Featuring on a Kitsune Maison compilation is likely to lead to people scrabbling to any dubious corner to get your music. Probably even Oxford Circus on a Wednesday night. Lucky for My Ex Boyfriend's Records that they decided to get in Joseph Mount and co, aka Metronomy, for the opening night of their residency at the Social. Ever since penning some stunning riffs for last year's Pip Paine the Devon and Brighton boys have stormed North America's indie establishment and fought off comparisons with Lo-Fi-Fnk and Hot Chip. OK OK, so this is merely a DJ set, but you can bet on some new infectious loops and hooks. So what of hosts MEBR DJs? They say they're populists, handy with kitsch pop done retro, but as one James Murphy might advise, after this night they should be selling their gramophones and buying synthesisers.

NB: on 05/04 at Scala catch Metronomy playing along with The Presets.

Rotozaza, known for their use of unrehearsed performers following instructions in Doublethink and Romcom, have developed this principle further with Etiquette by doing away with the audience entirely, arriving at a scripted encounter between two people. You and your partner (roles A and B) listen through headphones, sometimes being prompted to repeat lines you hear and asked to fulfil simple actions, such as lean forwards as if asking a question. The two roles are different and you become aware of a tight choreography governing your exchanges. The fictional situations that the soundtrack rattles through are often reflections upon the real situation in which you, as an audience / participant, are engaged in, lending the work a formal self-referential quality. Etiquette is an innovative prototype destined to be copied, adapted and popularised, which opens up an intriguing set of possibilities that it only begins to uncover in its 30 minutes.

NB: runs till 31/05 at both the Arcola Theatre and Shunt Lounge (for booking details click here). For more experimental theatre make sure you check out SPILL which runs till 22/04.

Acid techno is ripening towards retro status more by the day, since Richard D James is now past 35 and people who now use the word rave with the most gusto probably think the Klaxons or NME invented the smiley face. We doubt Luke Vibert cares much for either. Having been one of Mr James' earliest labelmates on Rephlex, he knows a thing or two about raves. While Aphex Twin went on to world domination, Vibert continued to make deftly original techno records that helped put Warp and acid on the map. This line-up looks like a chapter of the genre's history, with granddaddy Mr Egg's group Egebamyasi and Vibert's label boss at Planet Mu, Mike Paradinas, playing among others. If you're looking for a history lesson this could be it. Questions? Ask a guy called Fail who has been known to follow the genre; he'll also be playing his HDJ wonders.

Almost certainly London's longest running techno party, Lost has been an institution for too many years to consider. And whilst techno and electro have flitted in and out of fashion and Lost has veered between giant warehouse parties and their more intimate Spacebase club two things have remained constant, the quality of the music and the incredible atmosphere. This weekend expect the legendary sound-system and dark pit of a dance-floor at Plastic People to get a good working over as Lost resident Steve Bicknell joins forces with Italo legend and electro pioneer Alexander Robotnick for a deeper, more leftfield exploration of electronic dance music that will have the devoted crowd climbing the walls by 3am.

NB: for more quality techno and electro but in a much larger setting check out Pier Bucci (live) and Damian Lazarus, Andrew Weatherall, Ivan Smagghe and Black Strobe (live) playing at Fabric on the same night.

This Easter weekend sees promoter types Issst continue to keep the warehouse vibe alive and kicking. After seeing in 2007 in the company of the new rave royalty and lots of sweaty, smiling revellers, Isst have invited some extra special guests down this bank holiday for another "secret warehouse party" (are there really that many secret warehouses in east London?). Output Recordings may have closed last September, but Trevor Jackson reputation for pushing electronic music new and old should make for an extremely exciting DJ set. Paul Epworth, aka Phones, has become one of the most in demand producers of recent times, so you should view this as an opportunity to catch Epworth before Madonna invariably asks him to produce her next reinvention. With Get Physical's Jay Haze's (half of Fuckpony) predilection for dark acidic chugging house music, this makes for an interesting triumvirate of headline acts.

