Artsadmin's Summer Season should show off the newly refurbished Toynbee Studios to good effect with performances, installations and screenings taking place throughout the month of June. Launching this season of Artsadmin associated artists and invited guests is Forced Entertainment with Dirty Work (06/06), a pared down piece of "metatheatre", that is to say, theatre that ask questions about the nature of theatre itself. This really sets the tone for much of what follows as many of the performances self-consciously sit between disciplines, such as Wendy Houston's Desert Island Dances (06 - 08/06), La Ribot's Laughing Hole (29 and 30/06) or Chris Goode's Hippo World Guestbook (16/06). Add to this Cindy Oswin's performed history of British experimental theatre (16 and 17/06), lecture performances, site-specific work and a free screening programme and it turns into a packed season that should put Toynbee Studios back on the map as one of London's most progressive performance venues.

NB: runs from 06/06 till 30/06. Forced Entertainment also perform First Night from 08/06 till 10/06 and then later on in the month for one night only, Bloody Mess at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 19/01 (part of Jarvis Cocker's Meltdown festival).

It's rare a night of music screams value for money, innovation and originality so profoundly. Seminal grindcore trio Trencher curate this eclectic collection of bands united by a commitment to exploring experimental sounds and aesthetics. Adaadat acts DJ Scotch Egg and Agaskodo Teliverek are regular figures on the London music scene; the former has acquired almost iconic status as a KFC obsessed chiptune pioneer, the latter have made a name for themselves in the last year with their highly danceable surf-guitar assault. The much touted guitar-drums duo Comanechi and the grind dual-bass assault of Palehorse should instil even more extremity, whilst Trencher should be the ideal ending for a night which celebrates a scene they have been instrumental in constructing. Not a night for the faint hearted, conservative or short sighted.

Such is the high esteem in which reclusive electronica types Boards of Canada are held, that an appearance onstage by an artist who formed part of the collective (Hexagon Sun) from which they emerged is likely to cause more than a few ripples of excitement. This Thursday sees the rather salubrious Luminaire play host to a performance from Christ. (aka Chris Horne), who appeared on the much vaunted BoC release, Twoism, but thankfully his solo material demonstrates a talent beyond aping the sound of the Scottish duo. Isan, responsible for one of the better albums released last year in Plans Drawn In Pencil, support with a live performance of their ever so slightly twee downtempo sound, and are joined by French artist Tomcats in Tokyo. Epic45 mans the turntables and given the line-up don't be expecting the latest blog house banger to be given an airing.

Carlo Petrini is the founder of Slow Food, a grass-roots organisation that was founded in the mid-'80s to combat the McDonald-isation of Italy. With its humble origins in the foothills of Piemonte, the group has opened chapters around the world and now has over 80,000 members who are committed to eating well and learning more about sustainable agriculture. Part of what makes the movement so convincing is that the foods they endorse -- the wines, cheeses, meats, fish -- are the nothing short of the ultimate epicurean's delights. The lifestyle they promote is intellectual, savvy and full of the best eats. Their list of publications, imprinted with an image of a snail, the ultimate symbol of slow, ranges from restaurant guides and wine ratings to more philosophical texts and memoirs. These days you are not a dedicated follower of food fashion unless you are a slow foodie.

NB: also speaking on the night are Zac Goldsmith (director of The Ecologist magazine) and Tim Lang (Professor of Food Policy, City University). The event coincides with the publication of Carlo Petrini's latest book Slow Food Nation.

Just as summer starts to kick in, the wonderfully (and topically) named Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin arrive in London with their particularly heart-warming and melodic brand of indie rock. The band has become a word of mouth / blogosphere phenomenon in the States and it seems likely they will have the same effect here. Spin magazine recently declared them as the band that could "succeed The Shins" (who are an obvious reference point to the band's sound). They have risen to prominence due to their precise synergy of superb songwriting, subtle arrangements and the rare ability to be both feel good and deeply poignant. It seems inevitable that they're going to take off and become an important band; hence, this opportunity to catch their debut London show within one of the capital's most charismatic venues at such a low price should not be missed. London's premier indie rock power pop trio, Favours For Sailors, should open the evening perfectly.

