The Bulletin: Arts & Culture News | 7 June

BLOODY SCOTLAND 2013 PROGRAMME ANNOUNCED
At last year's Bloody Scotland event - the first Scottish literary festival to focus exclusively on crime fiction, created by authors Lin Anderson and Alex Gray - Ian Rankin told the assembled crowd that "crime writing in Scotland really does punch above its weight." As the keynote speaker, Rankin was followed by a who's who of Scottish and international crime writers, and this year, the organisers have put together an equally impressive bill of talks, readings and workshops. 

There's a visit from top-selling US thriller writer Lee Childs, creator of the Jack Reacher novels, recently adapted for the big screen starring Tom Cruise. The enormously popular Jo Nesbø, the Norweigian author behind the Harry Hole novels (and the stand-alone Headheunters, filmed in 2011) will also be in attendance, alongside up-and-coming Scandic authors such as Arne Dahl. Scottish crime writing continues to be at the beating heart of the festival, with appearances from Denise Mina, William McIlvanney, Doug Johnstone, Val McDermid, Louise Welsh and Stuart McBride. 

This year's programme features an 'interactive crime scene' which allows visitors to engage with the basics of forensic science; an attempt to trace the roots of Scottish crime fiction; and a panel focusing on how crime fiction translates to graphic novels. As with last year's festival, there will be workshops led by leading authors Alex Gray and Liam Murray-Bell, for budding writers to try their hand at creating their own crime saga. Check out the full programme at the Bloody Scotland website, and read our coverage of last year's event here.

NEIL GAIMAN: NEW DOCTOR WHO SHOULD BE "A STAR WAITING TO HAPPEN"
The internet is buzzing with rumour and speculation about who will succeed Matt Smith as the new Doctor Who, after he departs the show following the Christmas Special. With many names being bandied about, the prospect of a female Doctor Who, or a non-white Doctor Who have both been floated, with a range of reactions from fans. Chief among the rumours doing the rounds are that the role will go to Chiwetel Ejiofor, seen before in science fiction films such as Children of Men and Serenity. 

On his blog this week, author Neil Gaiman spoke out against the celebrity-focused speculation. "I think that if you’d asked me who should be the 11th Doctor 5 years ago I wouldn’t have listed Matt Smith, because I didn’t know who he was or what he was capable of," said Gaiman, who wrote two episodes during Matt Smith's tenure as The Doctor. "I actually like it when The Doctor is a relatively unknown actor, or one without one huge role that made them famous," he continued. "I like to see The Doctor as The Doctor, and an actor who doesn’t bring baggage is a grand sort of thing. A star waiting to happen. I want to be taken by surprise. I want to squint at a photo of the person online and go 'but how can that be The Doctor?' Then I want to be amazingly, delightedly, completely proven wrong, and, six episodes in, I want to wonder how I could have been so blind. Because this is the Doctor. Of course it is."

NEW MUSIC: NINE INCH NAILS, SEBADOH, SUPERCHUNK, PINS
In case you were hiding under a rock yesterday, the big news in the world of music is the appearance of a new track by Nine Inch Nails. Trent Reznor has also confirmed the title of the new NIN album - Hesitation Marks will be out on 3 September, and will include the track premiered online yesterday, Came Back Haunted. Here's our original news item on the return of Nine Inch Nails, from yesterday. 

Their last full-length LP was 1999's The Sebadoh, and last year they teased us with an EP entitled Secret - now it has been revealed that 90s lo-fi indie rock pioneers Sebadoh will return this year with a new album, Defend Yourself, slated for release on 17 September.

Lou Barlow's band (now consisiting of Barlow, long-term collaborator Jason Loewenstein, who has been with the band since 1989, and Bob D’Amico), formed after his initial departure from Dinosaur Jr. in 1986, were credited with defining the lo-fi indie or 'slacker' sound, along with bands such as Guided by Voices and Pavement. They were hugely influential in forming the look, feel and sound of the more popular grunge movement that followed. Barlow rejoined Dinosaur Jr. in 2005, playing on their last three albums. 

Another veteran 90s US indie band returning with a new album this year are North Carolina's Superchunk, last seen in 2010 with the well-received Majesty Shredding. They're back with a new album, I Hate Music, on 20 August. This week they shared new track FOH.  

Self-proclaimed "Girl Gang" and purveyors of woozy, reverb-heavy indie, Manchester's PINS also have a new track to share this week - out 22 July, the new single features their newly-recruited drummer Sophie, who adds some extra weight to this languid cut.

MACHINIMA & RIDLEY SCOTT COMMISSION 12 SCI-FI SHORTS
RSA, Ridley Scott's commercial production company, have just announced a new project which will see them commission 12 new short science fiction films, in association with Machinima. Scott will act as co-executive producer, and although he will not direct the shorts himself, he will more than likely be bringing some big names to the table, selecting directors from the RSA stable, which includes Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium), Sam Mendes (Skyfall), and Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty).

