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Issue 136

London gets the fashion spotlight and other cities vie for attention. First off in New York The Paris Review gets a face-lift and one questions whether the city is losing its soul. Meanwhile out in the sticks robot cars race across Arizona and China has built the impossible. Back home News Flash -- really thin person takes cocaine and gets the sack, and "panic" -- there are many crack addicts among us.

Recently artists have been found in peculiar places, will Ofili sell-out at The National, and what were the Wilson sisters doing in Soho House? Also check out Adrian Searle's take on Black Pussy and find out where you can make your own soundtrack.

To Paris, and architecture where Bernard Arnault has hired Gehry to beat his arch rival Francois Pinault in attempt to open a new gallery, but be warned Architects everywhere -- suing for plagiarism is in vogue. This doesn't bother the backers of another crazy Vegas development (would anyone want to copy it?!), and seeing as Richard Rogers' Welsh Assembly building is almost 20 years in the making, its completion should be lawsuit-free.

Remakes are in the pipeline for the films of murdered director Theo Van Gogh. Across the chanel a "Mini-Book-Coup" in France -- is Michel Houellebecq the first on a very "short list" of great contemporary French authors? And finally if you were in any doubt, newly uncovered images could be evidence to support the Da Vinci Code conspiracies -- might be worth checking your family tree!

Lastly, with our header we continue to showcase work from the graphic designer/filmmaker Mike Mills in conjunction with his work being shown at this year's resfest 2005.

Headlines

Architecture: Anglo Files: David Adjaye, Alison Brooks...

Art: Barry McGee; Candice Breitz; Perfect Partner: Kim Gordon, Tony Oursler, Jim O'Rourke...

Benefit: The Reading Frenzy / Harold And Maude

Club: Danny Krivit, Andrew Weatherall...

Concert: Don't Look Back: Blues Explosion / Gang of Four; Emotional Orchestra; Perfect Partner: Kim Gordon, Tony Ousler, Jim O'Rourke...; Smog

Dance: Sylvie Guillem And Russell Maliphant

Debate: Anglo Files: David Adjaye, Alison Brooks...; Is Art Music? Is Music Art?

Design: London Design Festival 2005

DJ: Danny Krivit, Andrew Weatherall...

Fashion: London As A Fashion Capital

Festival: IHT: Breathless; London Design Festival 2005; resfest 2005

Film: Howl's Moving Castle; Perfect Partner: Kim Gordon, Tony Ousler, Jim O'Rourke...; resfest 2005; The Reading Frenzy / Harold And Maude

Performance: Wollstonecraft Live!

Symposium: London As A Fashion Capital

Theatre: Switch Triptych

CD Review: Pete Fowler

 
WEDNESDAY 21 SEPTEMBER
Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | TueOngoing | Features

FASHION / SYMPOSIUM LONDON AS A FASHION CAPITAL

Royal Academy

Wednesday 21 September [1 - 6pm ]

Burlington House, Piccadilly, W1 T:020.7300.8000 Tube: Piccadilly Circus
general £8 (tickets may be purchased on the door) | concessions £6

Does London really live up to its title of Fashion Capital? If it's measured by the number of fashion students, start-up fashion mags, aspiration and big ideas -- then we are on to a winner. If, however, a capital of fashion should be measured by how much we choose to invest through new-business grants, good education and apprentices, to investment in manufacturing, research and textiles -- then we may not be so hot. Come on, let's admit it, those of us not working in fashion don't always give it the respect it deserves, and it's this general feeling of mockery that holds us back from believing we are actually really good at it. But we are happy to take the perks, the visitors saying how stylish we can be and shopping down our main streets looking for London's innovative fashion. But there won't be any innovation unless we start to respect our industry at all levels. ON/OFF during this season of Fashion Week takes a smart look at the industry, asking these questions and more importantly getting the movers, shakers, theorists, educators and new talent together to discuss, improve and celebrate not just the name but the substance of London Fashion Capital.

NB: speakers in the symposium include among others Zowie Broach (Boudicca), Angela McRobbie (Goldsmiths), Amy Molyneux (PPQ), Uscha Pohl (Very magazine) and Ken Watson (Director of Fashion Industry Forum).