Recently there has been a trend for films that shock us out of our complacency. These films have galvanised viewers to force life to be a bit fairer -- Days Of Glory (Indigenes) led the French to equalise pensions for all former soldiers, Wal-Mart: High Cost Of The Low Price and McLibel led to a consumer revolts. Black Gold is set to bring the same raised consciousness to your skinny-double-hazelnut-latte-frappaccino break. This is a beautifully filmed yet profoundly troubling look at the lives of those who bring you your Starbucks each day: farmers working hard harvesting large crops but forced to accept US government food parcels to keep from starving due to rock-bottom prices paid for their beans. Makes you take a second look at those claims of "ethical fairtrade produce".

NB: this special screening will be followed by a Q&A with directors Marc and Nick Francis. Black Gold is released in London on 08/01. Another film of note is Tell No One, which is released on 15/06. And on 20/06 (8:30pm) catch Jude Law as he gives an introduction to Melville's Le Samourai. Finally, catch the John Cassavetes Season at BFI Southbank between 15/06 and 30/06.

Anyone for a nice day out in the country? Out in Suffolk, at the ex-US-military Bentwaters Airbase, strange things have been reported in the past, and it looks like they are scheduled to continue in the form of Faster Than Sound, an event looking to bring together artists from contemporary classical and electronic fields to see what they've got in common. The line-up includes Colleen, DAT Politics, Murcof, Muziq and Philip Jeck. Also on the bill are some interesting collaborations: Haswell & Hecker, Plaid and Zoe Martlew, and Mira Calix and Tansy Davies (who are also collaborating on an opera). There won't just be live performances -- there will also be sonic installations from the likes of Throbbing Gristle, Jem Finer, Touch and Minimaforms, and multichannel diffusions of classics from Xenakis, Nono and Luc Ferrari. Beard Stroking Rave?

NB: coaches will be running to and from the event from both Saxmundham (£5) and London (£15). Also, catch Murcof playing the following night at The Luminaire in London.

Galvanised! is a networking festival aiming to bring together the most exciting new experimental music, labels, artists and promoters from across the UK. Set within an arts space in Hackney and with the expressed intent of showcasing the burgeoning UK "underground" experimental scene, this three day festival is clearly rooted within noble ideals. Perhaps the choice act playing across the weekend is Liverpool collective aPAtT -- an astounding and utterly compelling multi-instrumental live act. Other notable artists include established noise duo Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Le Couteau Jaune and Adaadat's local noise terrorist Horatio Pollard. Skitanja have already got people talking with their brass infused faux-operatic wet-guitar dog-noise mix (in their own words) -- a truly unique band. Make sure you get their early on the first day to check them out.

NB: Galvanised! runs for three nights on 08/06, 09/06 and 10/06.

Whilst it may sound like we're damning him with faint praise it's an indisputable fact that Fernando Corona's Murcof project is probably the best electronica project to emerge from Tijuana. Still, there's a lot more to Murcof than just an unusual birthplace as the critical plaudits heaped upon his productions go to show. An intricate fusion of precision engineered microhouse and experimental classical music that explores minimalism in all its forms to create moments of stark beauty, Corona's productions envelop the listener in a deep, mesmerising stillness. In support is Bristol born but Hackney based low-end specialist Bass Clef, who distils decades of bass heavy music from dub to jungle into a heavy electronic stew. All in all a heady mix of innovative music for a Sunday evening.

NB: catch Murcof the night before (along with many other excellent artists) at RAF Bentwaters in Suffolk where he performs at the Faster Than Sound festival.

The American Dream has always proved fertile theatrical ground, with Arthur Miller's Willie Loman the poster boy for the debilitating effect blind belief in the "advertised" ideal can result in. Here, Theodore Ward's 1937 play presents a black family in 1920s Chicago, whose patriarch suffers from the same misguided faith in the doomed promise of ideological rhetoric. Vic Mason's disappointment with the political landscape of the time (despite his degree, he has had to suffer the ignominy of carrying a hod, while his son is deemed ineligible for a college scholarship because of the colour of his skin) has fired up his support for the Back to Africa separatist movement. Pouring all his money into the flailing cause is at the expense of his family, who, by the time the Depression hits, are reduced to taking desperate measures to survive. It's a powerful play, boldly directed by Michael Attenborough, and makes an impact that resonates with emotional universality.

