The Bulletin: Arts & Culture News | 3 May

RIP JEFF HANNEMAN
Jeff Hanneman, a founding member of Californian thrash titans Slayer, has passed away due to liver failure. It is not yet known whether his condition was related to a necrotising disease he is believed to have contracted from a Spider bite in early 2011. Hanneman, who had stepped back from touring to deal with the ailment and rehabilitate his arm following extensive surgery, was understood to have rejoined the band for rehearsals in recent weeks.

A statement from the band read: "Slayer is devastated to inform that their bandmate and brother, Jeff Hanneman, passed away at about 11am (PT) this morning near his Southern California home. Hanneman was in an area hospital when he suffered liver failure. He is survived by his wife Kathy, his sister Kathy and his brothers Michael and Larry, and will be sorely missed."

A clear sign of Hanneman and Slayer's far-reaching influence, figures from in and out of the metal community – ranging from Slash through to Roots drummer Questlove and British comic Bill Bailey to cult anti-folk pioneer Kimya Dawson – paid tribute on Twitter. John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats succinctly summarised the loss to the music world at large: "Rest easy, dude whose riffs opened up new worlds for me."

NEW MUSIC: CLAMS CASINO X DOOM, KIM DEAL, JAN ST. WERNER (MOUSE ON MARS), NICHOLAS BULLEN (NAPALM DEATH)
Since 1999's Operation: Doomsday, rapper and producer MF Doom has enjoyed a reputation as one of the most forward-thinking and creative writers and beat-makers in the hip-hop community. News of a forthcoming vinyl reissue of his 2003 album Take Me To Your Leader, as King Geedorah, is more than welcome – the album, released by Ninja Tune, was entirely self-produced, and is regarded as one of the many highlights of his career.

The reissue is available via Ninja Tune's Beat Delete service as of this week. In related news, Doom also dropped a new track - a collaboration with venerated underground electronic producer Clams Casino, who released his debut album on Tri Angle in 2011. Clams Casino has previously produced for Lil' B, A$AP Rocky, Mac Miller and Antwon. 

Kim Deal has released a new solo single this week, the second in the Breeders / Pixies singer/bassist's series of 7" singles, which began in January. Deal is currently on tour with the Breeders to promote the 20th anniversary reissue of their seminal album Last Splash. The single is available exclusively through her website.

Jan St. Werner of experimental electronic group Mouse On Mars is building up to the release of his solo album, Blaze Colour Burn, on 11 June. It's the first in a planned series of releases, which St. Werner says will feature "electro-acoustic experimentation, algorithmic elements, scored music, digital signal processing, field recordings, improvisation, public performance, and graphic works." The first track to be made public is Feed Opener. 

Another member of a venerated band has been working on his solo LP – Nicholas Bullen of Napalm Death has swapped the guitars for a laptop and sampler with his new drone project. Component Fixation is out on 13 May – it features distressed tape loops, electronic drones and glitches, and harsh noise. 

FESTIVAL WATCH: NINJA TUNE @ OFF SONAR, MELT, OYA, ELECTRIC PICNIC
This week Ninja Tune announced details of a very special Off Sonar party (16 Jun) – the label will curate a showcase featuring Brainfeeder artist Lapalux (read our recent interview with him here), dubstep experimentalist Martyn, new signings Letherette and bass innovator Illum Sphere, with more to be announced. The party kicks off at 11pm at Be Cool, Barcelona. Book advance tickets here.  

Melt Festival (19-21 Jul) have added a few more acts to their roster - Tricky, LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy, Simian Mobile Disco and DIIV are among the new bands added to the lineup, which includes The Knife and Atoms For Peace. Details and tickets here.

Norway's Øya Festival (6-10 Aug) have added a few more acts to their bill too – Grimes and Cat Power join the likes of Kraftwerk, Slayer, Blur and Beach House. Finally, Electric Picnic (30 Aug – 1 Sep), the Irish festival taking place at the Stradbally Estate, Laois, welcomes Björk, My Bloody Valentine, Wu-Tang Clan, David Byrne & St. Vincent, Warpaint, Franz Ferdinand, Eels, Black Uhuru, CHVRCHES, Savages, Hudson Mohawke and many more to its strong bill. Details and tickets here.