Read Karen Kilimnik's London press and you imagine weak, wishy-washy painting, but check out this show and you'll find the painter's equivalent of Sofia Coppola. Is she lost in translation, stuck in foreign lands, or eliding period features to contemporary style? Yes, yes and yes! Rather than virtuoso skill, cutting criticality or pomo intellectualisation, the Kilimnik style is expression; that is style in her subjects and style in the way she applies paint. Purpose and effect neatly dovetail into images of horses, candy-coated girls and pop stars... think of Buffy, that vampire slayer's attitude. But unlike la Coppola, Kilimnik's maturity allows her to coat her youthful exuberance with layered references. This time the Serpentine, with its painted rooms, odd installations and largish backyard, provide a theatrical backdrop to Kilimnik's vision. But honestly what is it with girls and horses?!

NB: runs till 09/04.

Trailer Trash has been a reliable source of dirty electro for quite a while now, with a particular knack for picking slightly smaller East End venues, and resident DJs Hannah Holland and Mikki Most are reassuringly fussy about their tunes. Both trends are happily intact for this birthday shindig, taking Trash's fashionista crowd out of the Shoreditch trough to an unfamiliar space and bringing in one of the (dare we say it) forgotten fathers of the "French touch", Etienne de Crecy. Now that Cassius is back on the scene starting to make some waves with Ed Banger friends, it's quite appropriate that his ex-collaborator gets some wheels. Expect some truly authentic analogue synths and electro-house beats. The ever-clever Radioclit and Skull Juice will have to work hard not to look like young pretenders by comparison.

One of London's great, old institutions (at least as far as music nights in pubs are concerned) is The Klinker -- the unstoppable, cabbage-wearing Hugh Metcalfe brings together world-class free improv musicians to rub shoulders with deranged poets, spectacularly bad bands and everything else that you won't find anywhere else for good measure (including Metcalfe's super-8 videos). This is the second time this year he's been let loose at The Vortex club for a "special". This evening features "everything beginning with 'B'" for the authentic Sesame Street effect: Bert Shaft Orchestra, Bypass Now Open (Loz Speyer, Neil and Hugh Metcalfe, Marcio Mattos), Liz Bentley and Bitten By A Monkey (Dylan and Roland Bates, Steve Myers). Long Live The Klinker!

NB: The Klinker takes place every Thursday at the Ivy House Pub, Nunhead and every Friday at the Black Horse, Holloway.

Whereas American culture has extensively documented the plight of Buffalo Soldiers during the Civil War, the North African recruits who were sent to defend untenable positions and fight for France in extreme conditions during WWII had yet to be honoured. That is, until the release of Days Of Glory. Indeed, Algerian director Rachid Bouchareb's epic is a classic war story dedicated to the unsung heroes who would have been the first to liberate Alsace. The film uses conventional means to tell the extraordinary story of simple lives forever changed by extraordinary circumstances. It deploys a good balance between poignant moments and searing battle scenes, and the very touching performances by Roschdy Zem as the charismatic leader Messaoud and Jamel Debbouze as the naive Said carry the viewer through what might have otherwise been cliches of the genre. Watch out for the Oscar buzz...

NB: films of note released this week and next week are El Topo (06/04), The Caiman (06/04), The Lives Of Others (13/04) and Zhang Yimou's Curse Of The Golden Flower (13/04).

Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's impressively handled debut feature tells a tale of love and tenderness in East Germany, under the oppressive regime of the Socialist Unity Party, circa 1984. Captain Wiesler (Ulrich Muhe) of the notorious Stasi, the Gestapo-like police arm of the Party, is given the task of spying on gifted liberal playwright Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch) and his girlfriend Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck). Wiesler bugs Georg's flat, recording the most intimate exchanges between Georg, Christa-Maria and their bohemian friends. But the more Wiesler is exposed to the everyday "lives of others", the more he questions the cruel ideology he upholds. Von Donnersmarck skilfully mixes his palette: the Stasi scenes all cold, silvery grey-blue, while Georg's flat glows with warm orangey-brown hues. This year's foreign language Oscar winner The Lives Of Others is a powerful plea to replace totalitarian rule with heartfelt human interaction.