Machinima, which provides online video and gaming content, will host and distribute the films. They have had recent hits with online dramas based on video game titles such as Halo and Mortal Kombat. "With new media transforming the way audiences connect with films and filmmakers, Machinima is a great partner for us as we embark on this new model of delivering original content to fans," commented Scott. "It's a tremendous opportunity for pushing the creative boundaries for both our filmmakers and the audience." 

ON TOUR: MOUNT KIMBIE, FUCK BUTTONS
Last month's cover stars Mount Kimbie have announced details of a full UK tour, giving a live outing to their critically acclaimed new album Cold Spring Fault Less Youth (reviewed here). They will be passing through Manchester on 7 November, playing at The Ritz, before hitting Glasgow on 8 November, playing SWG3. Read our interview with Mount Kimbie here.

Following their recently-unveiled track The Red Wing, experimental electronic duo Fuck Buttons will be touring to promote new album Slow Focus, out 22 July. They hit Manchester's Gorilla on 9 September, and Glasgow's SWG3 on 10 September. 

FESTIVAL NEWS: BANGFACE WEEKENDER CANCELLED, GLASTONBURY LINEUP DETAILS, ISLE OF MAN FESTIVAL, BBC INTRODUCING AT T IN THE PARK
The Bangface Weekender, planned for 13-15 September, has been cancelled at the last minute due to noise complaints from local residents, following their Run to the Sun event, which took place in late May. Squarepusher was scheduled to headline. In a statement, the organisers wrote: "It is with great sadness and frustration that Bang Face Weekender 2013 cannot go ahead as planned." Following Run to the Sun, the statement continues, "significantly lower sound levels were set by the council as a result of complaints from local residents. These new levels are unworkable, greatly affecting both volume and critical bass frequencies. We simply cannot deliver an event under these restrictions." Refunds are now being processed.

The Glastonbury (26-30 Jun) lineup, which includes The Rolling Stones, Portishead, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The xx, The Smashing Pumpkins and many more, has now been made available online, broken down by stage, area and day. View the full event info at the Glastonbury site.  

The Isle of Mann Festival (6 Jul) is a one-day event, welcoming headliners Primal Scream, Paloma Faith and Johnny Marr to the island in the Irish sea. There's also a dance tent curated by Ministry of Sound. Details and tickets here.

Finally, details of the bands who will play the BBC Introducing stage at T in the Park (12-14 Jul) this year have been announced - the lineup includes some Skinny favourites, such as Fat Goth, PAWS and Discopolis. Have a scan of the full lineup here. 

NEW VIDEOS: THE XX, THY VEILS, MYKKI BLANCO
The xx have unveiled another video from their second album Coexist (reviewed here). The video features vocalist Oliver Sim, alone on this track, wandering through twilit scenes, while Romy Madeley-Croft and Jamie xx kip on a couch. Jamie xx talked to us about Coexist back in September - read the interview here. The xx are appearing at the Eden Festival, and Glastonbury this summer.

Thy Veils are an ambient/classical/experimental collective of musicians from Timișoara, Romania. They've been going since 1997, and have collaborated with choreographers and dancers on multi-media projects. Their last album was 2009's Dawn and Furtherance. This week they unveiled a new video, taken from an old album, 2002's The Diaphonous Depressions, and featuring footage of strange cloud systems. They released one track earlier this year - indicating that a new album may be in the works. 

Mykki Blanco's menacing video for new track The Initiation continues the themes of hallucinatory body-mutation and gender switching seen in previous clips, with a double-faced Blanco crawling through a run-down cityscape. 

RBMA ON THE NYC ELECTRONIC MUSIC SCENE
Following on from their excellent 'Hashtags' documentary series on emergent musical subgenres, Red Bull Music Academy score again with this short film about the electronic music scene in New York. Featuring interviews with DJs and producers such as Nicholas Jaar, Anthony Naples, and other staples of the NYC club scene, it's a revealing snapshot of contenporary dance music and nightlife in the Big Apple.  

TRAILERS: WE STEAL SECRETS: THE WIKILEAKS STORY, THE ACT OF KILLING
Two documentary-flavoured trailers for you today - the already controversial Wikileaks: We Steal Secrets is already being heavily criticised by the Wikileaks camp, pronouncing it biased, full of "errors and sleight of hand." The film examines the relationship between Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, and US military whistleblower Bradley Manning.  

Next up, The Act of Killing, a ground-breaking new film produced by Werner Herzog and directed by Joshua Oppenheimer, examines the events surrounding the 1965 coup in Indonesia, where up to a million people were believed to have been brutally murdered by right-wing rebels. The director invites the men to reconstruct their killings on film, leading to surreal, brutal, and moving scenes, with the murderers learning to face the consequences of their actions by playing the role of their own victims. We'll have a review of this strange and intense blending of fact and fiction in the coming weeks.