The Bulletin: Arts & Culture Roundup | 21 June

RM HUBBERT WINS SCOTTISH ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Our warmest congratulations to RM Hubbert, who last night took home the coveted Scottish Album Of The Year Award for Thirteen Lost & Found (reviewed here). Looking somewhat shellshocked by his victory, Hubbert proudly proclaimed from the stage that he plans to spend the £20,000 prize money on Irn Bru. Late last night (or early this morning, depending on your point of view), he posted a thank you message to fans on his Twitter page: "Thank you so much for all of the very, very kind messages. I'm extremely drunk. And extremely happy." You can see him play live when he supports comrade-in-arms Adam Stafford at Edinburgh's Wee Red Bar on 4 July.

FOUR TET IS NOT BURIAL (OR IS HE?)
The identity of reclusive London producer Burial once again became a hot topic this week, with an article on satircial music site Equalizer collecting all the "evidence" pointing towards the fact that Burial is an alias of prolific producer (and occasional Burial collaborator) Kieran Hebden, aka Four Tet. Drawing in sources such as the Tumblr blog Burial Is Four Tet, the article pointed to all manner of cryptic clues, including the fact that a Google search on the name William Bevan – by all accounts Burial's real name – leads you to the website of a funeral director. As Nathan Barley might say, coincimental!

Despite the fact that this particular conspiracy theory dates back to the last time speculation about Burial's identity spread, the site stoked the flames of hashtag gossip further by posting a Photoshopped image of Four Tet's denial of the rumours, leading fans to believe that Hebden had owned up to his double life.

Image posted by Equalizer Magazine

Perhaps due to the short attention spans of people on the internet (yes, you! Quit scrolling, turn off Twitter for a second and keep reading!), a great many people re-posted the article, completely missing its satirical edge. Hebden was then drawn into a trending war, with multiple posts asking him to confirm or deny the statement – and deny it he did, over and over, with his latest statements via his Facebook page reading: "I have never said ever that I am Burial anywhere," and then: "You should all show a bit more respect for Will Bevan who is Burial. One of the greatest musicians/producers of our time." But even a categoric denial from Hebden seems not to have been enough for the hordes of posters on his page, who are even now still trying to coax Hebden into admitting he is Burial, possibly Banksy too, and even Spartacus (okay, we made the last one up).

In actual fact, William Bevan (if he exists, and that is his real name) is not as reclusive as it is widely believed. He has given several interviews in the past, both face to face and by email – with the face to face ones unlikely to have been carried out by Hebden wearing, say, a Nixon mask. The Guardian spoke to Bevan in 2007, and he talked openly about shunning the spotlight, saying: "I can't step up, I want to be in the dark at the back of a club. I don't read press, I don't go on the internet much, I'm just not into it. It's like the lost art of keeping a secret, but it keeps my tunes closer to me and other people." His eagerness to preserve a sense of mystery in an age where recognition, the acquiring of cocaine habits and groupies, and the right to whine publicly about how difficult being rich and successful is (Kanye, we're looking at you) are the goals of a great many musicians is pretty admirable, when you think about it. 

So what is known about Bevan? He was hounded by The Sun in 2008 after his Mercury nomination, prompting him to post a solitary picture on his MySpace page, and confirm his name. And yet the speculation continued – perhaps proof that by creating the mystery of #whoisburial, he had in fact drawn attention to himself all the more. Perhaps his fingers felt burned after the 2008 identity hunt – he stopped tweeting, and has remained silent since then, throughout a series of releases, post-Untrue, which have included two split EPs with Hebden, and two solo EPs for Hyperdub; Truant and Kindred (reviewed here). Or perhaps he merely grew tired of the endless speculation – his last tweet says he was "settling down to some MSG (Metal Gear Solid) 4," indicating, one might speculate, that beyond his music, Burial is pretty much just a normal bloke.

True, he comes from a fertile site in the London musical landscape, having attended school with Hot Chip's Joe Goddard, alongside Kieran Hebden, all of The xx, and less impressively, members of The Maccabees. Again, however, when assessing the importance of the Elliott School, it's important to remember that coincidences do happen. There was no magic ingredient in the school dinners which made these kids pick up guitars, or start twiddling with SoundForge. They just happened to be in the same place at the same time.

For those that want to know more about the music, and care less about the man or his identity, there's an excellent interview with The Wire from last year, where Bevan talks about the musical influences he inherited from his older brother, and his love of the sound effects in the Alien movies. His interview with Keysound Recordings founder Blackdown, from 2006, is even more fascinating, and indeed begins with some speculation about his identity, before going on to talk about his mastering process - the final stage is driving around twilit London estates blasting the track through the car stereo - and revealing in intricate detail the way he writes and records, including drawing sub-bass sine waves by hand. 

All of which is much more interesting than speculating about whether or not he is Four Tet. Hebden is a fascinating musician in his own right, with his own stories to tell. Here's a thought – perhaps, if we all shut up for a second, Burial might actually want to talk to us again. But on the evidence of the jocular trolling of Hebden's page this week, it doesn't look like that will happen any time soon. So this is an appeal. Come on people, please – let's just leave Burial to his Metal Gear Solid. Agreed?

NEW VIDEOS: FOALS, FUCK BUTTONS, WAVVES, JJ DOOM, METZ, LUCIANBLOMKAMP
A roundup of this week's best videos offers some rare treats – not least of which is the new single from Foals, unleashing another powerful cut from the justly-lauded album Holy Fire (reviewed here). It's a desert-set video, with singer Yannis Philippakis wandering the dunes, while the track itself delivers in spades in the 'more cowbell' stakes.

The next offering is from Fuck Buttons, unveiling their video for the epically infectious new single The Red Wing (the title of which unaccountably makes us think of Wedge from Star Wars). The single has definitely whet our appetites for Slow Focus, which is slated for release on 29 June.

Then there's the new clip from Californian troublemakers Wavves, and guess what? It's NSFW! Also, on this occasion, very much NSFV (not safe for vegetarians). If you're a fan of fuck-off big swords, axes and stuff exploding, however, you'll definitely enjoy this. 

Hip-hop fans will welcome the return of JJ DOOM, the collab between Jneiro Jarel and DOOM. They'll be releasing an expanded version of Keys to the Kuffs (reviewed here), one of our albums of 2012, in July, with remixes from the likes of Dave Sitek, Clams Casino, and Beck. Oh, and look! DOOM has a new mask!

The new video from Sub Pop stars METZ is an animated cut, which will appeal to horror fans – read our recent interview with the band where they talk about taking punk back to its roots.

And finally, a video from up and coming Australian producer LUCIANBLOMKAMP, who released his debut EP a few months back – fans of Holy Other, Lapalux and Balam Acab will absolutely fall in love with it. The standout track is You & Me, featuring the vocals of Rosebud Leach – and now it has a menacing new video. We featured the track on the first NETVERK podcast for The Skinny last month. You can now have a listen to Episode 2 for more undiscovered gems.