Q&A
After the screening Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck will be present to receive the Satyajit Ray Award from Sir Richard Attenborough, and to answer questions. If you cannot make this screening then catch von Donnersmarck for another post screening Q&A on 12/04 (6:20pm) at the Curzon Soho.

NB: The Lives Of Others is released in London on 13/04. To celebrate its release on 15/04 the Curzon Soho and Renoir have programmed Germany In Tension: GDR And FDR, which comprises Berlin: Schoenhauser Corner (12pm), Suspicion (Der Verdacht) (1:50pm) and The Lost Honour Of Katharina Blum (12pm). Other films of note released this week and next week are El Topo (06/04), The Caiman (06/04) and Zhang Yimou's Curse Of The Golden Flower (13/04).

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the great British romantic composer Edward Elgar, and a major festival is being held nationwide. In London the celebrations will be at the Southbank Centre, where we will have a chance to hear his most famous works being conducted and played by renowned Elgar interpreters. Elgar, the man behind Land Of Hope And Glory, deliberately invested a nationalistic flavour to his compositions. But this mood was not always one of simple optimism. Compositions such as the renowned Cello Concerto, written just after WWI, are far more explicitly melancholic. The performance on the 12th includes this majestic piece, along with the acclaimed Symphony no 1 (which received 100 performances in its first year alone!), and will be conducted by the great Elgar veteran, Sir Andrew Davies.

NB: on 19/04 (7:30pm) catch part two of this Elgar celebration.

Imagine a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western shot through with Christianity, Freud, magic realism, silent comedy, Artaud's Theatre Of Cruelty and Zen Buddhism. That's El Topo. Imagine a narrative arc loosely following a black-leather-clad-gunslinger-cum-sackcloth- sporting peacenik's journey through the eye-for-an-eye and passivity-at-any-price worlds of the Old and New Testaments. That's El Topo. And, imagine Peckinpah-like levels of violence and soft-porn like displays of coupling between men and women, men and men and women and women. That's El Topo. Well, actually, El Topo, played by director Jodorowsky, is a cowboy travelling through the desert with his naked seven-year-old son. In the first half of the film, he takes on the top four master gunfighters in the land. In the second half, he strives to free a community of disabled people from underground imprisonment. Wonderfully weird and bewildering in equal measure, and beloved by John Lennon, this is hallucinatory cinema without resorting to chemicals.

On-Stage Interview
Following the screening of El Topo on 13/04 Alejandro Jodorowsky will be present for an on-stage interview. Chilean born but French naturalised actor, director, producer and composer Jodorowsky is revered in the world of underground film for his cult classics. He's also a comic book writer and a leading expert on Tarot. In 2005 he officiated at the wedding at the wedding of Marilyn Manson and Dita Von Teese.

NB: El Topo is released in London on 06/04. Along with this special event the BFI Southbank is also screening two of Jodorowsky's other films, Fando Y Lis (06/04 till 10/04) and The Holy Mountain (05/04 till 14/04). Other films of note released this week and next week are The Caiman (06/04), The Lives Of Others (13/04) and Zhang Yimou's Curse Of The Golden Flower (13/04).

Following Yinka Shonibare's white flag flying at half-mast, Tracey Emin will be the second artist to unveil her design on Jubilee Gardens this month. Emin is well known for her use of fabric and patchwork, often subverting its inherently feminine and comforting character. Confession and statement have always been central to the artist's work and her flag One Secret Is To Save Everything will test her powers of communication writ large, as it is raised 100 feet up the flagpole. Comprising a collection of statements that appear to give the secret to happiness, the flag will give voice to divergent and unsettling ideas on this much contested subject. After the raising ceremony, as part of the 100 Ideas series, Emin discusses her idea of happiness in an artist's talk.

There's little dispute that The Horrors' image came before the sound. Faris and co were barely able to string a set together when they stumbled out of Southend a couple of years ago, but on the strength of some deadly serious goth punk attitude and a memorable Chris Cunningham take on "Sheena Is A Parasite" they landed posterboy status among a few of the right magazines. From there it could have been a predictable one-trick freefall towards certain disappearance; thankfully in the meantime they've managed to pull together their garage crashes and fuzz into an album that works a hell of a lot better than the EP. Add to that one of the best underground rock venues in south London, and that probably makes now a good time to catch them -- before the hype takes over once again.

