Ray Lee is a sound and installation artist whose work really opens up during his live performances. These look, on one level, like elaborate scientific demonstrations in which a range of both simple and complex technology is re-wired and made to play unfamiliar tricks. But what distinguishes these from more cluttered works is their elegance and subtlety. His last piece Siren, a hypnotic sound and visual installation performance that placed spinning sirens atop pyramid stands, was one of the highpoints of this year's Edinburgh Festival and there is every hope that Force Field, on its London premiere, will prove to be a worthy follow-up. For this piece Lee will be using a theremin (one of the earliest electronic musical instruments to be invented) but do not expect Jean Michel Jarre. A consistent theme of Lee's work is the revealing of invisible forces (such as electromagnetism) and Force Field looks set to do this by reading movements of the hand and body around the theremin and connecting these to a system of machines producing movement, sound and light.

NB: Force Field will be performed at both 6:30 and 8pm.

Pinback practically epitomise the idea of American indie-rock, with legions of music fans who treasure restrained angular guitars, self-effacing delivery, subtle heart-warming melodies and superbly constructed songs. This is their first London gig for three years and is eagerly awaited by their cult fanbase -- but for anyone who has yet to discover this most rewarding of bands, particularly fans of Pavement or Sebadoh, then this will be an ideal opportunity. Almost ten years down the line and having just released their fourth album, the predictably excellent Autumn Of The Seraphs, shows Pinback are still very much a cult indie band. With the rise of kindred spirits such as Modest Mouse, it would be highly fitting and no surprise if they started crossing over to a wider audience. If the prospect of Pinback wasn't enough, the surprising presence of Youthmovies in support makes this gig a calendar essential. Hailing from the same lineage of bands such as Foals, Youthmovies mix complex DC hardcore math rock rhythms with soaring melodies and life-affirming intensity. Two truly great bands to ensure you a great night.

As Christian Marclay's best-known works consist of collaged sound and film, it is surprising that his new work, Screen Play, is only the second in which has worked with live musicians in this format of his own invention, where a visual score gives musicians cues from which to improvise the work's soundtrack (for this concert some of the musician's taking part will be JG Thirwell, Blevin Blectum and Steve Beresford). The resulting performance must surely be a demonstration of either synesthesia or the associative power of images, and at the least will show the common languages of energy, rhythm and dynamic shared by film and music. Although Marclay is now London-based, it was RoseLee Goldberg's Performa in New York, which was also behind key works by Jesper Just and Isaac Julien, that initially commissioned the work. The demonstration seems to have been a success, as Screen Play has already been shown in Paris, Lyon, Ghent and Lausanne.

Talk: catch Christian Marclay in conversation with art historian, Gilda Williams on 24/11 (2pm) at Tate Modern.

NB: this event closes The Wire 25 month-long festival.

If you needed yet more proof of the growing relationship between art and music, look no further than Oberon, a night of avant-garde music and visual art organised by the FRED label and clubber's paradise, Fabric. FRED owner Fred Mann certainly has his finger on the pulse: not only does he run two galleries (in London and Leipzig), but he also runs his own music label with help from house artists Guy Richards Smit and Cathy de Monchaux. For Oberon's inaugural night, Mann will be flying in friend and DJing legend, Anita Sarko, to perform on the main stage. Sarko's hipster credentials are impeccable: she honed her DJing style at NYC's infamous Studio 54, did a set at Andy Warhol's funeral and is a regular contributor for the Pop-father's influential Interview magazine. In counterpoint to her set, FRED artist John Jodzio will unleash some video projections that will transform Fabric's post-industrial interior into a fantasy landscape. On top of this, the king of '80s electronic music, Martyn Ware, will spin some of his greatest hits from his time in The Human League and Heaven 17. Oh, and remember your carnival mask; this will be a night of bacchanalian revelry to remember.