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DEBATE IS ART MUSIC? IS MUSIC ART?

Chinawhite

Wednesday 21 September [6:30pm - 8pm]

6 Air St., W1 T:0871.075.1734 Tube: Piccadilly Circus
£8 (with free glass of wine)

It's almost too good to be true: Chinawhite, that risible bastion of bling, Cristal and footballer's spouses, is playing host to a heated debate! Nevertheless, this ironic choice of venue will surely offer a stimulating evening. The panel is here to discuss the interaction and relationship between art and music. It was the mighty Herbie Hancock who once eloquently remarked that "Music happens to be an art form that transcends language". We all know some of our more opulent pop idols (Madge Ritchie, Reginal Dwight et al) are partial to a piece of art, just as the likes of Damien Hirst have at some stage dabbled with music. Exactly what the panel feels about the subject will be interesting to some, and for others perhaps insightful, contentious or even pretentious. Discussing these matters will be three eminently qualified panellists including Turner Prize winner Martin Creed, Gillian Moore (MBE Artistic Director of London Sinfonietta) and Radio 3's Tom Service, music critic from the Guardian. Informed interjections or musical bursts will inevitably be welcome from the crowd, and who knows, on leaving, the arty attendees may concentrate more on the beats, whilst the more musical might take up the canvas: doubtful, but thought provoking nonetheless.

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PERFORMANCE WOLLSTONECRAFT LIVE!

Unitarian Chapel

Wednesday 21 September [21/09 at 7pm and 22/09 to 24/09 at 7 and 8:30pm]

39 Newington Green, N16 T:020.7269.1606 Tube: Old St.
general £10 | concessions £5 (including residents -- bring proof of address)

Stoke Newington was a haven for radicals and bohemians over 200 years ago, a horse ride -- read a hop on the 73 bus -- out of the capital away from the scorn of the Establishment. It's inspiring to know that the great Mary Wollstonecraft, author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, was once resident in Newington Green. Now she walks the Green again, a guest of site-specific performance artists Fragments & Monuments in Wollstonecraft Live! We watch scenes from a fictional biopic of her life played out in the Unitarian Chapel (where she once taught) then walk outside stalked by film crews to become extras in a tracking shot replaying a pivotal moment in her life. Film and interactive performance collide as the past crashes into the present community. This could be a thrilling interrogation of the nature of biography and true celebrity, and an involving viewing for current residents.

NB: runs from 21/09 to 24/09.

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CONCERT DON'T LOOK BACK: BLUES EXPLOSION / GANG OF FOUR

Wednesday 21 September [Wed 21/09 at 7:30pm / Sat 24/09 at 7pm]

KOKO / Barbican
£15 / £25

ATP are best known for their artist-curated festivals, succinctly described by Thurston Moore as "the ultimate mix tape". Don't Look Back, a series of retrospective concerts, is an intriguing flipside to that coin, featuring distinguished artists and bands, each performing a selected album in its entirety. The Stooges, Dinosaur Jr, Lemonheads and Mudhoney have already done their bit -- and this coming week sees more fodder from the shelf labelled "reference" in the form of Blues Explosion (KOKO on Wed 21/09) and Gang of Four (Barbican on Sat 24/09), both of which are timely concerts given the buzzing sound currently surrounding everything related to punk rock, blues or post punk.

Blue Explosion will be doing Orange, the 1994 album that (according to the blurb) "launched a rock and roll revolution". The album is an apt entry point for those who are sick of feeling like they really ought to listen to some Jon Spencer at some point -- and a piece of pure ramshackle-flavoured magic for those who already have. Some surprises are guaranteed: rumours are abroad (OK OK again provided by the press release) of a string section being brought in to recreate some of the original arrangements. Thinking about it though, that album had an illustrious cameo from none other than Beck. Now that would be a real surprise...

Three days into the future, the newly reformed Gang of Four go a further 15 years into the past, presenting Entertainment!, their momentous, archly political 1979 classic that has been shamelessly burgled by just about everyone with that punky, funky, Franz-y sound so chic in Drowned in Sound-land at the moment (minus the Marxist overtones).

Giveaway: we have two copies of Orange to give away. They'll go to two randomly picked Flashers who can tell us in which two bands John Spencer was part of before Blues Explosion.