Shunt Lounge continues its support for live art and performance by playing host to an eclectic troupe of professional wrestlers. Stars such as Team Beautiful, Robokop and local heavyweights Hugh Mungus and QT McFluff will be stepping out of the shadows and into the ring to battle it out with death-defying moves such as the Coco Butt, the English Octopus and the Filipino Guerrilla hold. In time-honoured tradition the relationship between audience and performer may well be stretched from intimate dialogue to a more raucous affair. This promises to be a night of extreme entertainment, of blood and ballyhoo, good and evil, honed athleticism and classic vaudeville, soon to find a new home in the Bethnal Green Workingmen's Club. Spectators bearing rotten fruit will be refused entry.

NB: for more experimental performance make sure you check out SPILL (runs till 22/04).

Crack the glowsticks and grab your airhorns; this weekend, Bang Face again features a line-up designed to draw the old ravers out of the woodwork. It's hard to determine now, due to the success of the night, whether or not the night's original, mildly ironic, rave ethos has been superseded by unalloyed hedonism and euphoria. Certainly, there are very few other clubs in London where the dress policy seems to be "make yourself look as crazy as possible" and "wear masks" and the acts on show range from the avant-garde to the unashamedly cheesy. Tonight, ex-Prodigy dancer Leeroy Thornhill takes to the decks along with Liquid (famed for old-school anthem "Sweet Harmony") and the usual supporting line-up of breaks, techno, grime, jungle, electro and old-school DJs.

Susan Collis' work is furnished with interventions that appear unscripted and lackadaisical, perhaps the residual marks of a previous show or the unfinished preparation for a forthcoming one. There are screws for hanging paintings, height markings on walls and holes in walls; far from abandoned these are in fact carefully scripted and meticulously measured "actions" by the artist. Easily overlooked and as easily disregarded Collis' works are almost invisible in their appropriation of rarely acknowledged detail. Residual paint splatters on a broom that rests propped against a wall (Waltzer) or a bucket catching drips from a "supposed" leaking ceiling (Without You The World Goes On) point towards the unseen. Gestures are realised through gemstones and jewels, gold and silver, standing in for paint spills, rawlplugs, screws and nails. In Collis' hands these everyday objects remain simple in manufacture but are transformed in their outcome.

NB: runs till 14/04. When East make sure you check out Momentary Momentum at Parasol unit (till 12/05), Martin Westwood at The Approach (till 15/04), David Blandy at Cell (till 15/04), Black & White at IBID Projects (till 15/04) and Simon Bedwell at MOT (till 28/04).

Punk Rock has always been a breeding ground for raw, hard edged noise as well as a kind of musical interchange where all politics and tastes converge to form something new, though often not for the weak of heart or overall constitution. In this spirit of intersection, This is Our Punk Rock brings together a diverse range of hardcore specialists in one neatly self contained all-day event. Featuring new work by the eclectic and prolific Venetian Snares, a set by electropunk Alec Empire, and generally titillating the senses with a line-up of audio-visual delicacies, TIOPR should take the edge off your week quite nicely. Mira Calix brings her own unique sound to the stage, along with Zan Lyons, Kweku Aacht, Ultre and Flat-e. Not to be missed, so get your tix quick.

If you like going clubbing because you want to listen to crisp, clean beats blasted out over an immaculately balanced soundsystem, then Fabric is the place for you. If you go clubbing because you love to dance... think knees and elbows. Particularly when Richie Hawtin's spinning. The Canadian crowd pleaser will be driving his usual stripped down and cerebral minimal techno to a sea of sweaty and adoring fans, who come out of the woodwork (and have been known to travel great distances -- so be prepared for a mob) just to hear Hawtin on Fabric's decks. He's paired up with John Gaiser whose style is every bit as dark as Hawtin's with edgy lashings of snaredrums and nigh-industrial percussion that should keep you moving all night.

