The Bulletin: Arts & Culture News | 3 June

CELEBRATE 'INTERNATIONAL DAY OF SLAYER'
The tragic death of Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman last month will weigh heavy on the minds of metal fans – but the band want to celebrate his legacy rather than mourning him, as the eighth annual International Day of Slayer rolls around on 6 June. The event, which started on 6 June, 2006 (06/06/06, see?) is a worldwide celebration of Slayer's legacy, and organisers suggest that fans should proceed as follows:

"Listen to Slayer at full blast in your car. Listen to Slayer at full blast in your home. Listen to Slayer at full blast at your place of employment. Listen to Slayer at full blast in any public place you prefer." So basically, all you have to do to take part is blast some Slayer, wherever you happen to be, and possibly raise a glass to the late, great Hanneman.

Jeff Tate, CEO of the International Day of Slayer, told The Quietus: "Good music is heroic and ultimately immortal, and now more than ever, the music of Slayer is exactly that. They created the battle hymns that so many of us have used to navigate our lives, ones we will continue to rely upon to as the days ahead grow ever darker. We cannot let these works fade with time. It is sometimes hard to remember that Slayer is comprised of mortal men like ourselves, but with the proper dedication and stewardship, their works can last a thousand years and join the ranks of masters like Beethoven and Wagner. This is what we must strive for by insisting on bands like Slayer for us and future generations."

NEW MUSIC: FUCK BUTTONS, BOARDS OF CANADA, RUN THE JEWELS, HODGY BEATS, LUMERIANS
Fuck Buttons, the experimental electronic duo from Bristol who first bonded over their love of Aphex Twin and Mogwai, have a new album out on 22 July. The album's first single, Red Wing, is out on 24 June on gold 12" vinyl, just before the band play Glastonbury (on 29 June). Slow Focus is a long-awaited follow-up to 2009's Tarot Sport, which we gave a glowing five-star review a few years back. Colour us excited! It'll give us something to obsess over after the Boards of Canada album drops... 

Speaking of which, as anticipation builds to fever pitch over the release of the new Boards of Canada album Tomorrow's Harvest, out 10 June, the duo have announced that you will be able to hear the album in full, tonight, at 9pm. Tune in via their website and listen live, and please let us know what you think! You can also discuss your reactions over at the Facebook event page, if you so desire. Here's our review, from the latest issue. 

Run the Jewels (the new collaboration between El-P and Killer Mike) have unveiled another full track – this time featuring a guest verse from Outkast's Big Boi. The Run the Jewels album is slated for a free release in June. 

Following on from last month's release of a free mixtape by The Jet Age of Tomorrow, another Odd Future alumnus, Hodgy Beats, dropped a new mixtape over the weekend. Download Untitled 2 now. 

Oakland psych-rockers Lumerians have a new album, The High Frontier, out on 10 June – read our review here. A new track, Dogon Genesis was previewed online this week. 

GLASGOW'S LISA O'DONNELL TOPS ALL-FEMALE LIST TO WIN COMMONWEALTH BOOK PRIZE
On Friday last week, the winners of the annual Commonwealth Book and Short Story Prizes were announced, with Glasgow's Lisa O'Donnell topping the list for her novel The Death of Bees, published by Random House. O'Donnell's first novel, it centres around the story of two young sisters living in Glasgow’s Hazlehurst estate, trying to hold the world at bay after the mysterious death of their parents. The Commonwealth Prizes were set up to celebrate the diversity of new literary voices coming from across the Commonwealth nations, with awards given out to exceptional first-time writers. 

“I am incredibly proud to have won the Commonwealth Book Prize," O'Donnell commented. "It's a huge leap for me in what seemed an impossible step. The prodigious voices I stood beside overwhelm me, so many towering stories out there.” O'Donnell is no stranger to awards glory, having won the Orange Screenwriting Prize in 2000 for The Wedding Gift. 

Two more writers were also recognised for their short stories: Sharon Millar, from Trinidad and Tobago, was given an award for her story The Whale House, while Canadian author Eliza Robertson was recognised for her short story We Walked On Water. 

NEW VIDEOS: SUEDE, ZOMBY, UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA, SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO & BICEP, JACQUES GREEN & HOW TO DRESS WELL
Suede's continuing rennaisance, inspired by new album Bloodsports (reviewed here), continues with new video Hit Me. Apparently the band have been taking cues from Jack Nicholson's Joker, with the new video featuring two young lovers on a vandalistic rampage through an art gallery.  

