The Bulletin: Arts & Culture News | 4 February

MY BLOODY VALENTINE: SURPRISE RELEASE OF M B V
After years of rumour, My Bloody Valentine's follow-up to 1991's shoegaze classic Loveless was released on an unsuspecting public this weekend. The album, simply entitled m b v, is available on vinyl, CD and digital formats. At nine tracks, and clocking in at just over 45 minutes, it's one of the most eagerly-anticipated albums of the past few decades, with the band's Kevin Shields announcing it as in development back in 2008.

Although speculation that the album was bound for release this March had recently arisen, in a surprise turn of events the band posted the LP to eager-beaver reviews and critical backlash in equal proportions on Saturday night. Tracks like She Found Now and Who Sees You don't stray too far from the Loveless template, although Bilinda Butcher's vocals sit a little higher in the mix. Perhaps the most ground-breaking moment on the album is closer Wonder 2, which features a distant, tweaked-out jungle break underneath the walls of guitar. Buy the album here, or stream it in full from the band's YouTube channel. Have you heard m b v? Tell us what you make of it in the comments.

NEW MUSIC: IRON & WINE, SUEDE
We've been getting quite excited at the prospect of a new Suede album, with all reports indicating that it could be a return to the career-highs of Dog Man Star and their eponymous debut. This weekend, the band unveiled the video for the first single from the album, It Starts And Ends With You, out 18 March. Bloodsports, is due out the same day.

Iron & Wine, aka Austin-based recording artist Sam Beam, has a new album out in April -- to be titled Ghost on Ghost, it will be the fifth studio album proper by the singer-songwriter, who has previously collaborated with Calexico. A follow-up to the 2011's well-received Kiss Each Other Clean (reviewed here), which elicited comparisons to Cat Stevens and Simon & Garfunkel. You can stream a track from the album, Lovers Revolution, below.

FESTIVAL NEWS: BLOC RETURNS
Beleaguered London festival Bloc had barely got started in 2012 when it was shut down amind fears of overcrowding. The company that ran Bloc went into administration -- the fear was that the shutdown and the controversy over refunds which followed would be the death knell for the organisation. Now under new management, Bloc has announced it will be returning in 2013 with a series of one-off gigs in March, featuring the likes of Juan Atkins and Model 500, Marshall Jefferson, Cosomin TRG, Green Velvet, Shackleton and Surgeon. Speaking to Resident Advisor, organiser Alex Benson defended the decision to stick with the Bloc name and brand, saying: "If it isn't called Bloc, it won't be Bloc." Tickets and a full lineup are available at the Bloc site.

ON TOUR: THE BREEDERS, MINUS THE BEAR
We announced details of some festival dates involving Kim Deal's reformed '90s combo The Breeders last month -- the band's label 4AD have now confirmed that the band will be touring the UK and Ireland as well, playing their classic album Last Splash in its entirety. The quartet roll through Glasgow's ABC on 17 June, before heading down to Camber Sands to play at All Tomorrow's Parties. Tickets go on sale on 6 Feb -- move fast, as there aren't too many folks who would miss out on the chance to pogo in person to Cannonball. Watch the classic Spike Jonze directed video below.

Another band heading out on tour shortly are Seattle's Minus The Bear, self-described 'indie-prog' rockers, whose 2012 album Infinity Overhead was an object lesson in cobining heavy riffs and scintillating pop hooks. The band come to King Tut's in Glasgow on 27 April -- tickets go on sale on 8 Feb. Watch the animated video for Listing (to be released as a single on 15 April) below.