Our German neighbours seem to be past their phase of denial of National Socialism, graduating to a new stage where the elephant in the room is now required to sing and dance. Therefore, while Der Untergang (Downfall) ruffled feathers three years ago for its human portrait of Hitler in his last days, comedy My Fuehrer, a highlight of this year's Festival Of German Films, camps up Adolf as a depressed leader in need of a boost from a Jewish drama teacher. Whatever one thinks of this film's merits (or the state of the German psyche), it was one of the last featuring Ulrich Muehe, who starred in the great The Lives Of Others. Muehe is honoured in a special programme, and as per usual the festival combines fiction with documentary and shorts. One documentary will offer an interesting counterpoint to My Fuehrer -- Losers And Winners, which follows Chinese workers dismantling the factories of the Ruhrgebiet, the skeletons of a formerly thriving industrial centre.

NB: runs till 29/11. Also of note this week is the release of The Darjeeling Limited, Ridley Scott's final cut of Blade Runner and Werner Herzog's Rescue Dawn.

Dutch born Tord Boontje is currently a resident tutor at the Royal Collage Of Art, from where he graduated back in 1994. His career has moved from a low-ebb, low-maintenance aesthetic, embodied in works such as tranSglass and Rough-and-Ready to a more decorative phase, brought on by the birth of his first child -- think twists on florals and childlike cut-out shapes and patterns. Yet underlying all his work is an attention to the emotive quality of design, asking how to spark sensuality in the aesthetic. His interest in 16th and 17th century Old World applications and techniques filters into his work via a delicate touch and respect for his materials, alongside a forward-thinking use of available technologies and computational design. In his more complex and imaginative installations, his work really comes to life. Perhaps his most high-profile piece in recent years is his Winter Wonderland for client Swarovski crystal; a wintry fantasy landscape taken from fairytales and childhood adventures. He may be an artisan by nature but from humble origins he has of late achieved mass-market appeal, producing a series of designs for high street chain Habitat and Target.

Copenhagen's Efterklang are an estimable collective. Their recent Parades album (Leaf) is perhaps the most ambitious longplayer yet to emerge from that nebulous hinterland where post-rock, electronica and cool, inscrutable moodcasting bleeds into an indefinable sub-genre. It's a place where fellow travellers mum and Amiina also toil beauteously and which no UK ensemble seems capable even of approaching. It must be a Scandinavian thing. With a cast of thousands lending instrumental and chorale support to Efterklang's core quintet of Casper Clausen, Mads Brauer, Rune Fonseca Molgaard, Thomas Kirirath Husmer and Rasmus Stolberg, Parades is a quasi-symphonic magnum opus about snow, caravans and tenors on horseback which requires four additional musicians to translate the richly-textured music for live audiences. The additions include American multi- instrumentalist Peter Broderick (who also opens the show as a solo act) and gifted Our Broken Garden chanteuse and pianist Anna Bronsted alongside Niklas Antonson and Frederik Teige. Part of a mammoth Parades European tour, the London leg in the intimate, stately environs of the Bush Hall should be a memorable occasion for those who dig music whose convoluted sophistication is matched by shimmering splendour and ingenuous charm. Watch out for the band's nifty matching shirt and jodhpur outfits too.

TOTHEBONE continue an impressive run of parties this Saturday with Detroit's Rick Wilhite manning the turntables. Wilhite's discography is fairly modest in comparison to those of his 3 Chairs compatriots; Moodymann, Theo Parrish and Marcellus Pittman, but anyone who has had the benefit of hearing all four DJs together will testify that Wilhite not only holds his own amongst such illustrious company, but also frequently steals the show. Owning one of Detroit's best record stores, Vibes New & Rare Music, ensures that very little of the Motor City's music escapes Wilhite's attention, and he will have ample opportunity to demonstrate the depth -- and breadth -- of his record collection during an exclusive four-hour set, his first appearance in London in five years. The venue will add an intimate vibe to the proceedings -- a basement space tucked away off the Hackney Road, kitted out with a Funktion-One sound system to make sure the night goes with a boom and a bump.

