The Bulletin: Arts & Culture News | 7 January

The Skinny News Badger (melis nuntius) eschews his species' customary winter hibernation period, emerging from his cosy set once more to seek out delectable morsels of arts and culture news for you, the readers! The News Badger will be coming to you three times a week or more in 2013, so watch out for our Bulletins on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays! Happy new year folks! Now, on with the news...

NEW SINGLE FROM FACTORY FLOOR
As reported in our interview with the band back in August, London-based industrial improv noiseniks Factory Floor have been beavering away on their full-length debut album for DFA. The band this week unveiled the lead single from the as-yet-untitled album, Fall Back. Taking its cue from the same tough-edged, futuristic techno/disco feel of previous single Two Different Ways, it's a minimal, mid-tempo techno workout with breathy vocals from Nik Void. Stream the single, out Jan 14, below, and pre-order the vinyl from DFA.

GHOSTLY 2012: A FREE COMPILATION FEATURING COM TRUISE, MATTHEW DEAR AND ADULT.
2012 was a great year for New York's Ghostly International, with Resuscitation by ADULT. charting high in many music magazines' end-of-year lists, and label founder Matthew Dear's Beams making our own hallowed top ten. There have also been high-profile releases from Beacon, Com Truise and School of Seven Bells. To celebrate, the label have released a free compilation of their best tracks from 2012. You can download it here.  

TWIN PEAKS SEASON THREE: THE RUMOURS
In the first week of the year, the internet was alive with a rather tantalising rumour -- could David Lynch be in talks to revisit Twin Peaks? The show, which was the surprise TV hit of the early 1990s, followed FBI Agent Dale Cooper's unconventional investigation into the murder of Laura Palmer, the town's murdered sweetheart, who is revealed to have been hiding some very dark and weird secrets. The rumoured season three would pick up the story 25 years on from the TV show, and would feature much of the same cast.

Whispers began with a few very speculative comments given in an interview with Sci-Fi Now, wherein series co-creator Mark Frost said that a third season was "something we [Frost and Lynch] talk about from time to time," before confirming that he would definitely be in favour of a third season. The rumours grew when an unconfirmed source on the 4Chan image board claimed to have sat in on talks between Lynch and NBC, where the possibility of a third season was strongly mooted. With no official announcement, a tweet from Frost stated that the rumours were just that, but made no outright denial. Twin Peaks fans from around the world now wait with baited breath for confirmation from the Lynch camp.

CREATIVE SCOTLAND SHAKEUP: LATEST
Following the resignation of Creative Scotland's Venu Dhupa back in December, much speculation has ensued about what shape the senior levels of Creative Scotland's managerial structure will take as chairman Sandy Crombie's shakeup continues, in the wake of the scandal which saw more than 100 Scottish artists taking the organisation to task for their policies, their distribution of funds, and their attitude to working artists. The Scotsman's Andrew Eaton-Lewis criticised her resignation letter, calling it "entirely unapologetic." Like Andrew Dixon, Creative Scotland's soon to be ex-chief exec, who is set to leave the organisation this month, Dhupa will depart in February, with announcements about further shakeups to come anticipated.

Eaton-Lewis also posted his responses to an essay by Alasdair Gray (reproduced here) in which he identifies those in the Scottish arts world with English origins or viewpoints as either "settlers" or "colonists," singling out departing National Theatre of Scotland director Vicky Featherstone as a colonist. Gray's rabble-rousing, controversial essay has provoked outrage from some commenters who preceived his comments as anti-English, and praise from others, such as The Observer's Kevin McKenna. The debate about Scottish art, identity and funding rages on - 2012 may have been the Year of Creative Scotland, but 2013 is shaping up to be a year where the notions of what makes Scottish art tick are questioned and interrogated in a very public manner.

30,000 SCOTTISH PAINTINGS AVAILABLE ONLINE
Scotland's rich art history was given a boost in terms of accessibility this week, with the launch of a new online archive containing digitised images of over 30,000 paintings by celebrated Scottish artists, as featured in galleries and public spaces such as the Burrell Collection, Kelvingrove and the Scottish Parliament. With paintings by artists spanning a range of centuries and styles, from Jack Vettriano to Henry Raeburn, the online collection is a valuable resource for Scotland's heritage and culture, and is co-funded by the Public Catalogue Foundation, the National Trust for Scotland and the BBC. Check out the archive here.

DJ SHADOW'S 'TOO FUTURE' MIX
One of the funniest / most depressing storeis in dance music in the latter half of 2012 involved celebrated beatsmith DJ Shadow being thrown off the decks in a Miami nightclub because his mix was "too future" for the crowd. The world's press reacted with horror, and Shadow fans came out in force to show their disgust on social networking sites, leading Shadow to heroically respond on Twitter, saying: "I don’t care if I get kicked out of every rich kid club on the planet. I will never sacrifice my integrity as a DJ…ever." So was Shadow playing self-indulgent future music? Or was the club full of spunk-brained tragic fashion victims with no musicaal taste? Stream Shadow's set in full below, and decide for yourself!

2013: THE YEAR OF CHVRCHES
Congratulations to Scottish electro-pop band CHVRCHES, who have been kicking ass and taking names in 'ones to watch' lists, gaining hype and attention in the BBC's Sound of 2013 list (eventually topped by girl band HAIM), and polls by the likes of influential DJ and broadcaster Vic Galloway. See what the fuss is about as the three-piece embark on a UK tour in Feb and March, returning for a hometown show at the Arches on 2 Mar. Here's the band in session for the BBC playing We Sink.

YOUNG FATHERS IN SESSION WITH VIC GALLOWAY
A quick announcement, also concerning Vic Galloway - he's got Edinburgh-based hip-hop crew Young Fathers live in session on his radio show tonight, kicking off at 8pm. The band, who recently signed to veteran alternative US hip-hop label Anticon, will play three tracks. Here's the video for their track Deadline.

WATCH THE NEW TRAILER FOR EVIL DEAD REBOOT
We showed you the initial preview for the Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell-approved, Diablo Cody-penned Evil Dead reboot late last year - the gore-heavy remake, which features a female standin for Campbell's Ash attempting to kick heroin at the legendary spooky cabin from the original movie, has split opinion down the middle, with some fans seeing it as sacrilege, and others enticed by the plentiful blood-splatter and eyeball-popping effects, refreshingly free of CGI. The movie's not due out til April, but you can now view the more explicit, more revealing 'red band' trailer for the film online - watch it below.