February's Study of Vocal and Instrumental Resources
JACKIE-O MOTHERFUCKER - CHANGEIf you have no map - are you therefore lost? This is the question that has guided free rock ensemble Jackie-O Motherfucker's discursive trajectory through the ghetto sound sonic universe. An so now Change has come… If you remember the critical discourse that accompanied the arrival of transcendent sonic outfits such as Tortoise and Godspeed You Black Emperor, you will undoubtedly recognize the earmarks on another great band in our midst! Jackie-O is arguably the biggest underground act in continental America today. They are not overnight sensations. They have released 8 albums over the years, and must now deal with the daunting changes that accompany the arrival of spector-like gaze of the 'critical press'. Day jobs will have to be quit, calls screened, and horrible questions answered - indeed change has finally come.
CD/LP 19.98
If your biological clock is ticking in a painful kind of way, ladies, Tiga is here to solve your problem. The key to making babies is finding a mate, and Tiga's got the art of courtship all wrapped up in one hot little plastic package. Take this disc home and learn to dance. Dig out your mom's hottest '80s ouch-fit and strap it on. You're now ready to rule the clubs - electro-style. The sleaze you're learning here is more valuable than contraband McDonalds fries at a fat-kid camp. Hell, you might even conceive on the dance-floor! I could tell you more about the music, but you don't really need to care - suffice to say, it's hot, and you'll score.
CD 20.98 Sale
CALLA - TELEVISEIf you've been paying attention, you'll notice Brooklyn is nicely asserting itself as the breeding ground for some of the most interesting and knowledgeable rock 'n roll out there today. Oneida is holding down the balls-out psyche/garage rock end, while The Walkmen and Calla are sharing a loft in the artmospheric part o' town. Minimal, crisp, intense, and just a bit avant-garde, Televise is an excellent and welcome release for any fan of Calla's aforementioned Brooklyn brethren, as well as Radiohead or Interpol. While the future may not be televised, the present certainly is! Enjoy.
CD 16.98 Sale
If you missed out on the two triumphant shows that Noriko Tujiko played in Vancouver at the sweltering height of last summer… well you really can't be blamed. If you were to contend that this Japanese experimental pop lady was hardly a megastar… well you'd be right. Yes, you'd be right but that's wrong! She should be a megastar. Heck, here at Zulu, we can't think of another musician who makes innovative music so accessible or accessible music so innovative. That's why we lobbied darn hard to get Make Me Hard into Canada in time for this month's ad. And here it comes: her third album, her second for Vienna's very excellent Mego label and her greatest achievement to date. Noriko's multi-layered laptop symphonies will blow your mind even as her pristine voice gooses your bumps and shivers your timbers to their very foundation. Deeply lovely and thoroughly worthy of investigation.
CD 22.98 Sale
KINSKI - AIRS ABOVE YOUR STATIONIf you could live in a penthouse high above, looking down on the buzz and the blur of city at night…would you? If you had an entire carafe of '99 merlot and an hour in which to finish it off…would you? And then, wearing nothing but a silk robe, would you then drunkenly saunter out to your balcony, before the waves of second guesses crash in, and lift yourself up and over…and into the warm night air? Ladies and gentlemen, for fans of Eno, krautrock, and all it's modern disciples: Airs Above Your Station, the brand new album from Seattle's Kinski.
CD 16.98 2LP 20.98 Sale
THE SEA AND CAKE - ONE BEDROOMIf it could get any better than this, I wouldn't know. With One Bedroom, the sixth record for the decade-or-so old The Sea and Cake, the Midwest air gusts rather lightly, indeed more breezy and gentle than outright blowing wind, which otherwise typifies the famous windy city of Chicago, hometown to the boys in question. Such is the music on this latest recording, too, all nicely swaying and easy grooves, with artful live band dynamics overlaid with bright and fancy computer-assisted production. There's still plenty of rumble and snap in the back to keep stuff happening, of course, and some long, guitar-driven, locked-down and blissed-out outros to keep heads nodding. So just sit back-way, way back-and let the mellow, warm wind put you to rest.
CD 19.98 LP 16.98 Sale
Zulu presents The Sea and Cake,
March 10th at Richards on Richards w/ Califone buy tickets in person for $19.25
Enter to win 2 tickets from us!
If you're sick of mainstream rap's never-ending parade of brutal materialism and misogyny… If you're sick of indie rock's paint-by-numbers "emotional" whining… If you're sick of living in an emotional wasteland… If you're sick of being lied to… If you're sick of corporate slavery… If you're just plain sick… If you're seething with negativity and thirsting for beauty… Then it's time to get some Sole music in your life. This is the new album by the Anticon label's head honcho. It's seriously superb and it's superbly serious. Hip-hop music to live your life by.