It's easy to be already exhausted by the impending Christmas period, what with the Sunday style magazines already dedicating reams of paper to what you should be increasing your credit card debt on. Praise be, then, to those humble figures, the record label and club promoter for giving something back and using the festive period to put on some rather special parties. None more so than the !K7/Magic & Medicine end of year party at The Key. Berlin label !K7 has been kicking it strong for over 20 years now and gets props for the seminal DJ-Kicks series as well as deciding to celebrate their coming of age with a beast of a line-up. Heavy hitters Hot Chip, Four Tet and Trevor Jackson front in the DJ-Kicks room. Further delights are abound in the !K7 room with Swayzak and Kid Kanevil from Stateless joined by ex Funkstorunger Michael Fakesch succeeding where Jamie Liddell failed with a live set of electronic whiteboy soul. Longtime !K7 supporters and perhaps the best record shop in London -- Phonica -- keeps it dirty in the third room with some of its more talented staff DJing (including one half of rising stars Skull Juice) and is joined by their friends from FACT magazine.

An extraordinary comic trio of Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman play estranged oddball siblings who leap aboard the eponymous train as it travels across India in a bid to find their mother (a tripped-out Angelica Houston), reconnect with each other, and grieve for their recently deceased father. Their adventure is bloody weird -- as you might expect from director Wes Anderson (he of Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums). The plot rattles along like the idiosyncratic train itself, making curious stops, bringing mismatched people together and traversing varied (emotional) landscapes, through day and night and encompassing periods of stillness and mania, light and dark, clarity and obscurity. It's the brilliantly skewed logic of the film, delivered deadpan by the leads, which makes it tick -- hard to keep track of but very funny. It's also somewhat hilarious to note that Schwartzman (who also stars with Natalie Portman in the short film Hotel Chevalier, which acts as a prologue to The Darjeeling Limited) co-wrote the screenplay -- he literally gets to bang every hot girl in sight, a fact that, bizarrely, rather adds to the complete unreality of the whole thing. It's a messed up way of seeing the world that you could definitely get used to.

NB: The Darjeeling Limited is released in London on 23/11. Other films of note released this week are Ridley Scott's final cut of Blade Runner and Werner Herzog's Rescue Dawn.

This week at The Last Tuesday Society's regular Bistrotheque soiree (where erudite chat meets live jazz and indulgent Hendrick's Gin cocktails, on a decadent Monday) Antony Penrose discusses his parents, British Surrealist artist Roland Penrose (co-founder of the ICA) and American photographer Lee Miller. We're all over Miller at the moment, what with the V&A's exhibition of her work on until January (less well curated than the one at the NPG a few years ago, but definitely still worth a visit, if only to be reminded of her intrepid WWII photojournalism, irreverent documentation of Hitler's abandoned bunker, and madcap post war house-party, where she made her famous guests do the housework, the photographs of which she then published in Vogue). Interesting but odd parents to have had, one imagines, not to mention something of a headache, given Miller's tendency towards hysteria, depression, and rampant alcoholism. Understandably fascinated with his parents and their creativity, as well as those of their friends (Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst, Man Ray and Andre Breton to name a few) Penrose has written a number of biographies of them and their circle so expect an informed discussion rather than sentimental nostalgia.

NB: The Art Of Lee Miller runs at the V&A till 06/01/08.

Michael Haneke's reputation as a filmmaker, and indeed the success of his films, is based on his unconventional approach to film as a critical exercise, a forum in which the viewer is invited into the spectacle and implicated in its debauchery. The narrative character of his films is often broken or manipulated in such a way to showcase the horrors of the human character, both on the screen and in the audience. His probing commentary on violence as spectacle and the sociopathic nature of the viewer epitomises critical theory about the cinematic made flesh, arguably also disaffecting those viewers wanting only to be entertained. The final part of his chilling "Emotional Glaciation" trilogy, Haneke's 71 Fragments Of A Chronology Of Chance is a formally brilliant study of alienation and the arbitrariness of violence in contemporary society. Presaging the formal structure of Code Unknown, Haneke's mosaic of 71 seemingly unconnected scenes disrupt temporal and narrative linearity in an attempt to highlight the banality of his character's lives and the hypocrisy of the media who simultaneously peddle and abhor violence; from Iraq and the Balkans, to Northern Ireland and the killing sprees that have become a staple of western culture.

