For those with a penchant for the Cockeresque blend of music and style, there couldn't be a more appropriate night out than this i-D party at 93 Feet East. Plenty of long hair and Jennifer Herrema's rusty knife edge of a vocal set off RTX's finely milled rock funk that stands out from the musical spectrum somewhere between a lower tempo Jane's Addiction and a stadium rock classic; but still with a detectable underlying punk ethic. Tangential support is provided in the potent cocktail of art rock from Gin Palace, whose powerful punk-twang explosion thrashes out eccentric time signatures and scrappy riffs reminiscent of unpolished Peej. And look: no bass! Hyperactive duo Comaneche brings up the rear to tie up this diverse selection of talent.

It's difficult to imagine that a homage to an old-skool Rumanian chanteuse would produce a multi-media spectacle that includes a wall of perplexed floating sheep (projections), an Austrian video artist and a string quartet. Formerly of the Arditti Quartet, violinist and occasional Beatnik Alexander Balanescu formed his Balnescu Quartet in 1987, and has collaborated with luminaries such as David Byrne, the Pet Shop Boys, Kraftwerk and Michael Nyman. This work, a tribute to the Rumanian Edith Piaf, Maria Tanase, incorporates footage from her concerts and records as well as images of their country, is in collaboration with video artist Klaus Obermaier, and provides an opportunity for Balanescu to meditate over the troubled history of his land. This concert tour in sync with the quartet's new album Maria T (released 28/03 on Mute) will no doubt provide another display of Balanescu's electronica, jazz, classical and folk influences.

One of the most surprising phenomena in cinema of the last few years has been the breakthrough success of the feature documentary. True-life stories are finding favour with a wider audience than ever before. While this may in part be due to audiences turning away from formulaic Hollywood fantasy, it may have more to do with the outstanding quality and range of documentaries recently appearing in cinemas. And while Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 may have broken all box office records and been the most talked-about release of 2004, it was just the tip of the iceberg in a year that saw award-winning films such as Touching the Void, Spellbound and Supersize Me creating a stir around the world. It therefore comes as no surprise that last November's Sheffield International Documentary Festival was the most successful yet, with every screening and workshop through the weekend sold out. This week, the NFT brings you a selection of the "best of the fest", encompassing the full range and diversity of the genre.

NB: runs till 06/02.

Don Bates and Peter Davidson formed the Australian-American architectural partnership LAB in 1994, struggling through competition work as they taught at prestigious schools in London. When they won the mammoth Federation Square project for the design of an entire city block to house nine separate institutions in 1997, they promptly moved to Melbourne to pursue their sudden success. Recently, they've won stuff all over the world -- most notably the Soho Shang Du development in China, where they're focusing much of their efforts. The flat fractal surfaces of Federation Square will remind some viewers of the expressionist and minimalist volumes of Libeskind's work. Indeed Bates studied under and worked for Libeskind, whom he speaks of as a dear mentor, though LAB's work goes easy on the indigestible poetic texts. Dashes of the fragmentary fetishes of Libeskind's own teacher (Peter Eisenman) are also to be found, underscored by LAB's design for the Giuseppe Terragni exhibition (Eisenman wrote his PhD thesis on Terragni). LAB has swum frequently amongst the stars of the architectural firmament, though Danny seems to be the sacred whale in their pond. Bates promises a concise, honest and bullsh*t-free Texan's appraisal of the state of play, and an insight into the prizes and pitfalls of experimental architectural practice.

One of the most radical and iconic artists of the latter part of the 20th century, Joseph Beuys has long been overdue a retrospective of the size and depth offered this week by Tate Modern. The show is subtitled Actions, Vitrines, Environments, and focuses on three main strands of the German artist's later work: his provocative performance-led pieces (Beuys was a fully paid-up member of the Fluxus movement), the vitrines in which he placed unusual objects that he felt had a particular social significance, and his large-scale, often room-sized installations. The myth of the man is fundamental to understanding Beuys' frequently perplexing work and his almost unhealthy penchant for fat, fur and felt: having been shot down flying over the Crimea, he was allegedly rescued by Tartar tribesmen who wrapped him in these materials to keep him warm, thus sowing the seed for a lifelong obsession with the universal themes of human struggle and survival.