NB: runs till 30/06.

The RFH is about to re-open following a two-year refurbishment. To celebrate this event Southbank Centre is bringing Les Ballets C de la B with their new piece Import Export. Les Ballets Contemporains de la Belgique are not just a ballet company in its traditional sense nor are they a contemporary dance company, they are both and far more. Originally brought together by Alain Platel, the group still functions as a collective of artists, dancers, singers, actors and acrobats. For Import Export, choreographer/dancer Koen Augustijnen deals with the theme of powerlessness through a fusion of acrobatics, ballet, breakdance and theatre in a style that makes this company a joy to see and will hopefully change your views on what dance can be. With contrasting live baroque music (Lambert, Charpentier and Clerambault) performed by Antwerp's all-female Kirke String Quartet and countertenor Steve Dugardin along with added electronic music by Sam Serruys, this production promises to be one of the highlights of the re-opening festivities at Southbank Centre.

NB: Import Export runs for three nights from 12/06 till 14/06.

For two weeks in June the Shunt Lounge hosts an extravagant marathon of improvised music and electronica, bringing together two genres whose practitioners continue to converge along similar lines of thought within London's musical underground. On 20/06 there is a showcase comprising of the ever present Evan Parker, with John Edwards and Marcio Mattos, courtesy of ONGAKU:enjoy_sound. On 13/06 and 21/06 hear new works from the Goldsmiths Electronic Music Studios. 14/06 hosts a collective improvisation based around different approaches to electronics, featuring Sebastian Lexer and John Lely, as well as Tom Arthurs and James Allsop. Both Friday nights (traditionally a rowdier later running session) bring together electronica experimentation from the Danish record label Rump, including artists Badun and Vektormusik and London based Icarus, and a line-up of programmer music-making courtesy of Lurk, including the pioneering Slub. Friday 15/06 also kicks off with Adem's not-to-be-missed Assembly, a very free and large-scale group improvisation.

NB: this event runs from 13/06 till 15/06 and then from 20/06 till 22/06.

So much to do and see this year that it's hard to resist the temptation to sprint from one event to the next, pausing occasionally to ponder on the nature of sustainable urban communities (green is this year's theme). After all, only shallow, list-obsessed media types would try to suggest that you could pick out ten "must see" events from the rich spread on offer.

So here's ours...

Frank Gehry + Sydney Pollack In Conversation
Fri 15/06 (7pm)
Not exactly underground, we admit, and a degree of mutual back slapping expected between the master of shiny-curvy and his filmic chum, but surely not to be missed?

Wind To Light (installation)
15/06 till 24/06
Commissioned by RIBA and onedotzero, light man David Bruges plans to have mini wind turbines powering hundreds of LEDs on the South Bank. On 21/06 (7pm) at RIBA catch Bruges as he and other speakers discuss the project.

Mind The Gap (tour of an Eco house under construction)
Sat 16/06 (1 - 5pm)
Our list is a bit light on the green theme so far, but this looks interesting. Especially if you've never witnessed the glory that is a building site, albeit an unusually narrow one.

Brave new world? The Barbican And Golden Lane Estates (tour)
Mon 18/06 (6:30 - 8pm) and Fri 22/06 (6:30 - 8pm)
If you pride yourself on your knowledge of London's architecture, sooner or later you need the lowdown on Chamberlain, Powell & Bonn's Barbican, and its forerunner, the Golden Lane Estate. Now is good.

Guided Tour Of White Cube, Mason's Yard
Tue 19/06 and Fri 22/06 (10am)
Forget art and trophyism, as in anything Damien Hirst makes is an automatic commodity, but do think of his lack of humility and of an adolescent with a God complex. Back to architecture... new minimalism and Jay Jopling's rather OTT penthouse office and roof garden.