NB: 71 Fragments will be introduced by guest speaker David Sorfa and the evening will conclude with an open discussion. The event is free but seats are available on a first-come first-served basis -- arrive early to avoid disappointment.

For their first appearance at ROH2, A2 company have matured their "tights" performance for nonetheless still thinking. Their "performance installation", as they call it, combines the grace of mime, the dynamism of architecture, the discipline of theatre and the stillness of dance to create what can only be described as a moment of life. One moment that takes you so close to the truth that it seems impossible. They don't use magic but you wonder whether behind those tights they aren't creatures of a superior form in disguise or simply waiting to come out to take you to a land of beauty and humanity. Also on the bill is Amina Khayyam's Laal Shaari (Red Dress), a Kathak solo inspired by the dancer's mother who was denied a Laal Shaari for her wedding. Mixing dance, video and opera, Finnish artist Tanja Raman brings Virta (Flow). And finally Blind Summit Theatre come back for seconds with a commissioned piece for this year's Firsts, Real Man, a show about a dog! Who says the opera house is conventional?

NB: this event is part of the ROH2's Firsts season (runs 20/11 till 28/11).

Sylvia Plath's status as literary and feminist icon has long been irrefutable. Her gravestone is a popular pilgrimage destination and her personal life and marriage to Ted Hughes is as common knowledge to culture vultures as her work. But what is less known was her involvement in the visual arts. As a child she considered her poems incomplete if they were not accompanied with a picture. Her two favorite disciplines offered equally promising career choices and it was only at the age of 20 that she opted for the written word over fine art. To celebrate the 75th anniversary of her birth, co-editors Kathleen Connors and Sally Bayley have published Eye Rhymes: Sylvia Plath's Art Of The Visual. An in-depth examination of Plath's visual art and literary studies, the book includes work seen in print for the first time. In a unique illustrated event artist Stella Vine, playwright Elisabeth Gray and poet Clare Pollard, all of whose work is in some way influenced by Plath, will discuss what she means to them, her continuing legacy, and their thoughts on her in the light of these new discoveries. The event will be chaired by Bayley.

NB: on 03/12 (7pm) at the ICA catch another event that celebrates Sylvia Plath.

To use the city as a canvas has been the focus of artists for some time now, with Banksy reaping the press and rewards more than any in recent times. Alongside Invader and his pixilated tile interventions, ZEVS represents the vanguard of French street art, pioneering a playful and unconventional approach to the street art scene. Active since the early '90s, his elegiac shadow drawings on pavements and walls have been seen all over Europe, echoing the forensic outline of a murder victim chalked on the ground. More recently his billboard "bombings" (in which he shot pin-up poster campaigns with a spray can, then let the red pain run) have influenced others to copy his technique (see the recent Madonna weeping H&M controversy). For his debut London gallery show, the artist will show his Liquidated Logos series, which reflect the power of global brands. By re-painting the logos in their original colours and letting gravity act, each McDonald's, Nike and Apple logo dissolves in parallel lines of colour. Vandalism or art? Activism or commercialism? You decide.

NB: runs till 29/11.

