The Bulletin: Arts & Culture News | 16 January

FESTIVAL WATCH: PRIMAL SCREAM TO HEADLINE WICKERMAN 2013; OFF FEST, FIELD DAY, DOWNLOAD AND HORIZON HEADLINERS ANNOUNCED
Introducing Festival Watch -- as lineups are announced for this Summer's festival season, we'll keep you abreast of the hottest tickets on offer, both at home and abroad. If you can think of nothing better than dancing thigh-deep in mud with your knickers round your ankles, absolutely blasted on strong cider, while faces from the Rock Hall of Fame leer down at you from a pyrotechnics lit stage, then THIS is the column for you!  

To be honest, the above depiction of a festival punter is somewhat dated. Many festivals are reasonably civilised affairs these days, not least of which is the family-friendly, eco-aware, vaguely Pagan Wickerman Festival, this year taking place on 26 and 27 July. It's one of the jewels in the crown of Scotland's festival calendar; For 2013 they've bagged an absolute peach of a headliner, in the form of Primal Scream. The rest of the lineup is still to be announced, but with the Scream working on a new album, and committed to playing the hits, their set could turn out to be one of the most unmissable performances of the festival season. Details and tickets here. 

Field Day is an annual day out in Victoria Park in London, this year happening on 25 May. The lineup for this one is, quite frankly, astonishing. They've got (deep breath) Animal Collective, Bat For Lashes, CHVRCHES, Django Django, Everything Everything, Four Tet, Fucked Up, How To Dress Well, Seth Troxler and TNGHT. Something for everyone, then. Full lineup and tickets here.

In the festival calendar, one event has come to dominate all others, in terms of catering to the rock and metal crowd: the mighty Download festival returns this year on 14-16 June with headliners Rammstein, Slipknot and Iron Maiden covering all of the generational bases. They are joined by recently-announced artists Limp Bizkit, Jimmy Eat World, Down, Korn, Enter Shikari, Cancer Bats, Bullet For My Valentine and Mastodon, among others. Full details and tickets here.

Looking further afield, the awesome OFF Festival takes place in Katowice, Poland on the 2-4 Aug this year. They've just announced a stellar bill of alternative and electronic acts, with headline sets from Deerhunter and Laurel Halo. To check out who else will be playing, and to book tickets, check the OFF website.

Over in Bulgaria, the Horizon festival promises a full week of underground electronic music, set against the breathtaking, snow-capped Pirin mountain range. It's the soonest of the festivals mentioned today, taking place from 23-29 March. It's not just a music festival either - it's a ski holiday, with slopes and equipment included in the ticket price (which is pretty reasonable, all things considered). Check out the pricing options for tickets at their website. Headliners include Jackmaster, Dark Sky, Casino Times, Maribou State and Phaeleh.

YEAH YEAH YEAHS: NEW ALBUM "INFLUENCED BY ROOTS REGGAE"
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs much-anticipated fourth album will be called Mosquito, and will hit the UK on 15 April, it was announced this week. The album features guest production from LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy, and, bizarrely, a guest verse from Dr. Octagon. Even more bizarrely, the trio's Karen O told the NME: "It’s all over the place. The sound of the record is, I guess, a bit more lo-fi sounding and slightly more influenced by roots reggae. There's a lot of delay on stuff and there’s a more raw sound to it than there was last time." Watch a teaser trailer for the new album below.

ALTERNATIVE BURNS NIGHT WITH ALASTAIR COOK & WOUNDED KNEE
The Wooden Barn is an arts centre on the outskirts of Banchory in Aberdeenshire, which offers a year-round programme of music, theatre, comedy, dance, film, children’s events, art exhibitions and workshops. This year, they're celebrating Burns Night (25 Jan) with a very special one-off gig and film screening, featuring local performers alongside a bill headlined by experimental folk musician Wounded Knee, aka Drew Wright.

