regular scope of taste. But you know what? It works for me. Cartoon vocal samples + gloomy synths and spacey drum machines are probably gonna be, if nothing else, interesting to see pulled off at the Owl.

The Glance

NOV 11 FRI WOMBATS – VENUE – WE’RE SOLD OUT<
NOV 11 FRI Z TRIP – 560
NOV 11 FRI MICHAEL WOODS – CELEBRITIES
NOV 11 FRI KOAN SOUND – ELECTRIC OWL
NOV 12 SAT NORMAN DORAY – GINGER 62
NOV 12 SAT HEY ROSETTA! – WE’RE SOLD OUT-
NOV 12 SAT MICKEY AVALON – GOSSIP
NOV 12 SAT WILD FLAG – Biltmore
NOV 12 SAT FALTYDL – ELECTRIC OWL
NOV 15 TUE SCOTT H BIRAM – MEDIA
NOV 16 WED AUSTRA – Electric Owl – WE’RE SOLD OUT
NOV 16 WED OBSCURA – RICKSHAW
NOV 17 THU BLACK JOE LEWIS + THE HONEY BEARS – RICKSHAW – WE’RE SOLD OUT
NOV 17 THU GRIMES – ELECTRIC OWL
NOV 17 THU DUBFIRE – GOSSIP
NOV 18 FRI AN21 + MAX VNGELI: STEREOTYPE FRIDAYS’ 5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY – CELEBRITIES
NOV 18 FRI NOAH + THE WHALE – VENUE – WE’RE SOLD OUT
NOV 18 FRI BASSNECTAR – PNE FORUM WE ARE SOLD OUT
NOV 18 FRI WU LYF – Electric Owl
NOV 18 FRI TUNE-YARDS – BILTMORE
NOV 19 SAT OHBIJOU – BILTMORE
NOV 19 SAT ARAABMUZIK – ELECTRIC OWL
NOV 19 SAT MARK FARINA – FORTUNE SOUND CLUB
NOV 20 SUN DEATH FROM BOVE – COMMODORE
NOV 21 MON RACHAEL YAMAGATA – MEDIA – WE ARE SOLD OUT
NOV 21 MON DEATH FROM ABOVE – COMMODORE
NOV 21 MON PLAID – Biltmore
NOV 22 TUE THE SOUNDS – COMMODORE
NOV 22 TUE ONYX – FORTUNE SOUND CLUB
NOV 23 WED KYUSS – COMMODORE – WE ARE SOLD OUT
NOV 24 THU IMAGINARY CITIES – BILTMORE
NOV 24 THU SIDNEY SAMSON – FORTUNE
NOV 25 FRI ALVIN RISK – CELEBRITIES
NOV 26 SAT DEEP DARK WOODS – BILTMORE
NOV 29 TUE BEADY EYE – COMMODORE
NOV 29 TUE NATIONAL – ORPHEUM – WE ARE SOLD OUT
NOV 26 TUE ANDREW WK – RICKSHAW
NOV 30 WED JANE BIRKIN – VOGUE
NOV 30 WED MIDWAY STATE – RICKSHAW

DECEMBER

DEC 01 THU JEFFREY LEWIS & THE JUNKYARD – BILTMORE
DEC 02 FRI DAN DEACON – RICKSHAW
DEC 02 FRI PETER MURPHY – VENUE
DEC 03 SAT BLIND PILOT – VENUE
DEC 03 SAT KORPIKLAANI – RICKSHAW
DEC 04 SUN THE KOOKS – COMMODORE
DEC 05 MON SOMEONE STILL LOVES YOU BORIS YELTSIN – BILTMORE
DEC 06 TUE CASS MCCOMBS – ELECTRIC OWL
DEC 06 TUE JESSE SYKES + THE SWEETHEARTS – BILTMORE
DEC 06 TUE TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB – COMMODORE
DEC 07 WED BLACK HEART PROCESSION – RICKSHAW
DEC 07 WED JAY + SILENT BOB – VOGUE
DEC 09 FRI OTHER LIVES – MEDIA
DEC 09 FRI PAPERCUTS – WALDORF
DEC 10 SAT WE ARE THE CITY – RIO THEATRE
DEC 10 SAT BATHS – ELECTRIC OWL