NB: runs till 02/05.

A teenager's sexual and religious awakening, her divorcee mother's desire for a married doctor and a medical conference come together in Lucrecia Martel's claustrophobic and tense hotel drama. The debauched nature of the male gaze, the conflicts between old Argentina and new, religion and sexual freedom are all explored through characters slowly impacting on one another's lives. Gradually the tension begins to build up, but Martel just keeps her audience guessing, right to the last moment. La Nina Santa is a strikingly different film, deservedly winning the Berlin Film Festival's Alfred Bauer Prize for "taking the art of film in a new direction". Unusual camera angles make you feel like you are carefully creeping around the hotel rooms. You catch threads of whispered conversations already in full-swing, just about audible if you are very quiet. Captivating and highly naturalistic performances from every actor make it difficult to resist the intriguing but insidious consequences of the characters' inability to express their sexual desires.

Things are not always what they seem. The purpose of art, if not to show you new things, could be to make our perception of "reality" deeper or at least more complex. Born in the small Swedish city of Uddevalla, Jonas Dahlberg has made videos that force us to reconsider our quiet little urban lives. Some of Dahlberg's work is the result of filming maquettes -- imagine Thomas Demand making moving pictures. Unlike Demand, these sets provide a different discourse, more about the eeriness of surveillance and our perceptions of urban life. One sees a video of the loo at the door to the toilet. Yet, upon entry one discovers that the surveillance is of a model rather than the reality. Is this a mini-lesson on the Panopticon? Having represented his country in Venice, Sao Paolo, and Manifesta 4, it should come as no surprise that this former student of architecture will be speaking most likely on his ongoing Invisible Cities project and other things at the AA.

NB: Jonas Dahlberg will be in conversation with Parveen Adams.

If there was a prize for coolest place on earth it would go to Brazil. It's bigger than the continental US, they've got guinea pigs the size of badgers, frogs that make you hallucinate, and just for a laugh, in the '60s they moved their capital to the middle of the jungle and filled it with groovy space-age buildings. And if that wasn't enough, it's always summer, everyone's oversexed and underdressed and the ads for their national beer are like this. Sitting in the cold dreary halflight of London's bleak mid-winter it's tempting to jump on the next Varig flight to Rio. It's Carnival time from Friday 04/02 and the already rhythmic and groovy Brazilians throw what's left of their caution to the warm wind and party like it's the only way to breathe. If responsibilities, a burgeoning career in the media and the sneaking suspicion that your PC screen tan would mark you out as a sex tourist deters you, there's London's spirited homage to the Brazilian party vibe. The Guanbara Samba and Cana Festival starts this Friday and brings together some of the best movers outside of Brazil. It all kicks off with a nipple stiffeningly chilly raunch through our February streets on Friday and finishes off on Monday with a club night hosted by the Caipirinha Appreciation Society. That should keep the cold out.

NB: the festival runs from Fri 04/02 till Mon 07/02. There will be £2 Caipirinhas on Monday night, and there are limited £10 four-day passes available. Check site for details.

Generally speaking, the house nation is not known for outrageous acts of philanthropy. Indeed, the moment the pills wear off, it's hoods up and heads down as any altruistic impulses are forgotten in a boggle-eyed taxi stampede. Then back to a stranger's house to muddy the carpet, drain the fridge and hoover up the last of someone else's racket. It therefore comes as a pleasant surprise to see the speed and generosity with which promoters and DJs have responded to the Tsunami disaster. Promoters Furthur have outdone themselves with this benefit running across two nights and featuring a cracking line-up. Highlights on the Friday include Luke Vibert, Mark Moore, The Bug, DMX Krew and Cylob, while on Saturday you will be rocking in a righteous fashion to Radioactive Man, Lemon Jelly's Fred Deakin, Rob Da Bank and the Gucci Soundsystem. It's the missing link between altruism and mentalism.

NB: the benefit is being held on both Fri 04/02 and Sat 04/02 nights. All proceeds go to Oxfam's Tsunami appeal.

