The Bulletin: Arts & Culture News | 19 November

KICKSTARTER NEWS: NEW DOCUMENTARIES ON STONESTHROW & CLASSIC SHOEGAZE
Kicking off today's Bulletin, we bring you news of two fascinating new documentaries, both attempting to raise funds through crowd-funding platform Kickstarter. The first, Beautiful Noise, traces the beginnings and growth of the dreamy, ethereal, sometimes coruscating sound that came to be known as shoegaze, by examining the careers of My Bloody Valentine, the Jesus and Mary Chain, and Cocteau Twins.

Claiming to be "the definitive documentary about influential '80s and '90s guitar bands who harnessed massively loud sounds using a sea of effects pedals and delivered some of the most BEAUTIFUL NOISE ever recorded," the film-makers are looking to raise $75,000 to assist in the production, distribution and marketing of the film, which includes interviews with shoegaze luminaries and '80s / '90s musical legends like Kevin Shields, Bobby Gillespie, Alan Moulder, Alan McGee and Sonic Boom, alongside testimonials from modern-day artists who have been influenced by these bands, such as Tim Hecker and Sigur Rós. Get involved over at the project's Kickstarter page, or watch the trailer here:

The second music-related Kickstarter we stumbled across today is put together by seminal hip-hop label Stones Throw, home to Madlib, Guilty Simpson, Quakers and the late, great J-Dilla. The project, titled Our Vinyl Weighs A Ton, after an album by label founder Peanut Butter Wolf, will tell the history of the label from its inception to the present day, featuring in-depth interviews with the artists and bands on Stones Throw, plus rare concert footage and home videos. Perhaps most excitingly, the soundtrack to the film will feature an exclusive score of never-before-heard tracks by Madlib. Given the label's track record for produsing quality, boundary-pushing hip-hop, and the legacy left behind by the hugely-influential Dilla, this is one documentary whose story definitely needs to be told. With just ten days left to hit their $35k target, but with $21k already pledged, the campaign is going well so far. Rewards on offer for those choosing to invest include rare Quasimoto rolling papers and Kid Robot action figures! Get involved at the project's Kickstarter page, and watch the trailer below:

Another Kickstarter which grabbed our attention was this film by Justin Mitchell, which records the tribute concert in 2011 for former Sugar and Hüsker Dü frontman Bob Mould. Featuring performances from Dave Grohl, Ryan Adams, No Age and a whole host of other musicians, it looks like a fitting tribute to Mould, whose 30 odd year-spanning career has been hugely influential on modern guitar bands. Get involved at the Kickstarter page, and watch the preview here:

JEFF BUCKLEY: THE MUSICAL
Ah, the phenomenon of the 'rock opera' - back when Ken Russell was putting Roger Daltrey through his paces in the hallucinatory, sex-fuelled psychedelic excess of Tommy, the rock opera was something bold, experimental and defiantly counter-cultural. Nowadays, these sad affairs are the ultimate corporate cash cows – from Mamma Mia!, basically a dramatised Woman's Own letter column soundtracked by painful karaoke versions of Abba hits, to the vapid, cocaine-addled mock excess of Ben Elton's artistically bankrupt take on Queen, We Will Rock You, rock operas have rightly become objects of derision, the people who enjoy them to be tolerated, but ultimately pitied. And so it is with a heavy heart that we deliver news of the latest artist to suffer an 'artistic reinterpretation' of their ouevre - the late Jeff Buckley. Described by The Guardian as "a contemporary retelling of Romeo and Juliet set to Buckley's lyrics and songs," the project has the blessing of Buckley's mother Mary Guibert, but the News Badger is dubious – we doubt we'll be singing Hallelujah when the musical premierees in New York next year.