The Building Futures Debate: This House Believes London is Full
Wed 20/06 (6:30pm)
Full, as in a Northern Line tube at London Bridge in rush hour. Or not full, as in Greenwich Park at dusk on a winter's evening. More London debate, in case you couldn't get enough.

Architecture In A World Of Climate Change
Wed 20/06 (6 - 8:30pm)
Ken Shuttleworth, Foster's former designer-in-chief, now head man at Make, will talk about his practice's eco-leaning work, rather than how he designed the Gherkin. He's not bitter.

21st Century Architecture
Wed 20/06 (6:30 - 8:30pm)
Not only a debate worth going to, but a chance to see Allies and Morrison's new observatory makeover.

Bartlett School of Architecture Summer Show 2007
Fri 22/06 (6 - 10:30pm), Sat 23/06 (10am - 8:30 pm), Sun 24/06 (10am - 5.30pm)...
Strictly speaking they'd be doing this anyway, but always worth going along to check out the work of budding young Alsops and Allfords.

Debate London - The Architecture Foundation Presents Five Major Debates
Fri 22/06 - Mon 25/06 (7:30 - 9pm)
A stellar line-up of highly opinionated folk, including Zaha Hadid, Zoe Williams, David Adjaye and others. Will our Ken be scandalous? Will Nigel Coates be arcane? Will Jacques Herzog be asked about his unsightly extension?

NB: Architecture Week 2007 runs from 15/06 till 24/06.

Tell No One is a French thriller that mixes up droll humour, convincing tough guys and Kristin Scott Thomas slipping insouciantly into both her second language and the shower, often with her girlfriend. Director Guillaume Canet is better known for acting in French titles that limped across The Channel, like Merry Christmas and Hell, but here he delivers a defiantly accomplished film that hangs tightly off the faultless acting, noose tight narrative and ample levity that ensues that we don't take it all too seriously. Thankfully screen time isn't punctuated with characters needlessly cogitating; instead we get car chases through the city, daring escapes out of hospital windows and oddly juxtaposed moments of calm in a park surrounded by children playing. Canet was married to Troy actress Diane Kruger but, really, how relevant is that when you've got a film of this calibre.

NB: Tell No One is released in London on 15/06. Another film of note is Black Gold which is released on 08/06. And on 20/06 (8:30pm) catch Jude Law as he gives an introduction to Melville's Le Samourai. Finally, catch the John Cassavetes Season at BFI Southbank between 15/06 and 30/06.

As if to be contrary, while Antony Gormley is on the whole resistant to gallery shows he has managed to locate the body in the urban landscape to a greater extent than he has ever before in his current Hayward exhibition. The figures around the South Bank are unsettling, and there's no comfort inside the gallery where he makes the visitor a stranger to the environment of their own frame. Darian Leader, as experienced in writing on art as on psychoanalysis, has made the act of experiencing art one of his areas of investigation. In this evening talk he explores the body and the space it occupies in Gormley's work, no doubt positing some suggestions why Gormley chooses not to meet the viewer indoors.

NB: Blind Light runs at The Hayward till 19/08. As well as on rooftops across the city, Antony Gormley's work is also to be seen at the Wellcome Collection from 21/06.

Having applied their to-die-for artist roster to many electro club nights across London, it was only a matter of time before the folks at Modular Records had a crack at a festival; and some debut it is. Whilst pulling in the European names that have made themselves the scene's furniture over the past year -- Klaxons, Simian Mobile Disco, Digitalism, New Young Pony Club -- the Aussies du jour have truly struck gold by securing everyone's favourite Americans LCD Soundsystem, Brazilian up-and-comers CSS and, of course, the grandfathers of beeps, Daft Punk. There will be a lot of bright young things who'll feel like they've just met their makers. Even if they don't even get to see their faces. We suppose the only question now is: will Modular ever get anything wrong?

NB: the festival also takes place on 14/06, 15/06 and 17/06 (full programme click here).

