The Bulletin: Arts & Culture News | 14 June

STUART BRAITHWAITE, AIDAN MOFFAT & MORE TO PLAY SIGHTHILL STONES BENEFIT GIG
The Sighthill Stone Circle in Glasgow was erected in 1979 by the Glasgow Parks Department's Astronomy Project, as part of a scheme designed to get unemployed people back into work. With the assistance of local workers, science writer and astronomer Duncan Lunan masterminded the project, which saw his team design and construct the first 'authentic' stone circle to be seen in Britain for 3000 years. 

The circle was intended as a tribute to Britain's rich, almost-forgotten history of pre-Christian astronomers. On the Sighthill Stone Circle's website, Duncan explains: "For at least two thousand years, and ending more than three thousand years ago, the British Isles supported one of the most advanced 'colleges' of astronomers in the ancient world... Almost certainly their interest in the movements of the Sun and Moon was prompted by navigation and by agriculture... but since no literature has come down to us, and there was no explicit carving on the stones, only the pure astronomy underlying the layout of the sites is still accessible." Read a brief history of the stones in full here.

Now, it has been revealed that Glasgow City Council intend to demolish the Stone Circle, as it is located within a park currently earmarked for redevelopment in the run-up to the city's application to host the 2018 Youth Olympics. Since December last year, a campaign to save the stones has been gathering pace, with leading figures from the Scottish music scene now coming together to play a benefit concert to raise awareness and funds. 

On 27 July, Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai, Aidan Moffat, Eugene Kelly, Emma Pollock and Remember Remember will converge on Platform in Easterhouse to play a one-off benefit gig. With a planning application detailing the redevelopment due to be submitted on 5 July, the concert offers a rallying point for those who wish to save Glasgow's mini-Stonehenge. The concert also takes place on the eve of the Summer Solstice, a key date in the pagan calendar – the following day will see druids, pagans and revellers descend on the site to worship and celebrate.

Stuart Braithwaite, whose late father was one of the key members of Lunan's team back in 1979, is passionate about saving the stones. He spoke exclusively to The Skinny today, outlining the importance of the site, and the campaign to preserve it. "The Sighthill Stone Circle was the first astronomically aligned one built in Britain for thousands of years. Its story is fantastic, and was only halted by the Thatcher government." Braithwaite refers to the Conservative government's halting of the project after they came to power, leaving several stones unplaced.

We asked Braithwaite what can we expect from the gig: "I'll be playing some Mogwai songs and possibly some new ones too," he replied. "It's a bit early to think exactly what else will occur but I'm sure given the nature of the event and the people involved some interesting things will happen." For Braithwaite, it is important that the artistic community engages with issues like these – everyone must "do their part," he says. "I've been taken aback by how into helping everyone has been. It's been a really heartening experience seeing people from all strands of the community come together too."

"It's an amazing place and a wonderful story," he continues. "Destroying it when it could easily be kept as part of the redevelopment would be cultural vandalism on a grand scale. If anything it should be completed and promoted, not destroyed." Braithwaite and some of the other campaigners put together plans for this and a smaller-scale folk gig. "I hope it's success goes someway to showing the council that people care about the stones," Braithwaite says, "and that they won't get away easily with destroying them."

NEW MUSIC: BETH GIBBONS, ZERO 7 X NIGEL GODRICH, U-GOD, DOLOR
Portishead chanteuse Beth Gibbons has announced that she will release a new solo album later this year – a long-awaited follow-up to her 2002 album Out of Season, recorded with Talk Talk's Paul Webb. Not much else has been announced – the title and release date are yet to be revealed, as are Gibbons' intended collaborators. It has been announced that the record will be released by Domino. Before she releases the album she will complete an extensive European tour with Portishead, taking in the Glastonbury Festival. Here's a video of Gibbons performing Tom The Model, from Out of Season.

Nigel Godrich has a side project to distract him from Atoms For Peace – Ultraísta, a band which also includes AFP's Joey Waronker, released their self-titled debut earlier in the year [reviewed here]. This week, Godrich announced a remix package featuring tracks from the album reinterpreted by an all-star lineup of producers including Four Tet, Prefuse 73, Falty DL and David Lynch. The latest remix to be revealed is by Zero 7, taking on the track Our Song. The remix compilation drops on 6 August.

Wu-Tang founder member U-God has a new album out, featuring production from the RZA, and a whole host of guest emcees including Method Man, Kool Keith and Inspectah Deck. Keynote Speaker is out on 23 July, and the first track to be revealed includes a cameo from GZA. 

We showed you the video for David Lynch and Lykke Li's spellbinding collaboration on the track I'm Waiting Here earlier this week - now check out the beautiful, chaotic cover version by US producer Dolor (we reviewed his excellent EP Misteria a few months back). 