IAN RANKIN TO RELEASE FESTIVE SINGLE FOR O GENESIS
O Genesis is the new label set up by Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess. Their already diverse and fascinating roster, which includes Nik Colk Void of Factory Floor, and melancholic London experimentalists Blood Music, swells this month with the announcement of a special one-off single intended for release between Christmas and Hogmanay. The single will feature a short story specially comissioned by Burgess from writer Ian Rankin, read by Craig Parkinson, who played Tony Wilson in the film Control. The title of the story is A Little Bit of Powder. Speaking to The Quietus, Rankin explained the genesis of the story: "A friend in Glasgow had told me an anecdote some months previously about a local musician who was told to meet another musician in a bar, and take his acoustic guitar with him. When he arrived, a bag of powder was produced – the ashes from a mutual friend and fellow musician – and sprinkled into the sound hole. This was apparently a last request from the dying musician – that his ashes be shared out among musician friends... I am a sucker for rock biographies and rock movies and decided to tell the story from the point of view of a hardened roadie. Thinking about the ashes, I then realised powder of a different kind might have been behind the breaking up of a band, and also that, by setting the story in winter, I could also add snow (hah!) to the mix. Three different types of powder..." Keep an eye on the O Genesis website for more details about this intriguing release!

SCOTS BAFTA WINNERS 
The Scottish BAFTA Awards took place on Sunday, with recognition for a whole host of figures from the worlds of film and television. Ken Loach comedy An Angel's Share dominated the awards, with awards for writer Paul Laverty, and the film's young star Paul Brannigan, who takes home the prize for his first professional acting role. Also honoured were Gregor Fisher, star of long-running Scottish comedy juggernaut Rab C Nesbitt, who took home an award for Best Actor in the Television category, first-time driector Zam Selim, who took home the Best Director and Best Film trophy for his debut film Up There, and Will Anderson, director of The Making of Longbird, which took home the award for Best Animation. Celebrated broadcaster and journalist Stuart Cosgrove was also recognised, taking home an award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting. Here's the preview for The Making of Longbird:

CREATIVE SCOTLAND'S £300K FILM FUMBLE
From the triumph of Scotland's creative industries, back to its failures and fumblings: the crisis and controversy over the role and management of Creative Scotland was once again called into question, this time over the funding of a failed feature film, a teen-horror picture called Love Bites. According to The Herald, the flop film grossed just £73k in its opening weekend, which amounts to "an average of around six people per screening," and barely makes a dent in the £2 million ploughed into the film. The controversy stems from the fact that Creative Scotland initially claimed that it was previous incarnation Scottish Screen who had funded the limp werewolf comedy, when in actual fact it was senior-level figures in Creative Scotland itself. The Herald quoted Liz Lochhead, who deemed the situation "absolutely ridiculous."

Former EIFF director Hannah McGill also called for the resignation of Creative Scotland chief executive Andrew Dixon. In an editorial, The Herald's Phil Miller writes: "Rarely has a public body established with such great expectations run into so much trouble so rapidly." With chairman Sir Sandy Crombie promising a big shake-up of the organisation next month, it remains to be seen whether public confidence in the organisation can be restored. You can read more about Crombie's proposed changes in this article from The Scotsman. One thing is for sure – Creative Scotland has a lot of bridges to build to re-establish its links with Scotland's artistic community. Watch the trailer for the ill-advised teen-horror below:

LAURIE SANSOM NAMED NEW ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF NTS
The National Theatre of Scotland has named its new artistic director, set to replace Vicky Featherstone. The organisation have named Laurie Sansom, currently artistic director at Northampton's Royal and Derngate Theatre, which won Regional Theatre of the Year in 2011. Featherstone moves to the Royal Court in London. Featherstone's run of comissioned works will see the NTS up until October 2013, but Sansom will begin comissioning work as soon as he takes up his post. "Vicky [Featherstone] has done a fantastic job raising the reputation of the company, which is so good, and also putting new work right at the heart of what the company is," Sansom told The Stage. "In some ways it is a daunting baton to be passed, but it is also a brilliant starting point to let the company grow even further.” Sansom's appointment is not without its critics, however: pro-independence blog Bella Caledonia have published an open letter to Sansom by writer and dramatist Thom Cross, in which he warns against Sansom failing to program work which addresses and engages with Scottish language, culture and history. "You can decide to reinforce the historical dominant British cultural system (or dance with it) or you can permit us to create our own theatre forms and language while engaging with the world," says Cross.

That's it from us for today – The Skinny News Badger will return tomorrow, after foraging for more stories! Got something to share? Email the Badger at news@theskinny.co.uk.