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Issue 268

Reflecting the current economic climate, tongue in cheek logos turn the Ferrari stallion into an old nag. And when you thought it couldn't get any worse, along comes Bernard Madoff. At least there's new life being spawned by the Sims creator. Drug addiction doesn't seem so bad, especially when you can check yourself into luxury rehab and drinking too much water can kill you. Dave Hickey muses on the future of the art world while Hirst appears to have lost his sense of humour despite artists ruling the roost. The Guggenheim Bilbao row rumbles on, fashion and art make worthy bedfellows and art bargains make happy for Xmas shopping. Meanwhile has the new BMW Z4 ad ripped-off Aaron Young? Peter Brook quits his Paris theatre. Musicians unite against their music being played at war, Bach begat techno and independent music is on the skids. Can a gadget really save the industry? Bernie Katz takes a walk on Soho's wild side, Dejan Sudjic becomes a modern day Barthes and Sontag's diaries shed light on her sexuality.

Is the end nigh for the NY Times? The writing's on the wall when it comes to digital media. Obama's "Yes we can" man was influenced by Bush, but Dubya sneaks in a few last minute laws, while Cheney lives on in his fantasy world. Perhaps he's neighbours with Robert Mugabe? Who wrote the Koran: man or god? Why do men lie about what they've read and what constitutes modern slang? A new book brings architecture into the 21st century, while assisted suicide is still outlawed in the UK. Faulty genes make aggressive drunks, Facebook gets legal, but even they can't follow Scientology's paper trail. Can the mind live on after the body dies? Perhaps the scientist who became the "world's most dangerous woman" might know. Give us a crazy cat lady over Elton John when he's got his claws out any day and let's raise a toast to Kingsley Amis.

Finally, continuing with our animal theme of last week our cover image this week is by Andrea Galvani. And as per usual we take a break for Christmas but normal service resumes on 14/01/09. Happy Holidays!

Headlines

Art: Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2008; Cildo Meireles; Dogtooth & Tessellate; Francis Bacon; Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller; Michael Snow; Richard Hughes; Robert Capa; Thomas Demand

Club: Ben Watt + Justin Martin + Justus Justus Kohncke (live/DJ)...; Horse Meat Disco: Daniele Baldelli + Tim Sweeney...; RA Xmas Party: Modeselektor + DJ Koze + Move D + Lawrence (live) + Shackleton (live)...; secretsundaze: Omar-S + Jonny D (live)...; Wang: Squarepusher (DJ) + Radioactive Man (live) + A Robotnick (live/DJ)...; White Heat + No Pain In Pop: Banjo Or Freakout...

Concert: Animal Collective; White Heat + No Pain In Pop: Banjo Or Freakout...

Design: Cold War Modern: Design 1945 - 1970; Super Christmas Market

DJ: Ben Watt + Justin Martin + Justus Justus Kohncke (live/DJ)...; Horse Meat Disco: Daniele Baldelli + Tim Sweeney...; RA Xmas Party: Modeselektor + DJ Koze + Move D + Lawrence (live) + Shackleton (live)...; secretsundaze: Omar-S + Jonny D (live)...; Wang: Squarepusher (DJ) + Radioactive Man (live) + A Robotnick (live/DJ)...

Festival: Mime Festival 2009

Film: Asif Kapadia: Far North; Bicycle Thieves; Che: Part One; Cildo Meireles; Danny Boyle: Slumdog Millionaire; Gonzo: The Life And Work Of Dr Hunter S Thompson; John Cassavetes; Michael Snow; The Reader

Q&A: Asif Kapadia: Far North; Danny Boyle: Slumdog Millionaire

Retrospective: John Cassavetes

Talk: Simon Reid-Henry: Fidel and Che

Theatre: 1927: Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea; Cinderella; Mime Festival 2009

 
FRIDAY 19 DECEMBER
Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue                    Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 Ongoing

FILM BICYCLE THIEVES

Friday 19 December

various cinemas across London
check press for times and ticket prices

Restored and re-released in a new 35mm version, director Vittorio De Sica's totally faultless Bicycle Thieves is universally acknowledged as one of the finest movies ever made. Written by Italian Communist Party member Cesare Zavattini it stars first-time actor Lamberto Maggiorani as Ricci, an impoverished Roman who sells the family bed linen to buy a bicycle and get a job to feed his starving family. One of the greatest achievements of the Italian Neo Realist school, much has been written about this remarkable tour de force, but in short it is basically a Marxist parable that looks at post-war Italy through the eyes of a man who, just like his country, has drifted into despair and tragically loses every ounce of self-dignity he once had. Filmed on the streets of Rome in 1948, this film will take your breath away.