While most artists become mellower and more predictable with age, 59-year-old, erstwhile Suicide frontman Alan Vega just gets more angsty the longer he goes on -- and he shows no signs of imminent retirement. His just released sixth solo album, Station (Mute), is a harrowing collection of dystopian, post-techno howls of anguish that sounds like Cabaret Voltaire recorded in the bowels of Abu Ghraib. Vega's obvious ire is essentially righteous toxin aimed squarely at the venal Bush administration and American moral decline in general. Always a confrontational live performer (even in 1977 he and Suicide compadre Martin Rev suffered the brickbats and disdaining missiles of curiously conservative punk fans) you can expect some stage front proselytising to go with Vega's Elvis inflected vocal yelps and brutal electronic backing tracks. It's to his eternal credit that he more often than not makes such austere materials riotously entertaining.

Southbank Centre, with the imminent re-opening of the Royal Festival Hall, is the home of orchestras and chamber ensembles but is due to be turned into quite a different place for a week under the helm of Jarvis Cocker for this year's Meltdown festival. One of the greatest departures from the normality of the Queen Elizabeth Hall comes in the form of Sunn O))) -- masters of loud, thick sludge which moves you tectonically with subsonic drones. Seeing this in a possibly more civilised and less sweaty environment to the venues in which they would normally perform (with complementary brutalist architecture) might result in quite a different listening experience, as the sound washes over you... although the question remains -- will they be willing to turn the PA up to 11?

NB: this event is part of this year's Meltdown festival.

In the work of Benny Droscher expect to find UFOs, flying birch trees, moonlit lakes, birdies with halos, a casual pencil doodle or the odd coffee stain. Look again, and expect to be lured in. A compositional interest in circles keeps the images open, whilst referring to the shifts of night-day and death-life. There is no narration, merely established conditions. Elements are placed on the surface like objects in a spatial room, both in the canvasses and works on paper. It is also worth noting that the artist trained as a sculptor in Denmark. Sculptures included in the show are perfect, like pop icons of waterfalls, quirky fires with real gold or sophisticated assemblages of fur, glitter and stripped tree branches. This is art about the elements. Earth. Fire. Water. Air. For years, the artist was happy to call his paper works "a goofy picture of a magic moment". And goofy magic it is to this day!

NB: runs till 19/06.

Originally produced in 2003 as part of A Free State at the British Museum, Artprojx and James Putnam present Simon Tegala's Signal accompanied by its original score, written and performed live by experimental three-piece UK band Bender (Geraldine Swayne, James Johnston -- from Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds -- and Steve Gullick). The film follows four characters whose actions those made by immune cells within a body. Set in the British Museum (a living organism) the characters' activities also heavily mimic the duties of the institution's staff: protecting, organising and watching. Tegala treats the museum as a playground, unravelling biological metaphors in items found throughout the British Museum's Great Court and Reading Room. A rare opportunity to see this early work by Tegala with its strong surrealist-edge and absorbing spatial soundtrack.

NB: following the screening and performance there will be a discussion between artist Simon Tegala and Dr Kevin Rigley, leading immunologist and consultant for Signal, and James Putnam.

Forced Entertainment are by now the veteran British experimental theatre ensemble, having produced internationally acclaimed work since 1984. Bloody Mess was made to celebrate their 20th birthday and is in many ways a return to the earlier style of their "maximalist" shows, though on a larger scale than previously, this being a show for large stages. Bloody Mess has each of the performers attempting to create a different performance, the result being, as the title suggests, chaotic, though a highly crafted and designed vision of anarchy it is. Wry, plain daft, self-reflective and deliberately frustrating, Bloody Mess throws together the roadies from Spinal Tap, depressive clowns, obsessive cheerleaders, a woman in a gorilla suit and gong show acts turned philosophical, and lets them work out what the performance is between them.

NB: as well as showing Bloody Mess at the QEH (part of the Meltdown festival), Forced Entertainment is also in London in early June for the Artsadmin Summer Season.