SOLE RE-RELEASES LIVE FROM ROME
Political firebrand, outspoken activist and Anticon co-founder, Portland MC TIm Holland, AKA Sole, has been even more prolific since leaving the Anticon stable, releasing a slew of albums and mixtapes online and via his Black Canyon imprint, as well as Connecticut label Fake Four. His latest release repackages his final solo album under the Sole moniker for Anticon, Live From Rome, making it available as a pay-what-you-want download. ...Rome was a troublesome album for Sole, and one that was made and released during a difficult transitional phase:

"When it first came out old fans were really upset that I had abandoned my beat poet style of stream of conciousness half-critiques for all out assault," he says, claiming that "hipster critics" wrote him off on the basis of the change in style. During the creation of the album, he "quit smoking weed and tobacco, had a complete breakdown and left the country," eventually departing from Anticon in early 2010. The release of Live From Rome is the second from Holland this month -- at the very top of the month he uploaded Red Dawn: A Bay Bridge Epic, credited to Da Babylonianz, a teaming of Holland and occasional collaborator James Brandon Best (AKA Pedestrian). Recorded around 2000, it was never previously released. Download both albums here.

PORTISHEAD'S ADRIAN UTLEY: "WHEN YOUR HEARING'S GONE, IT'S GONE"
Portishead 's Adrian Uttley has spoken out in support of Tinnitus Awareness Week (4-10 Feb), highlighting a problem which plagues many musicians, sound engineers and music professionals, not to mention the legions of fans who enjoy live music. But it's not just live music which can cause problems: following new research, regulations have been introduced, and the standard maximum volume for personal music players has been lowered to 85dB. Uttley, who has mild hearing loss in both ears after a decades-long career in the music industry, said: "‘It’s a good idea to get good ear plugs in loud situations like gigs whether you're playing or listening -- you'll get used to them. And noise cancelling headphones are really good for listening to music when background noise is high, like in planes and trains etc. Be careful, because when your hearing's gone -- it’s gone."

EDINBURGH VS. GLASGOW: ROLLER DERBY GRUDGE MATCH!
On 23 Feb, two of Scotland's top roller derby teams -- Edinburgh's Twisted Thistles and Glasgow's Irn Bruisers -- will compete in an all-out grudge match in Glasgow, to battle for ultimate roller derby supremacy. Roller derby is one of the fastest-growing womens' sports in the world, and with a reputation for providing thrills, spills and no small amount of violence, it's also a spectatoor sport the whole family can enjoy. The East vs. West showdown will take place at Glasgow's ARC Sports Centre on 23 Feb at 12.30pm -- tickets can be purchased online or on the door.

SPACE NEWS: ASTEROID PROSPECTING COULD BEGIN IN 2015
In our recent interview with Jeff Mills -- in town to promote his live 'cine-mix' for Fritz Lang's Woman In The Moon as part of the Glasgow Film Festival -- the futurist and techno pioneer tells readers of The Skinny that news about space exploration is soon to become commonplace. "In fifty years I think it should be one of the main topics," Mills tells our interviewer. "Like, you wake up and you want to know what the weather is – that bulletin will also include what's happening in space.” Not wishing to disappoint, we present the second item of space news to grace the Bulletin so far.

Scientific website Extreme Tech reports that a new company, Deep Space Industries, intends to start prospecting for asteroids to mine by 2015, with plans to commence mining operations as soon as 2020. In a move that will appeal to Joss Whedon fans, their exploratory probe will be named FireFly. They are the second company to announce their intention to mine asteroids, after the Google-backed Planetary Resources announced their plans in April last year. What with NASA's recent announcement that warp drive may in fact be "plausible," it has been a good year so far for space news, backing up Mills' assertion that space travel is "something to prepare for... we have to really change ourselves, and that change will probably start to come in the early part of this century. We have to redesign the mind to accept the unacceptable.” 

TODD TERJE'S INSPECTOR NORSE DOCUMENTARY
House music producer Todd Terje is in demand as a remixer and performer, but it was his track Inspector Norse that won him acclaim from the dancefloors and blogs of the electronic music scene. In a new 15-minute documentary, Whateverest, Terje reveals the inspiration behind the track - Marius Solem Johansen, "a failed musician living in a small town, producing dance videos and drug recipes for YouTube," accoridng to the documentary-makers. Alexis Petridis has an interesting essay about the film over at The Guardian -- watch the film in full below. 

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