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THURSDAY 22 SEPTEMBER
Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | TueOngoing | Features

FESTIVAL IHT: BREATHLESS

Curzon Soho

Thursday 22 September [7:30pm]

93-107 Shaftesbury Ave., W1 T:020.7439.4805 Tube: Leicester Sq./Piccadilly
general £8.50 | concessions £5.50

The International Herald Tribune's first ever arts season, which includes theatre, dance, talks and more, opens with Jean Luc Godard's New Wave classic Breathless (A bout de souffle). The film also lends its title to the season. An inspired choice considering the number of times the newspaper's title is yelled out by Jean Seberg's character, who sells the IHT (back then it was called the New York Herald Tribune) to passers-by on the streets of Paris. She plays opposite Jean Paul Belmondo's nihilistic thug, who becomes obsessed with terrifying and impressing the beautiful young American girl. The combination of Raoul Coutard's maverick hand-held cinematography, Godard's thrilling and unpredictable plot and the stylish backdrop of '60s Paris make Breathless one of cinema's great masterpieces.

NB: the screening will be followed by an IHT hosted talk on Jean-Luc Godard and the New Wave. The festival runs till 24/12.

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FRIDAY 23 SEPTEMBER
Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | TueOngoing | Features

FILM HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE

Friday 23 September

various cinemas across London
check press for times and ticket prices

Just how much Hayao Miyazaki has managed to capture the imagination of Western audiences is evident in the cast of voice-overs used for his latest animated adventure. Hollywood stars Christian Bale, Lauren Bacall, Billy Crystal and Emily Mortimer all contribute to making Howl's Moving Castle the most glamorous and eagerly anticipated of Miyazaki's feature films. Set in a world resembling 18th-century Europe, Howl's Moving Castle follows the story of Cinderella-like hat maker Sophie, who stumbles into a world of witches, wizards and magical power struggles when she catches the eye of young wizard Howl. As with Miyazaki's masterpiece Spirited Away, criticism of adult society is a key characteristic of its young heroes. Howl risks his life fighting against a pointless bloody war accepted by a shallow society. Sophie's fickle family are ignorant of her endless work at the hat shop. Against this critical backdrop Miyazaki presents an unmissable array of flying ships, blobby ghouls, obese witches, witty demons and strange spells. Though not as clever and well-scripted as Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle is still a staggering showcase of one of animation's wildest and most wonderful imaginations.

NB: Howl's Moving Castle is released in London on 23/09. For anime fans catch the UK premiere of Ghost In The Shell II on 28/09 at the NFT (part of resfest 2005).

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CONCERT EMOTIONAL ORCHESTRA

Tate Modern

Friday 23 September [7:30pm - 8:30pm]

Bankside, SE1 T:020.7887.8888 Tube: Southwark/Blackfriars
FREE

Composer/Artist Marina Rosenfeld has put together an "Emotional Orchestra": 30 female players of bowed string instruments, of varying experience, playing in accordance with Rosenfeld's video-graphic scores, expressing emotions through bow movements. This is the start of the series of Her Noise events at the South London Gallery and Tate Modern, including work from Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon. These events are designed to encourage women to get involved with sonic art, after the realisation that there were so few practicing female sonic artists.

NB: on the same night Park Sounds at the Serpentine Pavilion presents Paul Panhuysen and Steve Roden literally stringing up and playing the building.

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SATURDAY 24 SEPTEMBER
Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | TueOngoing | Features

BENEFIT / FILM THE READING FRENZY / HAROLD AND MAUDE

Horse Hospital

Saturday 24 September

Colonnade Tube: Russell Sq
£7 (screening)

Eclectic off-kilter event to help someone's dream come true! If you like books you will love The Reading Frenzy, every book is just £1. Yes, £1 for cult books, graphic novels, classics, art books, and special edditions! Famous authors, journalists, publishers, artists, etc. have donated books already, but basically everyone who goes can take bags of their books they don't want anymore and dedicate them to the cause. And what is the cause? A very special lady and her child who suffers from Cerebral Palsy. Chloe Eudaly runs Reading Frenzy in Portland, Oregon, USA, and she is that Lady. For years she's given space to lots of artists, poets, writers, comic artists and activists, including our Brits and now after years of hard work and caring she deserves a trip to London at the least, but luckily that's exactly what her dream is and we can make it happen by joining one of the biggest events in the book year! Also afterwards catch classic cult film comedy from 1971, Harold and Maude, which is being specially screened alongside 1980 New Wave movie Times Square, an anti-ageist romance meets Tim Curry to the soundtrack of The Ramones and XTC. A mad, mad bargain event for all the right reasons.

