The Bulletin: Arts & Culture News | 11 February

QUENTIN TARANTINO CONFIRMS THIRD MOVIE IN DJANGO / BASTERDS TRILOGY
Following on from his BAFTA win for Best Screenplay for Django Unchained last night, Quentin Tarantino told Empire that he would be working on the third part of his 'rewritten history' trilogy soon: "This [rewritten history theme] begs a trilogy, it begs to have a third movie on this theme. I haven’t decided about what yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised."

Speculation is already rife over what historical events Tarantino will choose to remix next -- Empire suggested the American Revolution, the era of the women's suffragette movement, and in a more fantastic suggestion, 'dinosaurs.' The director was rumoured to be searching for locations for a London-set movie earlier this year, so perhaps the suffrgette movie is the current front-runner. Django Unchained picked up two awards at the BAFTAs, with Best Supporting Actor going to Christoph Waltz. Best Film went to Ben Affleck's hostage drama Argo, while Edinburgh animator Will Anderson picked up Best Short Animation for The Making of Longbird. 

NEW MUSIC: THE MELVINS, CONQUERING ANIMAL SOUND, CAPITOL 1212, KOOL A.D., JEREMIAH JAE, NOAH23
Stoner-punk legends The Melvins have a new album in the works -- Everybody Loves Sausages is a 13-track covers album that will "give people a peak into the kind of things that influence us musically," according to the band's Buzz Osborne. Featuring covers of tracks by Queen, Throbbing Gristle, David Bowie and Roxy Music, will feature the line-up of Osborne, Dale Crover, and regular wingmen Jared Warren and Coady Willis from Big Business. We'll play you a track from the album, due 29 April, as soon as one becomes available.

Following up the release of their critically acclaimed 2011 debut Kammerspiel, Scottish duo Conquering Animal Sound recently unveiled the first fruits of new album Floating Bodies (out 18 March on Chemikal Underground). The track, entitled Ultimate Heat Death Of The Universe, is a sprawling, richly-textured piece of experimental electronica, with singer Anneke Kampman's distinctive vocals soaring above the mix. Meanwhile, Kampman's EP in collaboration with Edinburgh jazz musician Haftor Medbøe got a good review from us back in December.

Manchester pop/punk/ska outfit Sonic Boom Six have been given a healthy re-rub by Edinburgh hip-hop producers Capitol 1212. The duo -- Fly-T and Professa Fresh -- have previously collaborated with old-school hip-hop legends like Donald D, Grandmaster Caz, Mike G of the Jungle Brothers and Dizzy Dustin' of Ugly Duckling, to name just a few. They have also produced a plethora of dancehall-influenced tracks with artists such as Tenor Fly. The remix is out today on Xtra Mile.

Since the untimely demise of alternative rap trio Das Racist, former members Heems nor Kool A.D have been idle -- far from it. Heems, whose Greedhead Music has already been involved in releasing the new LE1F mixtape, and whose fantastic Soup Boys track was featured in a recent bulletin, is on a roll. Now Kool A.D has released not one but two pay-what-you-want mixtapes via his Bandcamp this week, featuring appearances from the Beastie Boys' Ad Rock, and witch house originators Pictureplane on production duties, plus guest verses from peers such as Beans, Busdriver and Lakutis. Grab yourself a copy of both 19 and 63 at Kool A.D.'s Bandcamp.

Speaking of Pictureplane, rapper Noah 23, the Guelph, Ontario-hailing rapper at the head of the Plague Language collective, unleashed his second release of 2013 after a year spent in hibernation -- this one also featuring beats by Pictureplane. The Tropical Fruit EP is a pay-what-you-want release.

Oliver & Jae is the collaboration between Brainfeeder-signed producer/rapper Jeremiah Jae and rapper Oliver the 2nd. They have released a 50-minute mixtape via their Soundcloud page, full of psychedelic wordplay and hallucinatory beats. It's not available for download, so the possibility of a physical release, or a more permanent digital one, is still to be announced. For now, you can stream the whole thing below.

ON TOUR: JAMES BLAKE, DAVE HUGHES & THE RENEGADE FOLK PUNK BAND
Post-dubstep lynchpin James Blake has announced a new album and subsequent tour. The album, Overgrown, will be out on 8 April, and Blake has already unveiled the first single, Retrograde (see below). It has just been announced that Blake will play some extra UK dates, coming to The Arches in Glasgow on 11 April. 

Also in tour at the moment are Dave Hughes and the Renegade Folk Punk Band, a non-nonsense combo who have drawn comparisons to Dropkick Murphys and The Levellers. Their new album In Death Do We Part? is due out on 18 March, and the band will be hitting Glasgow's King Tut's on 17 Feb, The Old Bank in Greenock on 1 March, Cerberus Bar in Dundee on March, and Edinburgh's Forest Cafe on 3 March. Check out the video for single As You Are below.

FESTIVAL WATCH: FULL SOUNDWAVE LINEUP ANNOUNCED, TRUCK FEST
The full lineup for Croatia's Soundwave Festival (18-22 July) has now been revealed - in addition to the acts we announced already -  DOOM, Bonobo, Homeboy Sandman, Illum Sphere, Om Unit, Anchorsong and the above-mentioned Capitol 1212 - they have added Quantic & Ondatropica, Alice Russell, Ghostpoet, Submotion Orchestra, Riot Jazz, Craig Charles, Channel One Sound System, and Com Truise. Tempted yet? Watch their sun-drenched promo video below. Tickets are on sale.

