The Bulletin: Arts & Culture News | 4 March

STREAM DAVID BOWIE'S NEW ALBUM IN FULL
Almost everything we know about the new David Bowie album so far has been a surprise, from the announcement of the album, to the unveiling of two videos online with no up front fanfare. Now, the Thin White Duke has made the whole of The Next Day available to stream via iTunes ahead of its 11 March release date. As previously mentioned, Record Store Day will see Bowie release a white vinyl 7" featuring The Stars Are Out Tonight and Where Are We Now. An early track-by-track over at The Quietus gave an almost universally positive review to the album, praising it as an excellent comeback, with less of the "pioneering sonic experiments" seen in the most recent Bowie outings, Heathen and Reality. 

THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN REISSUE PSYCHOCANDY VINYL FOR RECORD STORE DAY
Psychocandy by The Jesus and Mary Chain arrived in 1985, anticipating many of the stylistic traits of the emergent shoegaze movement, establishing Jim and William Reid as key figures in the landscape of alternative music in the 1980s. Early controversy over their amphetamine-fuelled, often violent live shows only helped the band's notoriety, and Psychocandy cemented the band's reputation as one of the most exciting bands in Britain at the time. Now, the band have announced plans to reissue the album on 'paint-splatter' vinyl for Record Store Day, in a package which includes a reproduction of an early gig poster. 

FESTIVAL WATCH: GARY NUMAN FOR PLAYGROUND, LIVERPOOL SOUND CITY, KELBURN GARDEN PARTY, HEVY FEST, SUNRISE: ANOTHER WORLD
Synth-pop pioneer Gary Numan has been confirmed as the headline act for the one-day Playground Festival taking place at Brixton Academy on 7-8 June. The full lineup also features Derrick May, UNKLE (James Lavelle), Brainfeeder rising star Lapalux (who you can read an exclusive interview with in our March issue tomorrow), Kevin Saunderson, ex-Kraftwerk member Wolfgang Flur, DJ Hell, Model 500, and Pantha Du Prince. Full details here.

Liverpool Sound City (2-4 May) is shaping up to be one of the most exciting city-based festivals in the UK this year, with gigs taking place around Liverpool at a selection of venues, along with a full programme of talks, workshops and conferences featuring leading lights from the music industry. The lineup announced so far includes Everything Everything, Melody’s Echo Chamber, Oneohtrix Point Never, Bo Ningen, Dexy's Midnight Runners, The Walkmen, Enter Shikari, Reverend and the Makers, AlunaGeorge, and Mount Kimbie. Full details and tickets here.

Kelburn Garden Party (6-7 July) has gained a reputation as one of the best boutique festivals in the UK. Set in the grounds of Kelburn Castle, this year's festival welcomes The Phantom Band, Washington Irving, Miaoux Miaoux, DJ Food, Submotion Orchestra, and local Scottish heroes of the live circuit such as Bombskare, The Banana Sessions and Samba Ya Bamba, and DJs and live acts from the club scene, including DFRNT, Substance Audio, and roots reggae crew Chungo Bungo. Full lineup and tickets here. They also have a warmup session in the form of The Psychedelic Forest Disco on 11 May, featuring JD Twitch of Optimo, Den Haan, Mia Dora and the Electrikal Soundsystem. Details here.

We already told you about the headliners for Hevy Fest (2-4 Aug): legendary US hardcore punks Black Flag have reformed, and this will be their only UK festival appearance in 2013. Joining them will be heavy rockers Metz (interviewed in our March issue), plus UK festival exclusive appearances from Hatebreed, Comeback Kid, Horse The Band, Circle Takes The Square, Code Orange Kids and Full Of Hell, among others. Full details and tickets here.

The Sunrise: Another World Festival (30 May - 2 Jun) is in its 8th year, and this year along with a great line-up of bands and DJs, they also have the creation of a 'Micronation' within the festival's borders. "The Sunrise Micronation, or model-country, is a ready-made paradise on earth where ethical principals dance hand in hand with the spirit of love, unity and celebration," explain the organisers, calling the interstitial community "an independent state with its own set of guiding principles." Helping to soundtrack this act of secession from the union will be Simian Mobile Disco, Dub Pistols, Krafty Kuts, Andy Smith, Utah Saints, A Skillz, The Freestylers, Eat Static and many more. Details and tickets here.

NEW MUSIC: GLASS CANDY, SMALL BLACK, ONEMAN
Along with Mike Simonetti, Johnny Jewel is the mastermind behind one of the most essential labels of the last few years, Italians Do It Better, who brought us the debut releases by the likes of Chromatics and Glass Candy, both of whom include Jewel in their lineup. Glass Candy, whose track Digital Versicolor was the central track in Nicolas Winding-Refn's Bronson back in '08, is a collaboration between Jewel and singer Ida No. Italians Do It Better are gearing up for the release of their second label sampler, After Dark II, a fiollow-up to their 2007 compilation of the same name. Glass Candy have unveiled their offering for the comp - you can stream it below.

Last week, we shared a tantalising preview of the new album by hip-hop beat-sampling neo-shoegaze / synth-pop band Small Black. Limits Of Desire is out on 13 May. This week the band have unveiled a full track from the forthcoming album -- stream Free At Dawn below.

UK bass music producer and RinseFM stalwart Oneman is about to embark on a US tour, and to celebrate, he is giving away a compilation of mashups and edits, previously available as streams on Soundcloud, or exclusive to his DJ sets. Grab yourself a copy of the albumm, which features mashups of TNGHT vs. Gucci Mane, Zomby vs. Dizzee Rascal and TLC vs. Dro Carey among others, here. Below, you can stream a speaker-destorying Boilerroom mix from Oneman.