Having recently announced they are to go on an "indefinite hiatus" after the release of new single "In Berlin" (Too Pure) on 26/11, this is likely to be Electrelane's last show for the foreseeable future. This initially surprising and quite sad announcement makes this gig a poignant opportunity to witness one this country's most consistent, individual and rewarding bands for perhaps the last time. Regular KultureFlash readers will probably be aware of the band, but for any newcomers: Electrelane are an all-female four-piece from Brighton that has released five studio albums over the last ten years. Their sound is characterised by fuzzy guitar riffs, clattering percussion, structural bass lines and a distinctive and beautiful melodic art-rock noise -- think Sonic Youth meets Krautrock with dashes of The Velvet Underground and '90s alt-rock and you should have an idea of Electrelane's appeal. The last year has seen the band support Arcade Fire, pack out tents at festivals and expand their fanbase. And it's a testament to the bands' artistic integrity that they've decided to take a break now, rather than exploit their recent success. This should be a potentially moving chance to pay homage to a much-cherished band.

Next years Beijing Olympics might be the biggest PR job China's ever seen. The regime hopes to dazzle its guests with Olympic worthy buildings, airports and urban regeneration glitz. Playing catch-up with the West has been the story for a while, and now is China's chance to show off its hardware as the eyes of the world glance its way. The race has been run at a fevered pace. China has sought to distance itself from its dark past with an explosion of infrastructural development but for every point scored in economic growth and potential political reform, huge question marks remain over the country's human rights record, while whispers of corruption and oppression haunt this one-party state. Still, everyone wants a piece of China. It's the playground for every western starchitect on the circuit: Herzog & de Meuron have lent their expertise to the Beijing stadium while Rem Koolhaas is taking care of the communication blackout with his CCTV building. The art world too has put its faith in China, as prices soar for works by Chinese artists worldwide. Is this a new era for a country genuinely edging away from a bitter history, or a smokescreen by a government holding on with a firm grip. Can we trust our eyes?

NB: speakers include Simon Long (Asia Editor, The Economist), David Smith (The Sunday Times), Jonathan Mirsky (former East Asia Editor of The Times), Xuan Li (South Centre, Geneva) and Mark Allison (Amnesty International). This event is free but you need to register via beijing@stockholm-network.org.

Cathie Pilkington delights in a scatological use of sculptural elements, held together by time-consuming and meticulous labour. Anyone who caught her two-person exhibition with Emma Talbot at Transition and Metropole Galleries will know what to expect. The transition, however, from spaces that feel artist-run to the slick and traditional halls of Marlborough, is a more tricky one. Pilkington has decided on attack as the best method for dealing with this. An incongruous Punch revolves slowly on a glittery turntable in the gallery window, holding up a tray of white elephants that appear to be cast in porcelain and resemble some hideous blancmange desert. Two large pieces towards the rear of the gallery (a cast white assemblage with a giant baby figure at its heart and an antique glass display cabinet full of other variants on a mutant baby doll) further test the relationship between collectable objets d'art and calculated affronts to sensibility. It is in the middle section of the gallery that Pilkington's skill for tasteless reinvention seems to take off. Here we are in a world reminiscent of the nightmare bell jars of Thomas Schutte, but tempered by a very English subversion of the worlds of Beatrix Potter and AA Milne. Your old teddy bears will never seem the same.

NB: runs till 07/12.

Curated by gallery owner Kate MacGarry this group show includes work by five artists preoocupied with typography. Newcomer Alistair Frost, recently graduated from the RCA, presents the most conceptual use of typography in a series of slides showing retro graphics. YBA Fiona Banner, shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 2002, has two works in the exhibition including Nude Standing (Waiting to Find a Pose), 2007, a long text in black print on paper describing, sometimes quite graphically, a nude woman standing, with another in white print behind. German artist Tobias Rehberger uses brightly coloured numbers in his four digital prints on glass, with each work variously distorting the number in its title, such as the 9 in 9 o'clock? (my time is not your time), 2007. Stephen Willats' Signs And Messages From Modern Life No. 6, 1988, from which the exhibition takes its title, comprises two collages. One shows graphic characters from food outlets, such as the MacDonald's clown, while the other mirrors these images with mundane and scruffy every-day objects. This exhibition is a fascinating showcase of work by three generations of artists, and their very different approaches to typography.

NB: runs till 16/12.

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