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CLUB / DJ DANNY KRIVIT, ANDREW WEATHERALL...

Canvas

Saturday 24 September [10pm - 6am]

King's Cross Goods Yard (off York Way), N1 T:020.7833.8301 Tube: King's Cross
general £15 | concessions £12 (advance)

Following the success of their summer boat party, WhistleBump ease us into the shorter nights and drizzle of autumn by bringing back legendary NYC DJ and king of the nu-soul and house re-edit, Danny Krivit, for a September fandango at Canvas. Krivit's style fits perfectly with the Whistlebump policy of quality, soulful dance music for a discerning adult audience, and while this may seem like an invitation for the jaded ex-teds to turn up and reminisce about how no modern club could top the '94 after-parties at Kris Needs' house and whinge about the poor quality of today's recreational substances, the reality couldn't be further from the truth -- the nights are always crackers with a laid-back, happy crowd. And as if Krivit isn't enough of a draw to the bash, stellar WhistleBump residents Simon Haggis and Andy Crowther will also be joined by none other than Andrew Weatherall, the original moody DJ, evil genius behind the Sabres of Paradise and superstar DJ since the year dot. He'll be playing a "dub funk" set, whatever that is, but let's face it -- he could play medieval canticles and shake a tambourine and still manage to tear the roof off the venue.

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SUNDAY 25 SEPTEMBER
Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | TueOngoing | Features

DESIGN / FESTIVAL LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL 2005

Sunday 25 September [15/09 to 30/09]

various lacotions across London
Various

The London Design Festival has grown at a steady rate and the arrival of Autumn means an orgy of events whether it's London Fashion Week, Open House... one is spoilt for choice. The festival was opened with an inaugural speech by our Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown who gave an unimpressive and supportive speech without mentioning the tired line about the exodus of designers going abroad. Instead he quoted some healthy figures as to what design contributes to lining the governments pockets, all this in the surroundings of the National Gallery and talk of a pavilion that was to be erected to mark the design festival but was turned down by Westminster Council, well there is a limit to a politician's influence. Icon magazine has published the official guide to the London design festival with listings of 170 events.

Here is a pick of some of the events:

Timorous Beasties
Thu 15/09 to Fri 30/09

Well worth a visit, SCP has been at the forefront of British manufacturing and design and this year they have teamed up with the enfant terrible of wallpaper and textile design and runners-up for the Design Museum's Designer of the Year Prize to upholster some of SCP's leading designs. Socially aware Toile de Joie fabrics adorn the furniture.

Established and Sons
Thu 22/09 to Sun 25/09

E&S have chosen the Bus Depot in Hoxton to do their British Launch of furniture. With a hand picked bunch of leading architects and designers such as Zaha Hadid and Amanda Levete from Future Systems, it will be interesting to see how this company does in light of its ambitions to produce all pieces in the UK with growing expertise in manufacturing in the East.

100% Design
Thu 22/09 to Sun 25/09

The event held at Earl's Court has grown from not only a showcase of designers, furniture and product retailers but also incorporates 100% Detail a show demonstrating some of the latest building materials. The fair will showcase new products by Pearson Lloyd, lights by Matthew Hilton for Bradley and a show of enterprising young designers fresh out of design school.

Design UK Selection
Thu 22/09 to Sun 25/09

For the third year running DESIGN UK is celebrating the wealth of British talent with an exhibition that brings together new and established designers. The New Designers Selection a pick of the best to have emerged form UK design schools will also be on show.

Designer's Block
Thu 22/09 to Sun 25/09

Designer's Block is in its eighth year, and has introduced the public to a range of London's unseen buildings. This year the venue is Nichols & Clarke Buildings (3-10 Shoreditch High Street), the anti-corporate buzz is a welcome tonic to the gloss of the big name furniture showrooms.