Sam Peckinpah was inspired by Akira Kurosawa, who in turn loved John Ford, but today Asian pulp cinema has been best served by Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs. A homage or copy of Ringo Lam's City on Fire depending on your point of view, a certain idea of Eastern film is now popular again in the West; view Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers for example. This week Japanese Film after Mr Pink explores the notion in reverse, Tarantino's influence on the Japanese film. These six, unusual and eccentric re-interpretations, from gangster flick, to road movie and rites-of-passage Clockwork Orange-style, don't expect Takahashi Kitano or even Suzuki Seijun, rather a "post-Tarantino" generation. At this moment we seem to be seeing more costumed sword fights in the mainstream, but here is an opportunity to catch some newer and younger perspectives on the East. Whatever the case, expect bullets to fly, blood to be lost in highly stylised fashion, with probably some very attractive, well-dressed actors.

NB: this mini festival runs from 05/02 till 11/02. The Loved Gun screens on 05/02, Monday on 06/02 and 07/02, Blue Spring on 07/02 and 08/02, Wild Life on 08/02 and 09/02, Adrenaline Drive on 09/02 and 10/02, and lastly Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl on 11/02.

Simian were rightly cherished for their slow-burning psychedelia and odd-pop but after parent label Virgin indicated they might better focus on the Top 40 rather than diverting projects like the Simian Mobile Disco and the Church Of Simian, they set up their own studio/label Trial And Error. Now Simian has rebirthed -- spawning three bands like a phoenix from the flames or a wet Gremlin. Behold -- Doloroso! Behold -- Garden! Behold -- Lions & Tigers! Each guarantees at least one member of Simian, and those unwilling to play hunt the primate can enjoy "cinematic pop-noire" / "psychedelic and folk" / "swirling avant rock" respectively. An admirably plucky endeavour or doomed hubris? Dear Flasher, race to The Spitz and decide!

Sideways is an offbeat road movie by director Alexander Payne (acclaimed for Election and About Schmidt). It's a grown-up comedy about relationships and the crazy things we do for love and friendship. Based on Rex Pickett's novel, the story charts the lives of two forty-something college friends who are living out their own version of a mid-life crisis. Miles (Paul Giamatti) is a divorced high-school English teacher and aspiring novelist. Jack (Thomas Haden Church) is a good-looking yet washed-up soap star, finally settling down to get married. They decide to go on a wine-tasting road-trip as one last bid for freedom. Miles has in mind a cultured holiday in the sunny wine country of Santa Barbara, California, but Jack has other ideas -- namely to get laid. Life looks up as they meet waitress Maya (Virginia Madsen) and wine-pourer Stephanie (played by Payne's wife Sandra Oh) and embark on a sex-fuelled and wine-soaked adventure of self-exploration. The results are hilarious and heart-warming with superb acting, great dialogue and perfect comic timing. Unlike slick Hollywood movies, this film is incredibly grounded. Payne intended Sideways to cast a glance back to '70s American cinema -- by the likes of Woody Allen and Hal Ashby -- with "real people and real struggles". A Golden Globe winner and Oscar-nominee, this film is sure to become a classic in its own right.

Having built up a sizeable art audience for its brilliantly innovative filmworks programme in the cult environs of the Prince Charles cinema, David Gryn's Artprojx programme can now afford to showcase some more offbeat artists and risque themes. This week, in collaboration with sketch curator Alexandre Pollazzon, sees the initially bewildering pairing of Ellen Cantor and Cerith Wyn Evans. Cantor, currently showing at sketch, is the sort of artist that adults have nightmares about, let alone worrying about what the kids might think. If you've ever had the sneaking suspicion that fairytales are allegories for much more depraved subject matter, your conspiracy theories will only be proved right by Cantor's films. Her take on Snow White, Barbie and The Sound of Music are to be taken with a large spoonful of sugar, preferably washed down with a litre of whiskey. With his penchant for white flashing lights, Wyn Evans, on the other hand, prefers cool philosophical conceptualism. Nonetheless, his choice of props like chandeliers and disco balls, and locations like the top of Centre Point tower, belie a baroque sensibility, which at times borders on the perverse. So in fact it's really no surprise that his chosen (never-before-screened) film of the evening features Leigh Bowery and a naked younger Norman Rosenthal.

NB: this event is being programmed in conjunction with Ellen Cantor's exhibition (Bambie's Beastly Buddies) at sketch (runs till 12/03).