NB: Bicycle Thieves is re-released in London on 19/12. Other new films of note are Gonzo: The Life And Work Of Dr Hunter S Thompson (19/12), Far North (26/12), The Reader (02/01), Che: Part One (02/01) and Slumdog Millionaire (09/01).

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SATURDAY 20 DECEMBER
Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue                    Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 Ongoing

CLUB / DJ RA XMAS PARTY: MODESELEKTOR + DJ KOZE + MOVE D + LAWRENCE (LIVE) + SHACKLETON (LIVE)...

matter

Saturday 20 December [10pm - 7am]

The O2, Peninsula Sq., Greenwich, SE10 T:0207.549.6686 Tube: North Greenwich
general £12 (advance) | concessions £8 (advance)

There hasn't really been that much to capture our collective attention since matter, Fabric's larger O2-based cousin, opened in September, but this party looks excellent and is a definite contender for one of the best line-ups of the year. Resident Advisor have established quite a position for themselves in contemporary electronic music culture, with their website acting as a comprehensive online hub for the mnml generation. There's a sense that they've aligned themselves well with current trends, and this event demonstrates their savviness. It's been advertised as a Christmas party but such a tag is neither here nor there with such a heavyweight line-up: Modeselektor featuring Pfadfinderei (live A/V set), Move D (who recently played an excellent set at Fabric), DJ Koze, Trus' me, dOP (live), Lawrence (live), Thomas Melchior, Shackleton (live), Motor City Drum Ensemble and Jozif. Apparently, there are more names still to be added. At only 8 quid a ticket (direct from the RA site), not many would argue.

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CLUB / DJ BEN WATT + JUSTIN MARTIN + JUSTUS JUSTUS KOHNCKE (LIVE/DJ)...

The End

Saturday 20 December [10pm - 7pm]

16a West Central St., WC1 T:020.7419.9199 Tube: Tottenham Court Rd./Holborn
general £16 (advance) £17 (door) | concessions £12

Ben Watt's quarter of a century in the music business has taken him all the way from Everything But The Girl through deep house to latest project Buzzin' Fly records, which is celebrating its fifth birthday. One of the label's discoveries Justin Martin also features in the main room, but the big distraction is bound to be Cologne's Justus Koehncke. One of Kompakt's biggest finds (at least in terms of profile) in recent years, he's been busy melding the warmth of his own instrumental productions with big crossover remixes of artists like Hot Chip and Friendly Fires. This time he'll be doing a bit of both -- and no doubt embracing his love of avant-guarde, pop and disco. There are hardly any good reasons not to go and see electronic of this calibre music being played live.

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SUNDAY 21 DECEMBER
Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue                    Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 Ongoing

DESIGN SUPER CHRISTMAS MARKET

Somerset House

Sunday 21 December [19/12 from 6 - 9pm and 20/12 + 21/12 from 10am - 6pm]

Strand, WC2 T:020.7845.4600 Tube: Temple
£2

If you are trying to will yourself into seasonal jollity, punctuate your festive calendar with a visit to the Super Christmas Market. This is being produced in relation to the Wouldn't it be nice... exhibition currently showing at Somerset House. Ten leading contemporary artists and designers explore the expansive possibilities inspired by the theme of wishful thinking. The market is sure to be a design lover's playground: original pieces are on sale by the likes of design gurus Martino Gamper, Gitta Gschwendtner, Julia Lohmann, Michael Marriott and Tim Parsons -- which with affordable price tags, you may just want to keep for yourself. Or if you fancy some "hands on" fun, come along for snowball throwing, surely in its first incarnation as a competitive sport, or create your own personalised jewellery

NB: admission price includes entrance to Wouldn't it be nice... (runs till 21/12). Purchases at the market can be made in cash or cheques only. Also of note in terms of design is Cold War Modern: Design 1945 - 1970 at the V&A (runs till 11/01/09).