NB: London Design Festival runs till 30/09.

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MONDAY 26 SEPTEMBER
Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | TueOngoing | Features

THEATRE SWITCH TRIPTYCH

Soho Theatre

Monday 26 September [7:30pm daily and 4pm matinees on 17/09, 24/09 and 01/10]

21 Dean St., W1 T:020.7478.0100 Tube: Tottenham Court Rd./Leicester Sq.
general £10 - £20 (£7.50 matinees) | concessions £10 - £15

American company The Riot Group have now racked up four Fringe Firsts in Edinburgh in five years, with this their latest work -- the text written for the company and directed by wunderkind Adriano Shaplin -- again bearing that prize. Unlike the topicality of previous offerings, it plunges back to 1919 to tackle the ever-present. The matriarchy of a New York telephone exchange dominated by the wisecracking Lucille (extraordinary Stephanie Viola) is threatened by managers bringing in automation. But this ain't simplistic political fare, but a complex, living situation that splits our sympathy: Lucille is a fabulous monster, revelling in prejudice, corruption and booze; the sense and sensibility of an English union mole is counterpoised to the practically imperfect solidarity of the workplace. It's the snap and crackle of humanity at stake. But more: this work has integrity of expression and total theatricality of form that might leave gasping those diddy critics more tuned into character-filled televisual theatre. What you also can't miss is the sheer visceral pleasure of Shaplin's patter punched home by an incredibly fine ensemble of actors hitting the top of the game. It's funny like screwball, and it climaxes with Dorothy Parker versus The Robot -- what's not to like? Uncompromisingly brilliant entertainment.

NB: runs till 08/10.

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TUESDAY 27 SEPTEMBER
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ARCHITECTURE / DEBATE ANGLO FILES: DAVID ADJAYE, ALISON BROOKS...

RIBA

Tuesday 27 September [6:30pm]

66 Portland Place, W1 T:020.7580.5533 Tube: Regent's Park/Portland St.
general £8 | concessions £5

Renowned architecture critic Hugh Pearman recently dubbed him "a kind of circus ringmaster, cracking his magic whip", Time magazine wrote that he's "the young wonder of the London design world", while the Guardian's Dejan Sudjic concluded that he "may be under 40, but he has already garnered more column inches than most architects get in a lifetime of practice". Artists Chris Ofili and Olafur Eliasson are amongst his clients, as is actor Ewan McGregor. He is easily the most famous black architect in the UK (or should that be in the world?), with a range of high-profile commissions under his belt: Elektra House, Dirty House, the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo, Norway. He is David Adjaye, and when he's not churning out stunning buildings from his studio in a run-down street in Shoreditch, he participates in discussions such as this, to celebrate the publication of Lucy Bullivant's new book Anglo Files: UK Architecture's Rising Generation (Thames and Hudson). Joining Adjaye's magic circus on this evening are five of his architectural competitors: Simon Allford, Paul Monaghan (Allford Hall Monaghan Morris), Alison Brooks, Dominic Papa (S333) and Deborah Saunt (DSDHA).

NB: on Fri 25/11 (6pm) catch Lucy Bullivant as she gives a talk at Central Saint Martins.

Giveaway: we have two copies of Anglo Files: UK Architecture's Rising Generation to give away. They'll go to two randomly picked Flashers who can tell us the name of the architect that KF interviewed back February of 2004.

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FESTIVAL / FILM RESFEST 2005

NFT

Tuesday 27 September [27/09 to 02/10]

South Bank, SE1 T:020.7928.3232 Tube: Embankment/Waterloo
check site for times and ticket prices

Banned Scandinavian TV ads, a retrospective of the music videos of Beck, and the premiere of Mike Mills' first feature, Thumbsucker starring Vincent D'Onofrio and Tilda Swinton as the parents of a 17-year-old trying to overcome his oral obsession -- what does all this have in common? They are all part of resfest, the festival of innovative moving image -- so much more than just an awesome short film festival! For a few days, resfest pops into town and squeezes itself into the NFT, where even the box office crew stare in amazement at the sell-out queues of well-dressed London film fans. You can see them thinking: "but it's just a bunch of wacky short films. We weren't expecting crowds like this". It's not too soon to describe resfest as a cult festival.