Having re-invested phrases like "differance" (with an "a" not an "e"), "supplement", "dissemination" and, most famously, "deconstruction" with latent meaning, it is a late term, "spectre", that is perhaps most important now that JD has gone the way of "hauntings". Controversial to the very end, the French-Algerian, who has asked us to pay more attention to the text and the proliferation of meanings and possibilities within each text and even word and the "spacings" between each them, it is safe to say that today there are Derrideans of the Right and Derrideans of the Left, and just as many anti-Derridas on both sides. He has succeeded in placing philosophy on the agenda in a time when anthropology and psychology were taking centre field, and, in our highly mediated moment, he returned the word to central stage. Is this teenage footballeur just a relativist? Is there no truth? Or is the truth just out there and never to be reached? These are small questions are mere by-products of his writings, and assembling over the next couple of weeks and four seminars will be his closest collaborators, Simon Critchley, Derek Attridge, Nicholas Royle, Geoffrey Bennington, Peggy Kamuf, among others, who will no doubt make more complex his corpus. Even Ernesto Laclau will attempt some "spectrology".

NB: unfortunately the first part of this conference on Wed 02/02 is sold out but tickets remain for Mon 07/02, Mon 14/02 and Mon 21/02.

The story of Steve Kurtz's arrest by the American anti-terrorist authorities has been well documented, not least on these pages. However to recap: in early May last year Kurtz's wife died of natural causes at the couple's home in Buffalo. Kurtz called the emergency services, who on arrival, in addition to treating his wife, became suspicious of the amount of scientific equipment kept in the home. Contrary to the opinion of the FBI's anti-terrorist unit currently running a case against Kurtz, this equipment was not the apparatus of a terrorist, but in fact part of Critical Art Ensemble's (CAE) much-publicised and publicly exhibited artworks involving the performance of scientific experiments, which attempt to demystify and de-sensationalise biotechnology. All bio-terrorist charges were dropped by a grand jury in late 2004, when immediately Mail Fraud charges were served. Such charges are normally served when nothing else can be found. Prior to his hearing next week Kurtz, together with Claire Pentecost of the CAE, will talk about his experience and the wider picture of anti-terrorism law enforcement.

Produced, among others, by Fugazi frontmen Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, with an original soundtrack by Godspeed You! Black Emperor, the London premiere of Chain is about as exciting as alternative cinema gets. Dedicated to, and no doubt inspired by, Chris Marker and Humphrey Jennings, Chain explores global consumerism through two women living at opposite ends of the shopping hierarchy. Shot in 11 American states and six countries, Cohen unites the shopping centres of the world to create an epic global hypermarket of products, brands, carparks, security guards and CCTV. Independent Cinema Office, Vertigo magazine and the Curzon have all joined forces to bring over director Jem Cohen, who will be taking questions after the screening.

NB: the event also doubles up as the launch night for the new issue of twice-yearly independent film magazine Vertigo, which means there will be a chance to enjoy a drink with the event organisers and Cohen after the film. On Wed 02/02 catch the screening of two other Cohen films: Blood Orange Sky and Lost Book Found.

Hotly tipped Swedish electro outfit The Knife presents a one-off evening of music and film at the ICA, an evening which promises to showcase a more unusual aspect of dance music. The Knife -- a brother and sister from Gothenburg who have recently relocated to Stockholm to make the most of the burgeoning electro scene, and signed to Rabid Records -- blends aspects of techno, angst-ridden MOR and soundtrack pop with icy beats and curious vocals (the enigmatic lead singer delights in using vocoders and effects to make her delivery androgynous, as seen on the recent Gender Bender EP) and, whilst it sounds like the kind of thing you've heard millions of times before, nothing can really prepare you for the melodic wonder of their heartbreaking songs. Fresh from the success of their tune "Heartbeats" -- propelled to national radio playlist status via a remix by DJ du jour Rex the Dog -- who will also be making an appearance and playing some records at this event -- this should see their status rising in the public eye and begin to grant them the recognition they richly deserve. The event includes DJ sets from Rex and the Knife's DJ Coolof as well as a screening of the film Sharp like a Knife, with added performance.

