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 song on heavy rotation in the store this week…

Gonjasufi And The Gaslamp Killer – “Kobwebz” from there stunner debut, A Sufi And A Killer (Warp).

I’ll be frank with you – Gonfasufi and his partner The Gasllamp Killer seem like wackos. I saw them in a magazine and they looked like some long lost tribe of Manson, what with their ponchos and long hair out in the desert. And their album is wacko too, sounding like a mix of Eastern snake-charms, funky psychedelia and mental breakdown.   Gonfasufi’s cracked-voice delivery is of a broken man trying to make peace with forces greater than himself. And boasting Flying Lotus’ involvement is no small thing given all that he’s achieved in the last year. Whether these guys are really as acid-damaged as they seem, I’m not sure.  But it’s no matter – A Sufi And A Killer is a stunner.

The Playlist

10 Albums To Adore

YUKON BLONDE s/t (Bumstead)
From the Kelowna backlands comes the debut long player of backwoods alpine-rock, courtesy of lumberjack power trio Yukon Blonde.

GALAXIE 500 This Is Our Music (20/20/20)
The third and final statement.  Grandiose and miniature at the same time.  Epic but understated. And with a Yoko Ono cover to boot.

LOSCIL Endless Falls (Kranky)
Scott Morgan is the wizard-mind behind the music of Loscil, and on Endless Falls he documents the rains-soaked pacific-rim city we call home.  Features on one track the spoken word-duties of the golden child himself,  Dan Bejar.

BLACK TAMBOURINE s/t (Slumberland)
It’s not surprising if you’ve never heard of Black Tamrouine – they were an incredibly short lived band, twee-garage rock band.  But if you are at all a fan of contemporary bands like Dum Dum Girls, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart and the like, then it’s time to discover your roots.

LALI PUNA Our Inventions (Morr).
Faking The Books dropped many years ago and I am ready for fresh dose of Lali Puna’s intellectual German pop.  This is leather couch music for the Zizek-set.

PANTHA DU PRINCE Black Noise (Rough Trade)
Black Noise is anything but.  This is hazed-out dance abstraction for the Bavarian mountain-dwelling set.

MI AMI Steal Your Face (Thrill Jockey)
MI AMI pays tribute to the musical elders of their native SF and title their newest album of funky jungle-psych-dance music Steal Your Face. Jerry Garcia smiles down from heaven.

MGMT Congratulations (Sony)
MGMT are press darlings and their new album is delightful English sunshine-pop and demented, acid soaked hallucinations that are impossible not to marvel at.

SHARON JONES and the DAP KINGS I Learned The Hard Way (Dap-Tone)
Sharon Jones and crew are on a mission from God to bring the soul back to music. Consider me converted.

CARIBOU Swim (Merge)
This time out Caribou gets back to his dance roots. Less psychedelic and more trance inducing, I recommend going for a Swim on a hot day.

The Gig

Liars at Venue on Friday April 30th.

The last time Liars played a headlining show in Vancouver it was at Richards – remember Richards? – and they blew many minds with that performance. They show was bombastic and loud, and the band was fun to watch. It helps that front-guy Angus Andrew is of the Nick Cave mould – a freakishly tall Aussie that likes to run around the stage while the band batters out tribalistic horror rock. The band has gone through many twists and turns in its sound and I expect Friday night to be fiery show. It may well be another many years before Liars roll back into town.

The Glance

Shows we’re really looking forward to…

April

Thu APR 29
ADHAM SHAIKH – RED ROOM
AQUALUNG – BILTMORE
TOWN PANTS – VENUE
SPENCER & HILL- FORTUNE

Fri APR 30
RED SPARROWES – BILTMORE
MIDI GHETTO TOUR – RICKSHAW
LIARS – VENUE
MORGAN PAGE – CELEBRITIES
RUN WITH THE HEARD / SSRIS – RIO THEATRE

MAY

Sat MAY 01
GLORY DAYS (EMILY CARR GRAD) w/ LADYHAWK – RICKSHAW
ALEX KENJI – GINGER 62
YOAV – VENUE

Sun MAY 02
ACID GIRLS – VENUE

Mon MAY 03
ISIS – RICKSHAW

Tue MAY 04
THE ANTLERS – BILTMORE – WE ARE SOLD OUT

Wed MAY 05
PLANTS AND ANIMALS – COMMODORE

Thu MAY 06
JONATHAN RICHMAN – BILTMORE
BRASSTRONAUT – ST.JAMES
THE TWELVES – VENUE