Here are our picks:

Gala Opening Night: Shorts One
Tue 27/09 at 8:45pm

London loves opening nights. This also gets a vote because one of the short films in this line up is described thus: "Overtime is an emotive ode to Jim Henson's creative genius by French students Oury Atlan, Thibault Berland and Damien Ferrie' Definitely not expecting Meet The Feebles, but hopefully there'll be something witty, furry and French. Opening night sold out last year so don't miss out.

Feature: Thumbsucker (UK Premiere)
Thu 29/09 at 6:30pm

Mike Mills' highly anticipated feature film debut: an adaptation of Walter Kern's coming-of-age novel. The film follows the travails of 17-year old Justin Cobb and his family, as the hapless boy tries half-heartedly to "fix" his oral obsession by replacing it with a host of amusing alternatives, including Ritalin. Lou Taylor Pucci plays the confused Justin, Tilda Swinton his emphatic mother, Vincent D'Onofrio is his gruff father, and Keanu Reeves is the family "guru orthodontist". The music, most of it by the Polyphonic Spree, is terrific. Also screened are two of Mike Mills lesser-known short films, Architecture of Reassurance (1999) and Not How, What or Why But Yes (2004). Catch these on Sat 01/10 at 3:50pm and Sun 02/10 at 8:40pm.

Four Seasons of Traktor: A Retrospective
Thu 29/09 at 8:45pm and Sun 02/10 at 6pm

Having produced some of the most innovative and drop-on-your-knees funny commercials over the past decade, Scandinavian advertising collective Traktor have gathered enough awards and industry accolades to make the rest of the industry pea green with envy. Here's a showcase of the best, the banned and the bloody directors cuts!

Feature: Just For Kicks (UK Premiere)
Fri 30/09 at 6pm and Sat 01/10 at 4pm

This fast-paced documentary traces the evolution of sneakers, beginning with their early adoption by style warriors in the streets and ghettos of '70s New York City. From Run-DMC's role in catapulting Adidas into the consciousness of global youth culture, to Nike's visionary marketing strategies targeting urban populations worldwide, Just For Kicks turns interviews with sneaker freaks, musical legends, break-dancing greats and the designers and marketers of the products themselves into an entertaining exposition on the history of the world's most popular form of footwear.

Feature: Infamy (UK premiere)
Fri 30/09 at 8:45pm and Sat 8:30pm

Acclaimed documentarian Doug Pray's Infamy, is an intense journey into the lives and minds of seven people obsessed with graffiti in all its forms, from simple vandalism, tagging and "throw-ups", to publicly sanctioned large productions and murals. Shot primarily in New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Los Angeles, the film offers day-in-the-life segments with highly regarded graffiti writers SABER, ENEM, CLAW, TOOMER, EARSNOT, JASE, and Joe "the graffiti guerilla" Connolly. Infamy also features numerous interviews and scenes with the friends, families and fellow crew members of the film's central magnificent seven.

Beck Retrospective
Sat 01/10 at 4:15pm and Sun 02/10 at 2pm

This collection tracks the visual side of the trailblazing artist's fascinating career, from his early videos with Steve Hanft, to groundbreaking marriages of music and moving image with such luminaries as Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, Mark Romanek, Stephan Sednaoui, Shynola and more.

XL Recordings retrospective
Sat 01/10 at 4:15pm and Sun 02/10 at 2pm

Basement Jaxx, M.I.A., Prodigy, Lemon Jelly and Dizzee Rascal all call XL Recordings home. This "greatest hits"-style package of music videos the label has commissioned includes new and favourite workfrom some of the above and more. The starry roster of directors includes Michel Gondry, Ruben Fleischer, Hammer and Tongs and Airside.

Keynote Director: Anton Corbijn
Sat 01/10 at 8:45pm

Anton Corbijn, legendary music photographer and video director, gives the 2005 Director Keynote address, alongside screenings of a selection of his own work, and a Q&A hosted by film journalist Paul Morely.

