The Bulletin: Arts & Culture Roundup | 27 September

IRVINE WELSH ON FILTH
As the big-screen adaptation of Irvine Welsh's Filth, starring James McAvoy, hits cinema screens, the author spoke to The Scotsman about his high hopes for the film, and his admiration for McAvoy and the film's director, Jon S. Baird. Watch the video here, check out our review of the film, and read our in-depth interview with Welsh. "I couldn’t really imagine it as a film to be honest," Welsh told us. "It didn’t make a lot of sense to me. But the whole thing wouldn’t have been possible without James. A character on a page can be as bad as you want, but an audience needs to engage with a character on screen, in spite of all the things he does. James is capable of putting empathy into the character; you can actually see him fighting against it. Bruce is actually quite a decent guy going through a really hard time. He might be a bit of a bastard y’know, but he’s having it tough. James pushes that out there."

BATMAN TV SPIN-OFF IN THE WORKS
In the wake of the success of Joss Whedon's series premiere of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (showing tonight on UK TV), news has reached us that there are now plans for a TV series spinning off from the Batman films, exploring the early career of James Gordon, before the appearance of Batman, and introducing some key villains from the Gotham streets. The series, tentatively titled Gotham, seems to follow the structure of Ed Brubaker's much-admired comics series Gotham Central, long mooted by fans as a series with huge potential for a TV adaptation. Speaking to Screencrush, Brubaker commented: "There’s been talk of Gotham Central on TV since when we were doing the comic even (in the mid-2000s). Everyone at Warner Bros. really loved it." Whether or not the comics will form part of the planned show's genesis has not yet been revealed, but the potential showrunner is named as Bruno Heller (Rome, The Mentalist) in an article on the NME site.

DID METALLICA INSPIRE EDM? 
As Metallica prepare to release their 'thriller concert film' Through The Never, the band gave an interview to the NME, in which Kirk Hammett wonders if perhaps the EDM genre was "influenced" by Metallica, who were at one point "the fastest band in the land." Then it gets weirder, with Robert Trujillo declaring his love for Squarepusher, and Lars Ulrich proclaiming he was "blown away" by Skrillex. Watch the video below, and decide for yourself if Metallica are in fact the source and inspiration for dance music. Hammett's vague hints that their new album may be inspired by EDM are undeniably terrifying. 

NEW VIDEOS: DEFTONES, MARTINA TOPLEY-BIRD, MARK LANEGAN & WARPAINT, TWIN SHADOW, FOALS, MACHINEDRUM, JON HOPKINS & PURITY RING, MISTY CONDITIONS
The new Deftones video sees the band returning to their skater roots – Jason Park, a pro-skater, stars in the video for Romantic Dreams, from Koi No Yokan. Speaking to Red Bull, who premiered the video, Chino Moreno comments: "When we started this record cycle, we decided that we didn’t want to make any videos whatsoever. They’re not much fun to make and they usually turn out pretty corny. But this was an idea that we were interested in because we’re all very keen skateboarders and we like the idea of marrying one of our songs to someone as talented as Jason Park."

It's a week packed with covers and collaborations, the first of which sees Martina Topley-Bird (vocalist on Tricky's Maxinquaye), Mark Lanegan and Warpaint teaming up to cover Crystallized by The xx. Pitchfork reports that Topley-Bird and Lanegan hope to collaborate again in the future. 

Next up, here's our cover star from a few months back, Twin Shadow, covering a classic Tori Amos track, Silent All These Years. It's part of a series of covers by the artist, announced via his Facebook page. As a challenge, this is one that really demands a lot of the vocal chords, and Twin Shadow acquits himself well.

Here's the latest video from Foals, another recent cover star, taken from their album Holy Fire. The new single, Out of the Woods, is released on 28 October, along with a concert film, Live At The Albert Hall. 

Here's the first video from Machinedrum's new album Vapor City (reviewed here), a science fiction concept album, and his first for Ninja Tune. Watch the clip for Gunshotta below, and stream the whole album over at Pitchfork. Machinedrum plays Gorilla in Manchester on 16 Oct, and Sneaky Pete's in Edinburgh on 17 Oct.

Another top-notch collaboration now – this time it's the turn of electonic innovator Jon Hopkins and Canadian synth-pop ingenues Purity Ring. The track is a re-worked version of Breathe This Air, the original of which appeared on Hopkins' recent album Immunity (reviewed here). 

Finally, Dank is the first single and video to be taken from the debut album by Misty Conditions, aka Henry Collins, also known as Shitmat, and Richard Wilson. Their album D'Zzz drops soon on Planet Mu, and is reviewed in our forthcoming issue – it sees Wilson and Collins taking on lo-fi hip-hop, trap and footwork with their customary layer of grime and distortion. 

NEW MUSIC: CHVRCHES, THUNDERCAT, LAUREL HALO
The cover versions continue to flow – here's current media darlings CHVRCHES covering Whitney Houston's It's Not Right, But It's Okay. The cover makes sense –- the original was produced by Darkchild, aka Rodney Jerkins, a key influence on the sound of bands from CHVRCHES to Purity Ring to oOoOO. Here's our in-depth interview with the band, and our review of their album, The Bones of What You Believe.

Not a cover, now, but a tribute – Bowzer's Theme was recorded by Brainfeeder bass hero Thundercat as a tribute to the late Nintendo boss Hiroshi Yamauchi, who died earlier this month. Stream and download below.

And finally, a track from the new album by Laurel Halo, Chance of Rain, also reviewed in our forthcoming issue, and due out on Hyperdub on 28 October. With a driving techno feel, it's a very different beast to the tracks from her full-length debut. 

TRAILERS: AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, MACHETE KILLS, ROBOCOP
We have just got space for a quick round-up of some recent trailers. First up, a very, very brief teaser for Avengers: Age of Ultron, the follow-up to Joss Whedon's spectacular hero team blockbuster, which premiered at this year's San Diego Comic-Con. The film is due in cinemas in Summer 2015. 

Next up, either the sequel to the greatest film ever made, or another steaming exploitation-themed turd from Robert Rodriquez, depending on your point of view. Machete Kills features an all "star" cast of the talentless and scandal-hit, from Lady GaGa to Mel Gibson and Charlie Sheen (playing the President, no less).

And finally, can the presence of Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton and Samuel L. Jackson save the latest 80s SF remake from redundancy? See for yourself – here's the trailer for Robocop, thus far attracting nerd rage for everything from the colour of the suit, to the easily retractable face-plate, to the lack of satirical Verhoevenesque media piss-takes. Turkey or potential classic? Tell us what you reckon in the comments below.