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MONDAY 22 DECEMBER
Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue                    Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 Ongoing

FILM GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF DR HUNTER S THOMPSON

Monday 22 December

various cinemas across London
check press for times and ticket prices

Alex Gibney's (Oscar nominated Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room and Oscar winning Taxi To The Dark Side) latest documentary Gonzo: The Life And Work Of Hunter S Thompson, looks at one of America's great malcontents via an intoxicating montage of rare interviews, archive footage, taped interviews and testimony from those who knew him best -- including former president Jimmy Carter, writer Tom Wolfe and legendary illustrator Ralph Steadman. A description of a man larger than life, living in an age less hectored, this fascinating and funny film, narrated by one Johnny Depp, is an intriguing portrait of a man who was one of the most individual voices of the 20th Century, did more drugs than God himself, and created a persona that inspired legions of ne'er do well scribes but still, after a period of creative angst, felt the need to shoot himself through the head outside his house in Aspen on February 20th 2005.

NB: Gonzo is released in London 19/12. Other new films of note are Bicycle Thieves (19/12), Far North (26/12), The Reader (02/01), Che: Part One (02/01) and Slumdog Millionaire (09/01).

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TUESDAY 23 DECEMBER
Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue                    Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 Ongoing

THEATRE CINDERELLA

Lyric

Tuesday 23 December [2 and 7pm]

Lyric Square, King St., W6 T:020 8741 2311 Tube: Hammersmith
£10 - £27

This Cinderella is no fey tale for the panto season. Director Melly Still -- responsible for the National's hit Coram Boy -- and co-writer Ben Power -- the mighty pen of Headlong -- have delved their hands deep into the bloody origins of the story and pulled out a meaty version that's not for the squeamish. A lot of toes might be butchered before the slipper fits. As you'd expect at the Lyric, it's a Christmas show that is visually beautiful and delivers some gorgeously theatrical treats, from a one-man orchestra playing a horn of ice to startlingly imaginative animations, as well as fine performances including the evergreen Tim McMullan and an effervescent Elizabeth Chan as Cinders. An Xmas present that's not just for children.

NB: runs till 03/01/09. Also of note but at the Barbican is Catherine Wheels Theatre Company's Hansel And Gretel which runs till 04/01/09.

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WEEK 2    25/12 to 31/12
Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 Ongoing

FILM / Q&A ASIF KAPADIA: FAR NORTH

Curzon Soho

Monday 29 December [6:30pm]

93-107 Shaftesbury Ave., W1 T:0871.703.3988 Tube: Leicester Sq./Piccadilly
general £12 | concessions £9

Asif Kapadia, North London's homegrown filmmaker, has often seemed quite unnoticed. Although Hackney born and bred, his films are (literally) thousands of miles apart from the ever-popular Cockney geezer/football hooligan/housing-estate-hell stories beloved by new British filmmakers. Instead, Kapadia's films are beautifully shot, epic tales set in indeterminate time periods and uncertain locations. The Warrior, winner of the 2002 BAFTA for Best British Film, was a samurai-inspired Hindi-language fable set in India and the Himalayas. Far North is the second of four films loosely covering the points of the compass. Shot in the Artic, an outcast native woman (Michelle Yeoh) and her adopted daughter scrape out a bare existence on the icecap as they roam to escape outsiders. However the precarious balance of their relationship is irredeemably upset when they rescue a dying man (Sean Bean). Concluding with an unexpected twist, it's a tragic story of a beautiful but harsh and unforgiving place.

NB: Far North is released in London on 26/12. Also at the Curzon Soho but on 05/01 (6:30pm) is a special preview screening of The Wrestler with a Mickey Rourke Q&A. Other new films of note are Bicycle Thieves (19/12), Gonzo: The Life And Work Of Dr Hunter S Thompson (19/12), The Reader (02/01), Che: Part One (02/01) and Slumdog Millionaire (09/01).

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CLUB / DJ SECRETSUNDAZE: OMAR-S + JONNY D (LIVE)...

Village Underground

Wednesday 31 December [10pm - 6am]

54 Holywell Lane, EC2 T:020.7422.7505 Tube: Old St./Liverpool St.
£29.50

Ah, New Years' Eve clubbing... remember the days? Inflated ticket prices, stuck in the cloakroom queue at midnight, extortionate taxi ride home... yes. If we were going to put ourselves through all that this year, our top pick would be secretsundaze, who've got a particularly solid line-up in the shape of Omar-S and Johnny D (live) -- we've bigged-up Omar-S here before. It's true to say that he's no stranger to London DJ booths, but he's got the capacity to be different each time and he's always ace. Johnny D's very much the hot young thang at the moment, but this will be his debut UK appearance, owing to pesky visa troubles. He's immensely popular with people who think they like deep house but don't really know what it is, and his approach condenses the soul of the former style into a more mnml-friendly, linear format. Enjoy.

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CLUB / DJ HORSE MEAT DISCO: DANIELE BALDELLI + TIM SWEENEY...