The Battle: DJ Yoda vs Eclectic Method
Sun 02/10 at 8pm

Closing night sees DJ Yoda, hot from his sold out global tour, take on Eclectic Method -- a throwdown battle in the spirit of the old block party sound clashes.

NB: resfest 2005 LDN runs from 27/09 till 02/10.

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ONGOING & UPCOMING
Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | TueFeatures

CONCERT SMOG

Scala

Wednesday 28 September [7:30pm]

275-277 Pentonville Rd., N1 T:020.7833.2022 Tube: King's Cross
£15 (advance)

Twelve albums down the line and Smog -- the alias of lo-fi pioneer Bill Callahan -- continues to exist within the realm of obscurity, resurfacing every couple of years to divulge a new album and play a selection of intimate gigs. Conforming to the loner mould of a long line of great American artists, Callahan's simple, repetitive and sparse acoustic arrangements, characterised by a richly textured baritone vocal, immediately recall Leonard Cohen and Will Oldham. Lyrically centred around themes of extreme alienation and emotional pessimism, Callahan's unsettling narratives are imbued with a distinctive bleakness and black humour (example song title, "Live Your Life As If Someone Is Watching"). Recent album A River Ain't Too Much Love may not be as bare or fraught as some of Smog's earlier works, yet it is no less inspiring, haunting or beautiful. In truth, this gig won't be a party and, at this point of his career, Callahan is unlikely to suddenly gain a great many more appreciators beyond his loyal devotees. However, this rare appearance is an enchanting prospect, offering the unique occasion of pure lyrical and musical honesty.

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DANCE SYLVIE GUILLEM AND RUSSELL MALIPHANT

Sadler's Wells

Friday 30 September [Fri 30/09m to Mon 03/10 at 7:30pm]

Rosebery Avenue, EC1 T:020.7863.8000 Tube: Angel
£5 - £40

Sylvie Guillem and Russell Maliphant have already collaborated and together with the Ballet Boyz brought us the magical Two and Broken Fall. This time Maliphant himself takes to the stage along with the world acclaimed uber-ballerina. The programme features two world premieres, Guillem's solo Push and a duet with Maliphant. Also on the bill Maliphant's signature solo Shift (1996), a romantic, elegiac solo danced by Maliphant and disappearing shadows. Reflecting the flow and energy between movement and light, the three pieces are complemented by lighting designed by Maliphant's long-time collaborator Michael Hulls, with music by Woman of the Year 1997 Shirley Thompson for her contribution to the arts (Shift) and Andrew Cowton (Push). This world premiere will be one to remember, and with the Jerwood Proms you can "Stand Up For Dance" and practice your plies for only £5 on Friday 30/09! (Runs from 30/09 to 03/10.)

NB: on 01/10 meet both Sylvie Guillem and Russell Maliphant after the performance. This event is part of Dance Umbrella 2005 which runs till 13/11.

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ART / CONCERT / FILM PERFECT PARTNER: KIM GORDON, TONY OURSLER, JIM O'ROURKE...

Barbican Centre

Sunday 2 October [7:30pm]

Barbican Centre, EC2 T:020.7638.8891 Tube: Barbican
£12.50 - £20

What was the only thing you ever wanted in a car? A girl, a boy, a 40 billion watt soundsystem, ejector seat cigarette lighter, oilslick anti-enemy gun, a nodding pope, one of those great gizmos for holding your drink? Or was it just a way of getting there, with some stimulating ideas and an art noise soundtrack. We suspect Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon would choose the latter. In Perfect Partner, her experimental journey into film making, she rides with video artist and filmmaker Phil Morrison into a whirlwind of thoughts and sounds, attacking advertising, automobiles and gender stereotyping with the ferocity Thurston Moore attacks his guitar. For this live Barbican event only, Moore's here too, along with fellow radical adult Jim O'Rourke. While we love the Pixies for re-forming and giving us a nostalgic hit in the arm, and even Mudhoney have been back in town to give ageing grungers another dose of Superfuzz Bigmuff, it's only really the members of Sonic Youth who are mapping new roads, blending their sound with the visual arts and finding radical new perspectives. Don't expect this from The Bravery in 15 years' time.

Giveaway: we have a pair of tickets to give away. They'll go to one randomly picked Flasher who can tell us the name of the one Sonic Youth album that KF has reviewed.