NB: the weekend before catch Pier Bucci (live) and Damian Lazarus, Andrew Weatherall, Ivan Smagghe and Black Strobe (live) at Fabric.

You might remember Martin Westwood's Art Now installation at Tate Britain in 2005, using imagery depicting a car showroom to construct a multi-layered environment. There is again something really quite familiar about the objects and imagery presented in this new show, almost like an airport lounge, but yet it is so hard to place any kind of narrative amongst the collection of magazine cut outs, skyscraper images and leaf motifs. Five large, wall-based works are supported by two glass and upholstered table sculptures containing piles of uniformly cut-out images taken from blue-chip business brochures and air travel advertising. Some of these are piled on the glass tops, held down by large pebbles and stones. Westwood has also blocked off the windows of the gallery with false walls, which adds to the measured and systematic experience. The whole exhibition space seems to induce a kind of order, and becomes a kind of surreal corporate conference room.

NB: runs till 15/04. When East make sure you check out Momentary Momentum at Parasol unit (till 12/05), Susan Collis at Seventeen (till 14/04), David Blandy at Cell (till 15/04), Black & White at IBID Projects (till 15/04) and Simon Bedwell at MOT (till 28/04).

Whilst John Lydon may have famously scrawled "I Hate" across his Pink Floyd t-shirt signalling punk's "Year Zero" approach to progressive music, once the circus surrounding the Sex Pistols had died away the punkmeister did reveal a fondness for Van Der Graaf Generator. Darker and less bloated than their contemporaries it's not hard to see their appeal to open minded listeners, and when they reformed in 2005 for a show at the Royal Albert Hall tickets sold out in days. Now after a year's hiatus the band's original trio of Banton, Evans and Hammill are back for a series of shows including this performance at the Barbican and again tickets are expected to fly out.

Jeppe Hein is now lodged in London memory following the summer-long installation of Appearing Rooms on the Southbank last year, and his current Barbican solo show. The Southbank was not his introduction to our city, having been represented by Union gallery for several years and shown in the RCA curating show back in 2003. Still a young artist, Hein seems on the path to building a studio enterprise that rivals the volume and consistent quality of output of neighbouring Berlin studios like Olafur Eiiasson's. But back to the work: Hein's ingredients are movement and mechanics, whether kinetic, the illusion of animation or the viewer's interaction; his simple media make for ludic sculptures and animations that rarely fail to charm without abandoning formal origins. With luck the man behind the entertainment will be as engaging.

NB: Jeppe Hein's site specific installation Distance is on view at Barbican till 29/04. While there make sure you also catch the Alvar Aalto -- Through The Eyes Of Shigeru Ban exhibition that runs til 13/05.

War as a theme of artistic expression is a controversial subject and the use of song as protest has been the cry of the 20th century singer. For artistic duo Allora & Calzadilla, war is conceived as a giant concrete encased bunker (Clamor), resembling a collision of crystallised Planet Of The Apes cave design and gargantuan Darth Vader masks. During the course of the exhibition, and performed live at the opening, students from Guildhall and Goldsmiths will be performing from within the structure, only partially visible through slots cut into the sculptural surface. Comprising patriotic songs, military marches, revolutionary ballads, perversely stretched and adapted for the occasion, the music will offer an emblem of war as sonic warfare, the physicality of sound as weapon. Join these riders of the storm for a unique performance.

NB: Clamor is on view at the Serpentine till 29/04.

What is the future of the novel? Should it be digitised? Will it face a certain death with the rise of the blog? Or, is there still a place for it, as the feel of the page of a book is quite unique? In our brave new world of digital technology, these are some of the questions to which an array of literary luminaries turn their attention during this discussion. Author of dystopian fiction, such as The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood, joins Faber and Faber publisher Stephen Page, Literary Editor of the Times and acclaimed short story writer Erica Wagner, and Granta's contributing editor and one of its recent best young novelists, Andrew O'Hagan. Together, they promise to encourage us to think outside the book.