Closer to home, Truck Festival (19-20 July), which takes place in Oxford and has nowt to do with trucks as far as we can see, has announced a stellar lineup for 2013 headiners The Horrrors will be joined by Ash, Gaz Coombes, Dan Le Sac & Scroobius Pip, Rolo Tomassi, Tall Ships, Wet Nuns and Fight Like Apes. Tickets are on sale. 

NEW VIDEOS: BEACH HOUSE, LOUIE (HECTOR BIZERK) 
Drean-pop band Beach House have released a 25-minute mini-documentary and concert film, Forever Still. The band perform several songs in the Texas desert, all immaculately filmed in high definition. Watch the full film below. The film, commissioned by Pitchfork, is "directly inspired by Pink Floyd's Live in Pompeii" according to the band, who added: "We felt the songs would resonate in a more majestic and spiritual landscape."

Glasgow-based rapper Louie, front-man of impressive live hip-hop combo Hector Bizerk, has another solo album -- Lost On Hope Street -- in the works with producer Shahab Mohebpour. It's out soon, and after the success of the video for Glasgow (Fuckin' Love You Mate), which has 7,000 views and counting, Louie has just dropped a new video for Spit Doon Deed. According to the rapper, the track is about the loss of Louie's school friend after he was involved in a fight, and showcases a more introspective side to his lyrical style.

SUB POP'S 25TH ANNIVERSARY COMPILATION
Sub Pop, the seminal Seattle label credited with fuelling the grunge movement with its early releases from the likes of Tad, Soundgarden, Nirvana and Green River, have announced a new compilation to celebrate 25 years of releases. The compilation, Sub Pop 1000, will be released on Aril 20 for Record Store Day, and will be followed by a landmark gig, which will see performances from current signings Pissed Jeans and Fleet Foxes, alongside the label's classic acts like Mudhoney and The Vaselines. The compilation will feature songs from an international range of burgeoning talent that just might shape Sub Pop's future, such as His Electro Blue Voice, Chancha Via Circuito, Protomartyr, Lori Goldston, Iron Lung, Soldiers of Fortune, Peaking Lights, Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, My Disco and Starred.

SUPERNATANT MUSIC TECHNOLOGY WORKSHOPS
A two-day series of workshops, seminars and performances on the theme of experimental music, technology and culture begins tomorrow in Edinburgh, supported by the PRS For Music Foundation and organised by Supernatant. Taking place at Edinburgh's Inspace, the event  is part of a series taking place across the UK. Wassim Alsindi, of Supernatant Laboratories and The Centrifuge, said: “We are excited to be partnering with New Media Scotland and the University of Edinburgh to present this programme of unusual sounds and technologies, which intend to join the dots between state-of-the-art research of the British academic community and the concert halls and nightclubs of the 21^st century.” Listen to some excerpts from the artists performing below, and book tickets here.

TRAILERS: LORE, SPIDERS, LORDS OF SALEM, MONSTERS UNIVERSITY
Your regular dose of upcoming trailers today consists of Nazis, spiders, monsters and witches, so those of a sensitive disposition should probably look away now. Starting with the dumbest of the bunch, let's take a look at Spiders 3D, a (potentially!) enjoyable low-budget romp starring nobody you've ever heard of, and featuring a plot about a Russian satellite crash which unleashes a plague of giant carnivorous spiders on the streets of New York. Unlikely to bother the Oscar nominations net year, we reckon, but it looks like enough fun that it might be worth a whirl in the cinema, with shades of Arachnaphobia, Eight legged reaks and Cloverfield.

 

Next up we've got the trailer for Lore - not a Star Trek: TNG spin-off about Data's evil twin (shame!), but a beautifully-shot tale set in Germany during the aftermath of WWII. Five German children left alone after their parents are arrested by the allies must croww the war-torn country to reach their aunt's house - along the way, they meet a stranger with a dark secret. The film is directed by Cate Shortland, who won acclaim for her 2004 feature Somersault.

Witches next, and it's the return to form of the mighty Rob Zombie. His new film looks very much like the right combination of sumptuous Satanic visuals, freaky pulp horror trope mashups, and the delectable Sherri Moon-Zombie, back in a starring role. It tells the tale of a coven of ancient witches coming back to terrorize the town of Salem, Massachusetts, and it definitely looks more like Zombie has reached the heights of cult classic House of 1000 Corpses, as opposed to the creative low of Halloween II. We recently interviewed the man himself (with a little help from original shock rocker Alice Cooper) here.

Finally, monsters. Not scary ones, fluffy ones who trade whi[-smart one-liners. Yes, you've guessed correctly -- it's the return of Sully and Mike, the lovable kiddie-scarers from Pixar's Monsters Inc. It's a prequel, with Mike and Sully reliving their days as college students, in what looks like an all-ages Animal House for the twenty-first century. We happily salute the return of the Monsters Inc. crew, who have in Billy Crystal (Mike) and John Goodman (Sully) one of the best comedy double-acts of all time in an animated film.