Cargo

Wednesday 31 December [9pm - 6am]

Kingsland Viaduct, 83 Rivington St., EC2 T:020.7739.3440 Tube: Old St./Liverpool St.
£35 (advance)

The price tag and the venue are often deterrents on the dreaded NYE, but this particular shindig looks set to defy both. Although admittedly Cargo has played host to some interesting disco names this year -- Crazy P and Thomas Bullock for instance -- it's more the fact that those good fellows from Horse Meat Disco are running the show that suggests it might manage intimacy and friendliness, both rare commodities on the 31st. HMD rarely disappoints on the talent front, and this time they've secured the services of cosmic disco godfather Daniele Baldelli, a mix pioneer who easily belongs in the same bracket as Larry Levan or Francois K. Plus, at the other end of technological history, the man the kids are all podcasting right now is the ever-likeable Tim Sweeney and his long-running Beats In Space radio show. This promises to be seriously uplifting stuff.

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CLUB / DJ WANG: SQUAREPUSHER (DJ) + RADIOACTIVE MAN (LIVE) + A ROBOTNICK (LIVE/DJ)...

Corsica Studios

Wednesday 31 December [8pm - 6am]

Unit 5, Farrell Court, Elephant Rd., SE17 T:020.7703.4760 Tube: Elephant and Castle
£20 (advance)

Those wishing to avoid any chance of hearing Auld Lang Syne this year would be well advised to head south to the grimy but oh so fun Corsica Studios for Wang's new year's eve party. Not that it will be a joyless, beard-stroking affair mind you. The Wang crew have always prided themselves, with good reason, on throwing nights more like out of control very noisy house parties than club nights. Joining hosts Electro Elvis and Lula and Lula is an all star cast that ranges from the bleep street jungle rave of Squarepusher and no nonsense electro of Radioactive Man to the inspired italo theatrics of Heartbreak and original electro disco pioneer Alexander Robotnick. Tickets are just 20 quid, a snip for this time of year, so if you fancy something a little different this hogmanny get yours now.

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WEEK 3    01/01/09 to 07/01/09
Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 Ongoing

FILM THE READER

Friday 2 January

various cinemas across London
check press for times and ticket prices

Having stirred up fiery controversy across the pond before Christmas, here The Reader hits screens just as 2009 takes its first breath. It's not hard to see why it got blood pumping stateside -- the story, an adaptation of Bernhard Schlink's novel by Stephen Daldry, explores the relationship between a young German boy and an older woman, later put on trial for Nazi war crimes. Kate Winslet is exceptional, perfectly crafting her shadowy character, the crystalline complexity of whom inspires passion, love, loathing, repugnance, protectiveness and sympathy from the painfully conflicted hero flailing about in treacherously murky moral waters. At once a love story and horror ridden, the film will leave your emotions desperately twisted, your mind whirring, your palms sweaty, and your moral compass spinning. Is the world ready for the issues raised in the film? Jury's out, but it's a must see.

NB: The Reader is released in London 02/01/09. Other new films of note are Bicycle Thieves (19/12), Gonzo: The Life And Work Of Dr Hunter S Thompson (19/12), Far North (26/12), Che: Part One (02/01) and Slumdog Millionaire (09/01).

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FILM CHE: PART ONE

Friday 2 January

various cinemas across London
check press for times and ticket prices

Ernesto "Che" Guevara started his medical studies only to become a guerilla leader, a marxist revolutionary and an icon of radical ideology. The Che image has been romanticized, used and abused over time to the point where the values he stood for have been eclipsed by the familiarity of his face and its power to imbue anything with idealism. Steven Soderbergh in his biopic Che: Part One took it upon himself to explore a specific period of Che's life: the 1956 operation to overthrow Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship. Interwoven with vignettes from his trip to New York to speak at the UN, the gritty documentary style footage is just sober enough to tone down any attempt to glamorize Che. Instead, the context of the tensions between Cuba and the US that led to Che becoming an iconic figure is presented in great detail, and Benicio Del Toro's interpretation will certainly lead to a deluge of awards.

NB: Che: Part One is released in London on 02/01/09. Other new films of note are Bicycle Thieves (19/12), Gonzo: The Life And Work Of Dr Hunter S Thompson (19/12), Far North (26/12), The Reader (02/01) and Slumdog Millionaire (09/01).