NB also at the Southbank Centre catch Tracy Chevalier as she reads from her new book, Burning Bright, and discusses her work with John Mullan, Professor of English at University College London on 16/04 at 7:45pm.

Clearly Boston's sparkling new Institute of Contemporary Art attracts the attention of the theory-hungry; one wrote that it stands, "demonstrative of a neo-avant-garde practice that uses formal, spatial, and technological invention to open new horizons of experience, ways of seeing, and organizations of life". In other words, we have many reasons to embrace this newly conscious-critical architecture. The creative force that emerges from the marriage of two architect-professors, manifest in this new space for Boston's 70-year old ICA, is the most prominent project to date of the interdisciplinary Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Two highly anticipated projects that New York is abuzz with include the Highline, an elevated park and jogging trail inset into a defunct rail track elevated above the city's Westside; and the beating heart of performing arts centres, a massive overhaul and re-facing of Lincoln Center. Those two projects alone are challenges of a lifetime.

NB: the talk is part of the Architecture Foundation's Real Architecture talks series. On 02/05 catch Nicholas Grimshaw as he discusses his Southern Cross Station in Melbourne, and on 22/05 Norman Foster as he discusses Wembley Stadium.

Its hard enough being 12 years old, but if you're a geeky only child, your dad's just been killed in the Falklands War and you're at a bit of a loose end as school breaks for summer, it's hard to look on the bright side. Add in Thatcher, the Royal Wedding and shockingly bad haircuts, and life is hell. Ripe for the plucking, Shaun (an amazing Thomas Turgoose) falls in with a group of benign skinheads, seemingly finding the family substitute he craves. But when Combo, one of their old -- more radical -- mates (Stephen Graham) returns from prison, life becomes polarised for everyone. This Is England, Shane Meadow's semi-autobiographical search for an identity -- at a complicated age and during a confusing time -- shows the seductive appeal of the certainty of charismatic radical figures, and the strong need to fit in.

On-Stage Interview
After this screening Shane Meadows will be on-stage for a Guardian Interview.

NB: This Is England is released in London on 27/04.

The man who for the last decade-and-a-half has traded under the soubriquet Smog (and stood assiduously to the side of the stage, even when playing solo!) has finally eschewed meteorology-based obfuscation and reverted to his plain old given name. Perhaps an ongoing romance with the helium-voiced singer-harpist and doyenne of the new folk movement, Joanna Newsom, has finally coaxed him out of his shell? Whatever the reason, Callahan's new found sense of identity is hardly likely to provoke him into stage front cartwheels, and the time honoured Smog hallmarks -- a river floor-scraping baritone voice, minimal combo accompaniments, acutely observational Raymond Craver-esque lyrics, a pervading, Leonard Cohen-esque gallows humour -- will doubtless all be on show. Callahan will be showcasing selections from his forthcoming album, Woke On A Whaleheart (Domino), which promises songs of "love, moving house, politics and bodies of water".

The world, seen from an elevated vantage point, is a series of frescoes where crowds and car parks become purely formal elements of intricate compositions. That's the impression conveyed by Andreas Gursky's large scale photographs. His exhibition at White Cube comprises such images of a neutrino observatory as well as pictures of the Arirang Festival in Pyongyang. To this familiar aesthetic, he has added a stunning series of images that capture the action that happens in the pits during F1 races. These photographs are recognisable for their crispness and detail, yet they mark a departure for Gursky: they are captured from a frontal point of view and the simultaneity of the actions represented hints more than ever at the artist's masterful ability to use digital technology. For more classic Gursky, a number of new works are currently exhibited at Monika Spruth Philomene Magers London.

NB: Andreas Gursky's new works are on view at Monika Spruth Philomene Magers London (7a Grafton Street) till 12/05 and at White Cube Mason's Yard (25-26 Mason's Yard) till 05/05. While West check out Thomas Hirshhorn at Stephen Friedman (till 07/04), the Deutsche Borse Photography Prize 2007 at the Photographers' Gallery (till 09/04) and Very Abstract And Hyper Figurative at Thomas Dane (till 14/04).