BOOK TICKETS NOW: KEIJI HANO, STEPHEN O'MALEY & OREN AMBARCHI ARE NAZORANAI
A very special gig has been announced, taking place at Glasgow's Stereo on 10 July – promoters Cry Parrot and AC Projects have managed to book an exclusive Scottish appearance for experimental supergroup Nazoranai, consisting of Keiji Hano on drums, Stephen O'Malley of Sunn O))) on bass, and close collaborator Oren Ambarchi, also of Gravetemple, on guitars, synth and vocals. Formed in 2011, these extraoridnarily talented and transgressive musicians are a force to be reckoned with live – the promoters promise "motorik metal and ferociously unfettered space-rock." See you down the front!

FESTIVAL WATCH: ATP: THE END OF AN ERA, KNEE DEEP
A quick roundup of festival news - All Tomorrow's Parties: End of An Era Part One (22-24 Nov),curated by Deerhunter, has now sold out, while the lineup for Part Two (29 Nov - 1 Dec) has just been announced, with tickets now on sale. The lineup for the second of ATP's farewell shindigs (curated by LOOP, who have re-formed for the event and will headline) will feature Girls Against Boys, Mogwai, Superchunk, The Pop Group, Dirty Beaches, Balam Acab, Wolf People, Thought Forms and more. For those gutted to miss the Deerhunter event, here's a mixtape they created to drum up excitement for their weekender.

Meanwhile the DIY-focused Knee Deep Festival (9-11 Aug) returns for its fourth annual outing in Cornwall, welcoming Amateur Best, Crushed Beaks, Emperor Yes, Kinnie The Explorer and more. Details and tickets here.

NEW VIDEOS: LIARS, IMPERIAL TEEN, FIST CITY, WERD
First up, a live video of Liars performing a new song, Mess on a Mission, at this year's Primavera Festival. The clip also features the band talking about the creation of their post-WIXIW material, and their lack of a firm plan for a new album. Via Pitchfork TV.

San Francisco indie-pop mob Imperial Teen, featuring Faith No More's Roddy Bottum, have a new video out this week – No Matter What You Say is taken from their fifth album Feel The Sound. 

Canadian pop-punk outfit Fist City release their second album It's 1983, Grow Up on 8 July. This week they shared the video for lead single Boring Kids.  

Finally, Edinburgh-based rapper Werd, head honcho of the Sons Of Scotland collective, has a new video out this week – taken from his album Untitled Scot (reviewed here), released last year, it shows Werd wandering around the grounds of an abandoned mental hospital. His latest EP, Strait Jacket, is out now and available for free download.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TRAP: LUNICE SPEAKS
This week, Mass Appeal shared an interview with Canada's Lunice, one half of LuckyMe / Warp-signed trap innovators TNGHT. He talks about his influences, discoursing at length on the Ninja Turtles, Ryan Gosling, and a whole host of other topics.  

ART OF PUNK: ORIGIN OF THE BLACK FLAG LOGO
Another video to get you through Friday – The Art of Punk was created by Bryan Ray Turcotte, and features interviews with Henry Rollins, Flea, and Black Flag founders Keith Morris and Chuck Dukowski, discussing Black Flag's legacy from their 1976 inception to the present day. Also examined in-depth is the iconic logo for the band, created by designer Raymond Pettibon. 

TRAILERS: THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG, 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE, SNOWPIERCER, ALAN PARTRIDGE: ALPHA PAPA
A quick peek at this week's new trailers – let's get the sequels out of the way first. There's The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, offering another extended trawl through the Tolkien-verse, with a darker, more action-oriented feel than the first movie, only marred by its comparative tweeness when compared to the mighty Game of Thrones.   

Next, producer Zack Snyder oils up those CGI pecs for 300: Rise of an Empire. It tells the story of the origin of Xerxes, and the seabound fight against his forces which took place concurrently with the events in the original film. Not that that really matters at all – just marvel at the slo-mo carnage, and enjoy the return of Lena Heady's Spartan queen.

Snowpiercer is the first English-language film from Korean director Bong Joon-Ho, appearing at this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival as chair of the judges on the International selection of films up for awards at this year's event. An SF movie, Snowpiercer tells the story of the last days of humanity, where the Earth's remaining population are stuck on a massive train, riven with class divisions and tension. Predictably, the status quo is troubled by a violent revolution - expect explosions and action a-plenty from The Host director's American debut. 

And finally, the summer blockbuster season wouldn't be complete without the arrival of the first big-screen outing for Alan Partridge. Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, in which the beleagured radio host must "A-ha!" his way out of a hostage situation, looks like it will pack just as much punch as the lates Hollywood action fare.