CARGO TO PUBLISH MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI'S THE FIFTY YEAR SWORD
Glasgow-based publishing house Cargo Publishing have announced a raft of new singnings – first and foremost is Mark Z. Danielewski, the author of modern metafictional horror classic House of Leaves. Cargo will publish his literary ghost story The Fifty Year Sword in October, with a tour of readings and talks planned to support the launch. Like House of Leaves, the novel uses experimental printing techniques, colou-coded text and cut-and-paste techniques. Although published in Holland in 2005 and the US last year, the book has never been published in the UK. 

Also newly signed to Cargo's list are Ian Macwhirter, whose Road to Referendum examines the context, history and possible outcomes of the upcoming vote on Scottish independence, and Juliet Conlin, whose thriller The Fractured Man is slated for a july publication date. BBC presenter Fergus Muirhead's A Piper's Tale tells the story of the UK's bagpiping community, while Tony Black's The Last Tiger, set in Tasmania, will be published in 2014. More details here.

OPPORTUNITY FOR WRITERS: THE WILLIAM HAZLITT ESSAY PRIZE
Named after the English essayist and literary critic William Hazlitt (1778-1830), The William Hazlitt Essay Prize offers a £15,000 prize to the best essay of between 2,000 and 8,000 words written by a British scribe. Organised by Notting Hill Editions, the prize is one of the biggest of its kind on offer in the literary world this year, and is open to essays on any subject.

Author, journalist and chair of the judging panel Harry Mount comments: "The British have always underplayed the importance of the essay, and yet we're naturally very good at them. The mixture of wit, brevity and original thought suits us down to the ground. Such a generous prize is bound to produce a fresh crop of first-rate essays from established and new writers." For details of how to enter, visit the Notting Hill Editions site. Entries close on 1 August.

WILDCAT: FLYING LOTUS & KAHLIL JOSEPH TEAM UP FOR SHORT FILM
Film-maker Kahlil Joseph was the video artist behind the stunning promo for the Flying Lotus album Until The Quiet Comes. Now, he has teamed up with FlyLo again for a short film about the little-known subculture of African American rodeo riders. FlyLo's beatless score is the perfect accompaiment for Joseph's stark, arresting black and white visuals. Watch the film below. In other FlyLo news, it has been announced on gamer website Game Ranx that Grand Theft Auto V will feature a radio station curated by the Brainfeeder boss, alongside stations curated by the likes of French electro producer Kavinsky.

Shorts on Sundays: Wildcat on Nowness.com.

STOP KILLER ROBOTS!
"Three billion human lives ended on August 29th, 1997. The survivors of the nuclear fire called the war Judgment Day. They lived only to face a new nightmare: the war against the machines."
(The Terminator, 1984)

Okay, so it didn't go down like that. But it still could. Forget funding the latest album by your favourite floppy-haired folk revivalists. Forget startups which plan to feed the developing world, develop new clean water technologies, and stop global warming. This is the organisation which needs your support. In the wake of a UN report calling for "a global moratorium on lethal autonomous robotics," an organisation has emerged to campaign for the end of the development of lethal drones, robots, and remote-controlled murder factories of all kinds. The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots are asking for supporters and collaborators in their bid to save us all from an impending Judgement Day scenario. Get involved here.

TRAILERS: RED 2, THE HISTORY OF FUTURE FOLK
A couple of trailers for you before the weekend kicks off – the old fogeys with attitude are back in Red 2, the follow-up to the successful action comedy based loosely on the graphic novel by Warren Ellis. John Malkovich, Bruce Willis and Helen Mirren all reprise their roles as deadly retired government assasins. The plot concerns... well... erm, something about a missile, maybe? Anyway, a bunch of stuff explodes, and this time they're joined by Ultimate Welshman Sir Anthony Hopkins. Here's hoping Red 3 gets green-lit, and they bring Sean Connery on board. 

And finally, you can blame Edgar Wright for the genre-bending tagline of this movie – ever since his Shaun of the Dead advertised itself as a 'zom-rom-com' producers have been playing fast and loose with their taglines, and The History of Future Folk pretty much nails the longest example so far, calling itself an "alien-folk-duo sci-fi action-romance comedy movie." Thankfully, the preview, which tells the story of a pair of hapless, badly-dressed aliens who arrive on earth only to find love and form a terrible folk band, is pretty damn funny.