Wright initially had reservations about taking on Burns: "I felt a wee bit conflicted about the 'Cult of Burns,'" he said. "I do wonder what the man himself would have made of it, given the egalitarian nature of his work.  The exaltation of Oor National Bard casts an obliterating shadow over many other fine poets. That said, a Burns Night is what you make it and I intend to sing a selection of songs that to me have some connection to Burns and the best aspects of his work: the humanity, the earthiness and the invocation of the "Democratic Muse".  And yes I've been learning a couple more by the man himself.” The event will also feature a screening of artist and film-maker Alastair Cook's Not In My Name, which explores the radical aspect of Burns character, linking key points in his life with political context and the poems Burns produced at those moments. Details and tickets here.

RETAIL FAIL: THE DEMISE OF HMV, PLAY.COM, AND ONE UP RECORDS, WHILE AVALANCHE SOLDIIERS ON
The decline of the high street record shop seems to be continuing apace, with the recent news that HMV is preparing to call in the receivers, potentially putting 4,500 jobs at risk. The Guardian reports that the chain has been struggling with mounting debts for years, despite retaining a 27% market share of all UK DVD and Blu-Ray sales, and a whopping 38% share of all physical music sales. HMV has been a part of the landscape of the British high street since 1921. The Scotsman's Emma Cowing pays moving tribute to the high-street giant in a column for the site today. 

The announcement follows last week's news that online retailer Play.com will be closing its direct retail arm, and losing in excess of 147 staff from its Jersey base. The company will concentrate on being a 'marketplace' for third-party sellers, according to the BBC. The outlook is bleak for independent retailers too: Aberdonians will mourn the passing of their much-loved local record emporium One Up, who are closing the shutters at the end of January. The loss of One Up leaves Aberdeen without a single independent record store. One small ray of hope comes in the shape of the continued presence of Avalanche Records, who, despite fears that they might have to cease trading, as reported last year, have announced the first in a series of in-store gigs: alt.folk group Randolph's Leap play the store this Sunday (20 Jan), so get down there and support your local record shop, y'hear? And buy something while you're at it! Details of the event here.

NEW TRACK FROM NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds new album Push the Sky Away is out on 18 Feb. Cave describes the album poetically: "I were to use that threadbare metaphor of albums being like children, then Push The Sky Away is the ghost-baby in the incubator and Warren's loops are its tiny, trembling heart-beat." The album was  produced by Nick Launay and recorded at La Fabrique, a recording studio based in a 19th Century mansion in the South of France, and is the prolific band's fifteenth album. Stream a track -- Jubilee Street -- from the album below.

FREE TRACK FROM PISSED JEANS
As anticipation builds for the new album by sludgy hardcore punk/grunge outfit Pissed Jeans builds, the band have released a second track for free download (grab the first, Cathouse, here). The second track from Honeys to be unveiled by Sub Pop is the raucous, sexually paranoid album opener Bathroom Laughter, which has shades of Black Flag's excoriating punk noise embedded in its DNA. Stream and download the track below. Honeys is out on 11 Feb.

FOUR TET ANNOUNCE RARITIES ALBUM
Kieran Hebden, aka Four Tet, started dropping hints about an exclusive new album of rarities and early recordings on his Twitter page the nightb before last, eventually announcing the release as a free download from his Soundcloud page yesterday, with a vinyl edition to follow soon. Stream and download the album below. 

WATCH THE TRAILER FOR THE WEE MAN
The Wee Man is a new Scottish film examining the life and crimes of Glasgow gangster Paul Ferris. The Scotsman's Brian Ferguson reported today that the reformed gangster had trouble sitting through the stark and violent film, which reminded him of the past he says he has left behind. Ferris will not make any money from the film's profits. "I think it will have wide appeal, like The Krays did," Ferris told The Scotsman. "I always get it thrown at me that I am glamorising violence, but when you make a film about a subject it tends to glamourise it." Judge for yourself whether this slick Glasgow thriller is exploitative or illuminating -- watch the trailer below, and read our review here