As a recent study proved, you're never more than fifteen feet away from a critically acclaimed singer-songwriter. Time for a draconian crackdown? Maybe. But then again, lurking amongst the drearily introverted swarms is the occasional creator of spot-on lyrics and startling beauty. Don Nino is just such a case. His second album On the Bright Scale (the release of which this tour is supporting) testifies to that. At once immaculately stark and gorgeously intricate, it's a jet-black melting pot in which bubbles a fascinating form of psychedelic folk-pop. Glum acoustic guitar merges with Don Nino's voice and is complemented by harmonium, banjo, glockenspiel, kalimba, and electronics. Main support comes from Matt Harding, a similarly deconstructive songsmith signed to Moshi Moshi. See you fifteen feet from the stage.

How many times have you pored over a dog-eared love letter? What is it about these emotionally charged missives that, years on, still leave your stomach in knots and your heart pummelling away at bpm rates rivalling turbo-techno? TMDLM (Your Hand in Mine) taps into the power of such communication, exploring the relationship between the playwright Anton Chekhov and other half Olga Knipper, purely using their amour-suffused correspondence. Writer Carol Rocamora was hardly short of material: the couple penned more than 400 letters as they spent the majority of their three-year marriage apart -- Chekhov heading south for the good of his health and Knipper grounded in the capital, performing her fella's work at the Moscow Arts Theatre. Despite being a narrative approach perhaps better suited to the wireless, you can count on this 'pared down and personal' structure to deliver dramatic twists and turns easily rivalling highfalutin big budget drama. The two-hander, which is performed in French with English subtitles, is directed by Peter Brook and co-produced by CICT/Theatre des Bouffes du Nord and Fundacion de la Comunidad Valenciana Ciudad de las Artes Escenicas. Die-hard Chekhov fans won't be disappointed either, as the playwright's pet themes of longing and desire are put in valuable biographical context. (Runs till 12/02.)

NB: Chekhov's complicated love life is discussed at the Barbican on Wed 05/02 (5:30pm). The Chekhov on Love debate is chaired by Alastair Niven, Principal of Cumberland Lodge. On Thu 10/02 catch Michel Piccoli give a talk following a special screening of Luis Bunuel's Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.

If your artistic tastes tend more to the friendly and unusual than what is generally provided by the London art scene, then this is a rare opportunity to indulge in some meaningful art-lite. Program is running an exhibition of recent work by London based artists Doug Fishbone and Cathie Pilkington, Fishbone is an artist from NYC whose work takes a whimsical but critical look at the world around him, and hides a sharp and witty cynicism behind the lighthearted outward style of his observations. He is perhaps best known for his work with bananas on both sides of the pond, but his video collage/monologues are an extension of a similar sentiment -- politically charged yet set off by an absurdity that lightens the political load. Pilkington creates landslides of kitsch creatures whose innocuous cuteness is overwhelmed by their number and accompanied by the inevitable sick feeling one gets from eating too many sweets. The two artists' work culminates in an exhibition that is wholly absurd, but meticulous in its presentation of some of the unsavoury aspects of our existence -- prepared with a generous dollop of custard.

NB: runs till 19/02.

In this colourful and informative book, hundreds of photographs and illustrations are used to shed light on and examine the forms and functions of images in relation to contemporary architecture and how these concepts have evolved over the years. The book develops these ideas by separating the notion of the "image" into three categories: images of architecture, images on architecture and images as architecture. To illustrate these concepts, the book includes thematically arranged images of the works of major contemporary designers and architects such as Mies van der Rohe, Buckminster Fuller, Oscar Niemeyer, Le Corbusier, Superstudio, Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadid, Herzog & de Meuron, MVRDV, UN Studio, Neil Denari, Atelier van Lieshout, Thomas Demand and many others.

To buy Images: A Picture Book Of Architecture online click here or buy it through Walther Koenig Books at the Serpentine Gallery (020.7706.4907).

KultureFlash is a free, weekly newsletter covering contemporary culture in and around London. Each week we track down some of the more unusual and interesting events taking place in the Capital and deliver them straight to your inbox. Featuring art, gigs, films, talks, clubs and more -- we are committed to bringing you an eclectic mix of the most stimulating events in London.

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