The Bulletin: Arts & Culture News | 11 January

FENCE RECORDS ANNOUNCE GNOMEGAME
Celebrated Fife-based independant alt.folk collective Fence Records have announced plans for their now traditional annual showcase, which returns home to Anstruther for a two-day extravaganza and we're assured will feature performances from the usual crowd of mainstays from the celebrated DIY label. The full lineup is still to be announced, but you can bet on a few surprises. Tickets are available via lottery next Tuesday (15 Jan) via the Fence website -- keep your eyes on the Gnomegame page for details. Here's some footage from the last Home Game in 2011 (reviewed here), with music by Kid Canaveral, covering King Creosote.

NEW MUSIC FROM THE BRONX, TOM TOM CLUB
February sees the welcome return of celebrated LA punk outfit The Bronx. Their new album, IV, out 4 Feb, is the first new material from the band in five years. The first single from the album, Ribcage, is out now on 7" vinyl -- you can stream the track below, and pre-order the album from the band's site. The Bronx play Glasgow's The Garage on 16 Feb, and Aberdeen's The Garage on 17 Feb. 

Another band back after an absence from recording of five years are ex-Tallking Heads power duo Tom Tom Club. They dropped the lead track from new EP Downtown Rockers, out March 18, on YouTube today. Chris Frantz ofthe band told The Quietus: "We recorded the basic tracks soon after we toured with the Psychedelic Furs in October of 2011 at our home studio. These tracks were built from improvised jam sessions with Bruce Martin on keyboards and Pablo Martin on guitar, Tina Weymouth on bass and myself on drums. This is the same way we began Remain In Light with Talking Heads. This time our only instruction to the other players was to keep the parts simple with lots of space, like Booker T. and the MGs would do. There are some beautiful young kids running around Brooklyn in band shirts from the golden age of CBGBs and Max's, a period that it seems is just as important today as it was back then." Stream the track below.

CRY PARROT ANNOUNCE DUNDEE GIG EXTRAVAGANZA
Club promoter and DJ Fielding Hope, the brains behind Cry Parrot, has announced a series of live gigs called Enter Darkness, focusing on experimental music, in association with Dundee Contemporary Arts. The first gig, on 17 Jan at the Soul Function Suite, features performances from London-based sound artist Helm, alongside 'dole-noise' artist Ship Canal. The next outing features Raime, who will deliver a dark and moody audiovisual set at the DCA, and on 31 March, Rock Action-signed, horror-soundtrack-influenced artist Umberto (recently reviewed here) will headline a gig at the brand-spanking new Redd Venue, with support from Stefan Blomeier, and Dundee-based multimedia artist Raz Ullah. Book tickets from the DCA's website. 

SCOTTISH HIP-HOP MIX FROM EL GREEN
Trawling through Soundcloud today we found this rather fantastic Scottish hip-hop mix from Edinburgh-based rapper and DJ El Green. Featuring cuts from across the spectrum of homegrown hip-hop, including Physiks, MOG, Loki, Louie (Hector Bizerk), Perfect Practice, Yard Emcees, Surface Empire (LuckyMe), Conscious Route and Gasp. It's a great 'starter for ten' if you haven't heard many of these rappers and producers before, and a fantastic, slick mix for thoser who are already fans. Download and stream below. 

"GET YOUR ASS TO MARS!"
That was the advice Arnold Schwarzenegger gave himself in the classic Verhoeven version of Total Recall. All Arnie had to do to follow through was escape from Michael Ironside, dress up like a mad old woman and get on a space plane -- for anyone in today's world wanting to visit the Red Planet, travel arrangements are a bit more complex. A manned mission to Mars has long been a dream of aspiring astronauts everywhere, and the Mars One project is closer than ever to making that dream a reality. They recently issued the following statement -- the gist being, they will be recruiting for astronauts this year.

"In 2013 Mars One will conduct a global search to find the best candidates for the first human mission to Mars in 2023. On Mars, the primary responsibility for the astronauts is to keep everything, and everyone, up and running. This will be a particular challenge for the first teams. They will need the skills to solve any potential problem - some of which will be completely unforeseeable. Their combined skill sets of each team member must cover a very wide range of disciplines. The astronauts must be intelligent, creative, psychologically stable and physically healthy. On this page, we offer a brief introduction to the basics of our astronaut selection process."

 It's a one-way trip - astronauts will become colonists when they reach the red planet, and grow old together in the shadow of Olympus Mons. To us, it sounds like the perfect way to avoid those pesky student loan repayments... Keen to take part? Check out the selection criteria at the Mars One website. 

WATCH AN AWESOME GUN FIGHT FROM THE LAST STAND
Speaking of the Governator, his much-touted return to the action movie fray, The Last Stand, hits cinemas on 24 Jan. The plot is basically as follows: Arnie plays an out-to-pasture LAPD narcotics agent who has taken over the police force of a sleepy border town. A nasty drug cartel baddie escapes custody in Arnie's jurisdiction. Gun fights, explosions and much fighting ensue. It's not the most original premise, but who cares? Arnie's back where he belongs, kicking ass and blowing shit up, and the film is helmed by legendary Korean action movie director Kim Jae-woon. The trailer's here. Need more convincing? Watch this awesome gun fight!

CHAMBRE 69 OPENS POP-UP VENUE - MAKE DO
Earlier in the week we reported on the unexpected closure of Glasgow club Chambre 69, and we all had a good boo-hoo. Well, now we can rejoice! The promoters behind the closed venue have opened a new pop-up club in Hope Street, which they are calling Make Do. They launch on 19 Jan with sets from Axel Bowman and Cottam. Get in!  

WEEKEND GIG PICKS
Looking for something to do this weekend? As usual, we refer you to The Skinny's weekly events roundup, The Zap! for a comprehensive guide to what's going down in a town near you. In addition, we've picked two more unmissable events happening over the weekend.

HECTOR BIZERK, WOVEN TENTS & STRANGE EMPIRE @ NICE 'N' SLEAZY'S, 12 JAN
2012 was a hell of a year for drums-and-rap combo Hector Bizerk, with high-profile support slots with bands ranging from local indie stalwarts to touring hip-hop legends, packed-out headline shows across Glasgow, and deserved praise for their debut album Drums. Rap. Yes. and Louie's solo outings with Mackenzie and Bigg Taj, among others. They play their first gig of 2013 tomorrow night at Sleazy's, with support from Woven Tents and Strange Empire. Details here. Check out Louie's latest solo outing below.

HANDPICKED CASSETTE LAUNCH
Glasgow label Handpicked launch their limited edition cassette with two live extravaganzas on 12 Jan, with the two events split across the Art School Union and St Jude's. Part one features live performances and DJ sets from a huge selection of Glasgow talent, including ARM WTCHS FNGRS, Inkke, Mirrors and Yutani, among others, while part two features a whole host of artists featured or forthcoming on the label. Check out the details of part one here, and part two here.