Zomby's new album With Love is out on 18 June – and late last week he unveiled a video featuring excerpts from four tracks on the album. The video is directed by Ollie Evans, and features a meditation on life and death depicted as a slow-moving tableau vivant of photographic images.  

Another artistic and leftfield video from Portland's Unknown Mortal Orchestra emerged last week – their clip for From The Sun, taken from latest album II, features a man who becomes an interactive art exhibit. 

A couple of electronic collaborations next – first up Simian Mobile Disco and Bicep, whose video for forthcoming collaborative effort Sacrifice features a video of geometric patterns slowly scrolling in time to the beats. Their split EP, also titled Sacrifice, is out 24 June.

And finally, a video has emerged for the collaboration between LuckyMe's Canadian producer Jacques Greene and ethereal R'n'B star How To Dress Well. It's an interactive video, with viewers able to drag the windows within the video around their screen to create new sounds. The EP featuring their hook-up is out today. Due to the interactive nature of the video, we can't embed it here – visit Greene's site to enjoy it.

CROWDFUND: THE NEW ALBUM BY FUTURE OF THE LEFT, A PIXIES PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK
"The people of the internet are far more likely to invest in the birth and possibility of a thing rather than a finished product," or so goes the thinking from Cardiff's Future of the Left, who have decided that their next album, which is as-yet untitled, will be a crowdfunded project. Citing that they are "sick of labels" the band have created a crowdfunding campaign on Pledge Music, allowing fans to opt in to the creation of the album by donating towards tudio and promotion costs.

Pledges start at £8, which bags you a digital copy of the finished album when the band release it in October, and a copy of their next EP, Love Songs For Our Husbands. Higher pledges net you early previews of the album material and exclusive songs on two yet-to-be-released EPs, along with tee-shirts and other incentives. Launched on 29 May, their project has already raised more than 100% of its target, so if you pledge, you have the satisfaction of knowing you're onto a sure thing. Get involved here.

Over on Kickstarter, you can crowdfund a new book, Pixies: A Visual History. The book, compiled by Sean T. Rayburn, who launched a fan site for the band in 2004, only to see it become the band's official online presence, will collect rare photos from behind the scenes of the band's career, covering the period from their formation in 1983 to their 1993 breakup. Plans for a follow-up covering their reunion are in the works. Pledges of over $75 get a book, a thankyou in the back pages, and a signature from Black Francis himself. Like the campaign mentioned above, this project has already exceeded its target. Get involved here.  

FESTIVAL WATCH: BINGLEY MUSIC, LIVERPOOL PSYCH-FEST, NUMUSIC
Taking place in Myrtle Park, in West Yorkshire, the Bingley Music Live Festival (30 Aug - 1 Sep) will feature Primal Scream, The Cribs, The Human League, The Wonder Stuff, and Nile Rodgers and CHIC. Details and tickets here. 

The Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia (27-28 Sep) has now announced its full lineup - Moon Duo, The Besnard Lakes, Peaking Lights Sound System, Dead Meadow and White Manna have all been announced as headliners, with new additions to the bill including Hookworms, Mugstar, Yeti Lane, Delta Mainline, Baron Mordant, Vindicatrix, Night Beats, Lorelle Meets The Obsolete, and Ekoplekz, among others. Details and tickets here. 

Numusic (5-7 Sep), a Norweigian festival taking place in the town of Stavanger, has just announced The Orb and Lee 'Scratch' Perry as headliners for this year's event. The full lineup will be announced in coming weeks. Details and tickets here.

STONES THROW DOCUMENTARY: OUR VINYL WEIGHS A TON
A while back, we reported on the plans for a documentary on Stones Throw, the influential LA hip-hop label set up by Peanut Butter Wolf. With a soundtrack by Madlib, and designs by the label's visual mastermind Jeff Jank, the film offers a revealing portrait of the label, from Peanut Butter Wolf's early work as a producer for the late MC Charizma, to the ground-breaking releases that brought the label to worldwide acclaim, such as J Dilla's Donuts and Madlib and DOOM's Madvillainy. The film will be premiering at the LA Film Festival this month, so we thought it was about time we shared the trailer with you. We'll keep you posted as details of the UK release become available.