DAVID DALE GALLERY'S 2013 ARTIST RESISDENCY
The David Dale Gallery in Glasgow's East End was established in 2009. Current directors Ellie Royle, Max Slaven and Ralph Mackenzie program year-round exhibitions and events, and in collaboration with Artistes En Resiedence, they are now offering a fantastic opportunity to three artists. Applications are now open for an exclusive residency program which will see three selected artists taking up studio space in Clermont-Ferrand, France, working on new exhibits, and then displaying their work back at the David Dale Gallery. This opportunity is only open to artists based in Europe, working in contemporary visual art. Of the artists selected, one will be currently based in Scotland, one currently based in France, and another working in any European country. If you fit the bill and want to apply, details are here -- applications close on 31 March.

NEW VIDEOS: BEANS, ELA ORLEANS
We reviewed End It All by Antipop Consortium alum Beans way back in early 2011, and interviewed the man himself -- one tune in particular which caught our attention at the time was the infectious Deathsweater. Now, nearly two years on, a fantastic video for the track has emerged, by video artists The Wilderness. It features the complete lyrics of the track, animated and illustrated. Better late than never -- and well worth revisiting!

Beans "Deathsweater" from The Wilderness on Vimeo.

Avant-garde chanteuse and improvised loop-creator Ela Orleans released the double album Tumult In Clouds on the respected underground label Clan Destine Records back in December last year -- we reviewed it here. Now she has unveiled the new video for the title track from the album, ahead of her headline slot at the forthcoming Ladyfest Glasgow mini-festival (8-9 March), alongside the likes of ANAKANAK (solo project of Anneke Kampman from Conquering Animal Sound), Palms, Hector Bizerk, Fiona Soe Paing and others. Details of Ladyfest here.

Ela Orleans TUMULT IN CLOUDS from movies for ears on Vimeo.

ON TOUR: ATOMS FOR PEACE, BLUR, THREE BLIND WOLVES, THE BEAUTIFUL WORD, WOLVES AT HEART
Tour news now: Thom Yorke's Atoms For Peace have announced some UK dates to promote the release of Amok - they will play three nights at the London Roundhouse on 24, 25 and 26 March. Tickets will no doubt sell out fast following Amok's immediate appearance in the UK's top five albums subsequent to its release. The UK dates follow announcements that the band will pla headline sets at Serbia's EXIT Festival, Slovakia's Pohada Festival, the Rock In Roma festival, Berlin's Melt Festival and Milan's City Sound Festival over the Summer.  

Blur meanwhile have announced their first Irish date in four years - the band will play an exclusive gig at the Irish Mouseum of Modern Art on 1 August. Tickets for the gig go on sale on 7 March via Ticketmaster. The band are already confirmed to headline the Berlin Festival, Coachella, Primavera Sound, Tokyo Rocks, and a whole host of other Summer events -- full details are here.

Three Blind Wolves, who just completed a set of three dates supporting Frightened Rabbit, have announced headline shows throughout Scotland in May. They play The Glad Cafe, Glasgow, on 15 and 16 May, Dundee's 20 Rocks on 17 May, and Dunfermline's PJ Molloy's on 18 May. The band will also be playing at Liverpool's Shipping Forecast on 25 May, and Manchester's Night & Day on 22 May. Check the video for new single Kid's Allright, released last week and available on 7" vinyl, below. 

All-female singer-songwriter duo The Beautiful Word are on tour -- they play Manchester's The Bay Horse on 3 April, The Forest cafe in Edinburgh on 7 April, and The Art School in Glasgow on 8 April. The band's delicate, finger-picked guitar melodies and counterpoint harmonies are utterly beguiling -- sample them below in the video for May Not Be Love, painstakingly animated using stop motion by the band themselves.

Finally, pop-punk band Wolves At Heart are playing a very special single-launch show at Broadcast in Glasgow on 14 March, to celebrate their split single with Las Vegas-based hardcore band Last Call, out on the same day. You can pre-order the 7" vinyl here.

DOWNLOADED: THE RISE AND FALL OF NAPSTER
Still best-known worldwide for his role as Bill S. Preston, Esq. (and Marco from The Lost Boys), Alex Winter is also a director of no small note, having moved behind the camera with his first full-length feature in 1993. His latest outing as a director is a documentary about the changing fortunes of pioneering music download site Napster, widely acknowledged to have been the watershed site to usher in the era of filesharing and digital distribution. Downloaded is premiering at this year's South By Southwest Festival. The film features commentary from Napster founders Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker, and music industry luminaries such as Noel Gallagher and Henry Rollins -- watch below.

TRAILERS: GAME OF THRONES SEASON 3, GALLOWWALKERS
Presented without further comment -- a new trailer,with actual footage, from the forthcoming new season of Game of Thrones. Those who follow George R. R. Martin's A Song Of Ice and Fire will recognise some important plot-points from the third volume of the saga - be wary of spoiler-bearing bookworms if you're onlyu following the show! It's business as usual in Westeros, with pitched battles, intrigues at court, and the entirely slappable King Joffrey still sitting atop the Iron Throne.  

And if that doesn't satisfy your craving for supernatural shenanigans and weird creatures, check out the frankly bizarre trailer for Wesley Snipes vehicle Gallowwalkers. Filmed in 2006 but delayed due to the star's imprisonment for tax evasion, it's a zombie western, with stylistic nods to everything from Evil Dead to Alejandro Jodorwosky's psychedelic western El Topo.