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ART CANDICE BREITZ

White Cube

Ends Saturday 8 October [Tue to Sat 10am - 6pm]

48 Hoxton Square, N1 T:020.7930.5373 Tube: Old St.
FREE

It's hard to tell with Breitz if she is mocking or honouring her celebrity subjects. In the work Mother + Father, a pitch black room of mothers, removed from their surroundings and the object of their maternal protestations, six big Hollywood actresses are subsumed and cut together to form a new drama of Breitz's making. Each actress dominates her own monitor, fading in and out of black to deliver her contribution to a dialogue of tortured agonising on the varied success of her parenting skills. In a second room six correspondingly successful actors play the fathers but are markedly more philosophical. Together these disembodied characters perform as both complement and adversary. It's a dance of reassuring imagery that is as unnerving as it is successful, however pale in comparison it is to Breitz's second work, Queen (A Portrait of Madonna). In a contrasting room of white you are bombarded by a wall of singers giving you their best performance of Madonna's greatest hits. Heartfelt and painfully overacted the singers try desperately to be Madonna. Occasionally singing out of time or adlibbing they are perfect in their adoration. It's all about mediation and power and Breitz is very good at wielding both. (Runs till 08/10.)

NB: Mother + Father can also be seen in Venice at the Biennale in The Experience of Art group show at the Italian Pavilion (till 06/11). Back in London for another excellent but different video exhibition make sure you check out Oliver Payne and Nick Relph at the Serpentine Gallery (till 02/10).

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ART BARRY MCGEE

Modern Art

Ends Sunday 30 October [Thu to Sun 11am - 6pm]

10 Vyner St., E2 T:020.8980.7742 Tube: Bethnal Green
FREE

Sad sacks, urban decay, artistic failure -- this is what would flash by on subway cars if introverts tagged the world. In the meantime we'll head over to Modern Art to catch Barry McGee's graffiti, which grows more technically accomplished by the minute. McGee (aka Twist) is one of the few who have benefited from San Francisco's general inferiority to New York -- an inferiority so vast and historical we need not even go into the reasons for it. New York perfected graffiti as an urban art, eventually sharing it with San Francisco -- which was not without its ruffians -- to be sure, and McGee was one of them. McGee and others twinned graffiti with the emerging punk and junk movements -- a task New York would have done, if it hadn't been so busy dealing with junk of the more muscle-relaxing variety. McGee brought this San Franciscan graffiti into the galleries, capitalising on its energy and enthusiasm to produce the wild and thrilling urbanesque installations and surprisingly affecting graffiti figures for which he is so justly famous. And the art world has brought it to you, proud citizens of the world's second, and equally fantastic, capital. (Runs till 30/10.)

NB: also showing across the road in Modern Art's new space is Barry McGee's wife Clare E. Rojas.

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FEATURES
Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | TueOngoing

CD REVIEW
THE SOUNDS OF
MONSTERISM ISLAND

Various Artists
Compiled By Pete Fowler

Forever Heavenly
UK release date: 26/09/2005

If the name Pete Fowler, doesn't immediately ring a bell, you'll certainly be familiar with his work. The Welsh-born, London-based artist has long illustrated sleeves for Super Furry Animals and is responsible for the recent cartoon incarnation of The Magic Numbers. However Fowler is principally known for Monsterism -- a range of ridiculously collectible toys which resemble an (even more) acid-addled version of The Magic Roundabout. You can build your own here. The Sounds Of Monsterism Island is an imaginary soundtrack to the world of these gonzo figurines and rocks in thatcute, psychedelic way of all the best cartoons. From the Haight-Ashbury freak folk of the The United States Of America's "The Garden OF Earthy Delights" to kitsch interludes like John Baker's "Milky Whey" this dinky conceptual universe is a delight. Fowler's Desert Island Discs also include Clarence "Frogman" Henry's joyous jive "Ain't Got No Home" -- which shows just how he got his moniker -- and Silver Apples' loopy "Program" which spins Vivaldi's Four Seasons in much the same way as A Clockwork Orange meant you'd never listen to Beethoven's Ninth in quite the same manner again.

 
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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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