To credit Tina Brown with single-handedly reshaping the terrain of glossy mags may be a bit of an exaggeration, but not much. Shaking up lacklustre general interest titles with a heady mix of celebrity, fashion and political content (a previously unheard of combination) is her modus operandi, by which means she injected some much-needed oomph into the then-ailing Vanity Fair followed by The New Yorker, so transforming their fortunes. And controversial as her tactics may be, boy, you can't deny that they are effective. Currently on the promotional junket for her new book: The Diana Chronicles she's coming to the ICA for an evening in conversation with historian Andrew Roberts. It's definitely worth dropping in on if you have any interest in the media-obsessed culture of celebrity that she has been accused of helping to create.

Michael Hardt is an acclaimed post-Marxist political theorist, who shot to fame with his co-authorship (with Antonio Negri) of Empire and its sequel Multitude: War And Democracy In The Age Of Empire, which expanded the concept of the "multitude" as a new type of collective, democratic subject. Their theory borrows heavily from the work of Deleuze and Guattari -- Hardt's own book on Deleuze (Gilles Deleuze, An Apprenticeship In Philosophy) was groundbreaking for providing a systematic overview of how Deleuze's philosophy is political, and remains one of the best analyses of the thinker's work. Simon Critchley (currently Professor of Philosophy at Essex) began his philosophical career as a deconstructionist (focusing on Derrida and Levinas), and has gradually moved towards more "actively" political work. His latest book Infinitely Demanding argues for an ethically committed political anarchism. Together these two heavyweights will be reflecting on how radical theory can be renewed today.

Never has a gun for hire been quite as alluring as Jef Costello, Alain Delon as in Melville's Le Samourai most stylish noir. Inspired by Japanese culture and later cited as an inspiration to Tavernier, Scorsese and Jarmusch, Le Samourai is now a classic that manages to transcend the trappings of genres and periods. In Melville's masterful hands, an absurdly flimsy narrative didn't need much more than Delon's haunting presence, a series of stark dialogues and an incredible twist of faith to be rescued from ridicule and elevated to the status of cult. The Institut Francais is presenting a special screening introduced by the suave Jude Law who probably wishes he could be offered such a potent role. He will be in conversation with Paul Ryan.

NB: also of note is the release of Black Gold (08/06) and Tell No One (15/06). Finally, catch the John Cassavetes Season at BFI Southbank between 15/06 and 30/06.

This small but wonderful show brings to light the work of German artist Elger Esser. Celebrated in the US yet little known in this country, Esser makes quiet photographs of European landscapes in the romantic vein of Caspar David Friedrich. Esser studied under the famous Bernd Becher at the Dusseldorf Art Academy and comes from the second generation of the German school of photography after the likes of Gursky, Hofer, Struth... In this exhibition, eight large-format, high-colour scenes capture a snapshot of Esser's pictorial development over the last seven years. They range from an image of lucid meditation on the eternal lyricism of the sea in Port Blanc (2003), to a distant photograph of a solitary island, Gaurinis I, France (2005), and a contemporary scene of a transient road-trip in Ponte a Tressa II (2002). Together, they surround the viewer in a world of contemplative silence far removed from the summer bustle that lies outside the gallery walls.

NB: runs till 22/06.

This orthodontically titled group show brings a selection of Lower East Side New York talent to SE1. Rivington Arms' artist/curator duo Darren Bader and Mirabelle Marden have opted for a topical art thematic (the role of the object in contemporary practices) to pull these aesthetically disparate works together. Despite myriad references to America in the form of bubblegum paintings, early Disney motifs and allusions to the Pop Art legacy, these works feel very at home in a European setting. Above Carter Mull's false floor (shiny holographic scans of his studio floor littered over that of the gallery), Peter Johansen's geeky model of the Hindenburg appears caught in the jaws of Moby-Dick. Daniele Frazier's Formica formalism describes her body as a flat-pack architectural entity, while Agathe Snow's hat-like props, labelled with post-apocalyptic narratives, may allude to the social mores of high society but ultimately bring everything down to what is small.

NB: runs till 23/06.

The paradox between the grave title (Black Field) and unashamed formal beauty of Israeli sculptor