CD 20.98 2LP 20.98 Sale
CROOKED FINGERS - RED DEVIL DAWNIf I am not mistaken, moviemakers always yell, "Cut! And Print it" when they have just captured the very marrow of their art. Must be nice to know when you have skillfully penetrated the darkness of creativity to illuminate the essence of what you wanted. Thank the actors. Thank the cinematographer. Thank the others, and everyone, for the great thing that has been accomplished. Well now, if I am also not mistaken, Eric Bachmann has also taken a torch into the darkness to illumine today's classic porch-song odes akin to nice sippers of whiskey plus lemon! Bachmann has given greatness a sonic domain. Indeed…"Cut. Print it. Red Devil Dawn is done".
CD 19.98 Sale
Zulu presents Crooked Fingers, live at the Pic Pub, Thursday Feb 13th
Enter to win 2 tickets from us!
If this record is anything like the last fantastic (and secretly so very dirty and naughty) Bonnie Prince Billy CD, Ease Down the Road, then we implore everyone to buy it instantly and thus for once enjoy pure, fully realized customer satisfaction. How often can that be claimed of any experience, not simply vis-à-vis shopping? Seriously. In any case, along with such American talent as Jeff Tweedy and Jim O'Rourke, we think Will Oldham is one of the best and most captivating singer-songwriters his country has to offer, barring the best of the (still active) old guard, like Dylan (of course). Speaking of the old guard, Johnny Cash covered Oldham's "I See a Darkness" on American III: Solitary Man. This is truly an endorsement to be proud of, we imagine, one that we support very much. American music-sometimes it's great.
CD 19.98 LP 16.98
LOOSE FUR - S/TIf American music has something better to offer than Jeff Tweedy and Jim O'Rourke (and Will Oldham, too, as we argue elsewhere) right know, it's probably way, way underground. In which case, by the time we all hear of this imaginary new thing, Tweedy and O'Rourke, based on the caliber of their present work, will be but that much more established and advanced anyway. The thing is, winning horses usually continue to win, and then they become the stuff of legend. Luckily, we're here at the first few stages of the myth-making process for Tweedy and O'Rourke. Now, the sixties are surely gone; that time and its ways are really of no use to us, except as a reference. On thing that seems to continue, however, if less often than one might like, is people freely embracing a worthy artist and making them legendary, without undue marketing tomfoolery. So here's the deal: Drag City is still under the radar for most-let's help work together to create the rock theatre of tomorrow and give us something of value to reflect on as time passes. Could Loose Fur help weave this mythology? It does, it does.
CD 19.98 Sale
If there really ever was any question regarding the 'Brian Wilson as the premiere sonic genius of the mid-60's' debate, this new collection of Wilson studio productions should further slake the yes camp. Featuring 23 perspicacious recordings masterminded by the genius Beach Boy, who out-does Phil Spector and Joe Meek with a rather gallant use of the melodious vocal overdub! Introduce yourself to the heaven of "Runaround Lover" - Sharon Marie, "Pamela Jean" - Survivors, "That's the Way I Feel" - Gary Usher, "He's a Doll," "Shoot the Curl" - Honeys, "Vegetables Laughing" - Gravy, "Number One," "The Revolution" - Rachel & the Revolvers, "She Rides with Me" - Paul Petersen, "Shyin' Away," "Fallin' in Love" - American Spring, "Guess I'm Dumb" - Glen Campbell, and more. Fantastic!
CD 19.98 Sale
A Literary Affair at Zulu Sunday Feb.23rd at 4PM with local writers…
Lee Henderson - The Broken Record Technique
Andrea Gin - Turf
Aaron Peck - A young voice of new poetry
"Empire" - new work from the highly revered Johann Groebner
BROKEBACK-Looks at the Bird LP/CD
RAINER MARIA-Long Knives Drawn LP/CD
THE INTERNATIONAL NOISE CONSPIRACY-Up For Sale 7"/CDEP
THE WALKABOUTS-Drunken Soundtracks 2CD
YOUNG GODS-Second Nature CD
J-LIVE-Like This Anna 12"
JAN JELINEK-Avec The Exposures 12"
SCENE CREAMERS-I Suck On That Emotion LP/CD
THE CLEAN-Anthology 2CD
THE BAPTIST GENERALS- No Silver, No Gold CD
JOHN LANGFORD and THE SADIES- The Mayors of the Moon CD FEB 4th
HOLOPAW- s/t CD Feb 4th
STARS- Heart CD Feb 11th
FUNKI PORCINI- Fast Asleep CD/2LP Feb 11th
MR. SCRUFF- Video DVD CD Feb 11th
ANTI-POP CONSORTIUM- Vs Matthew Shipp CD/LP Feb 18th
MORPHINE- Best Of CD Feb 4th
CAT POWER- You Are Free CD/2LP Feb 18th