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FILM / RETROSPECTIVE JOHN CASSAVETES

Barbican Centre

Sunday 4 January [04/01 till 25/01]

Barbican Centre, EC2 T:020.7638.8891 Tube: Barbican
general £9.50 (per film) | concessions £7.50 (per film)

John Cassavetes viewed cinema as a systemic whole, an organism of great magnitude capable of taking virtually any shape. Known for acting in mainstream film and TV (Rosemary's Baby, The Dirty Dozen, Columbo) as a fund raising venture for his own work, Cassavetes was relentless in his approach to directing character driven realist cinema. His films pull eviscerating realism both from his cast and audience, carving out his stylistic turf between the unknowable and the unwatchable facets of the human condition. Often directing his family and friends, and using his own house as a film set, his characters were frequently completely submerged in the madness and discomfort he drew from them on film. The selection of films are his most notable: Shadows, Cassavetes' first feature film: Woman Under The Influence, a portrait of a family undone by mental illness; the shady film noir fusion Killing of a Chinese Bookie; and Opening Night, a portrait of a troubled marriage in the spotlight.

NB: runs from 04/01 till 25/01/09. Also of note is the Sam Peckinpah season (along with the re-release of Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia) at the BFI Southbank which runs from 01/01 till 31/01/09.

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FILM / Q&A DANNY BOYLE: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

BFI Southbank

Monday 5 January [6:15pm]

South Bank, SE1 T:020.7928.3232 Tube: Embankment/Waterloo
general £12.50 | concessions £9.25

Slumdog Millionaire is the Juno of 2009 -- the left-of-field oddity that shouldn't make sense, but which everyone can't get enough of. In this case the cynical, smart talking teenage pregnant girl is swapped for an uneducated urchin from Mumbai's slums who is on the love quest of his life. The film is a sweeping romantic epic rather curiously hung on the scaffolding of the hero's participation in the Hindi version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Weird on paper, maybe, but brilliant on screen. The colours and craziness of India form the perfect backdrop for a story of such lavish and wild improbability and adventure. Could Danny Boyle have made anything more different from either Trainspotting or The Beach? Unlikely, but, God damn it, he pulls it off -- 'it' being the grand passions of a Bollywood melodrama mixed with the gaudy tension of a prime time gameshow. How? Well, you ask him...

NB: Slumdog Millionaire is released in London on 09/01/09. Also of note but at the Curzon Soho on 05/01 (6:30pm) is a special preview screening of The Wrestler with a Mickey Rourke Q&A. Other new releases are Bicycle Thieves (19/12), Gonzo: The Life And Work Of Dr Hunter S Thompson (19/12), Far North (26/12), The Reader (02/01) and Che: Part One (02/01).

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WEEK 4    08/01/09 to 14/01/09
Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 Ongoing

ART / FILM CILDO MEIRELES

Tate Modern

Friday 9 January [09/01 at 7pm and 11/01 at 3pm]

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

A new film exploring the work and daily routine of leading Latin American conceptual artist Cildo Meireles, will be premiered at Tate Modern in the new year. Cildo (directed by Gustavo Moura) provides a rare glimpse into the home and atelier of Meireles, as well as an insight into his challenging practice. An extensive selection of his work is currently on display at Tate Modern. Meireles gained recognition in the '70s with politically charged pieces and installations, which protested against Brazil's military dictatorship. Included in the Tate show is Mission/ Missions (How To build Cathedrals) -- a visual feast with religious undertones -- and Volatile, a sealed chamber infused with a smell of gas that gives the feeling of an impending explosion. Such incendiary works are typical of Meireles, and the physicality of the experience provides food for thought after the more sedentary Tate blockbuster exhibitions of Rothko and Bacon.

NB: Cildo screens on both 09/01 (7pm) and 11/01/09 (3pm) and the exhibition runs till 11/01/09. Rothko runs at Tate Modern till 01/02/09 and Francis Bacon runs at Tate Britain till 04/01/09.

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FESTIVAL / THEATRE MIME FESTIVAL 2009

Barbican Centre + Southbank Centre + Shunt Vaults...

Saturday 10 January [10/01 till 25/01]

check programme for times and ticket prices

Celebrating 31 years of performance in January 2009, the London International Mime Festival offers the best in international contemporary visual theatre. Highlights include a danse macabre of puppetry in Figurentheater Tuebingen's Salto.Lamento; Faust, presented in 2,360 words in Plug'n'Play by Russian group Akhe, and a wordless Oedipus myth in Seeking Oedipus by Ex Machina. LIMF also features Paris Calling, a commemoration of contemporary French performance aiming to unite French and British professionals at 25 venues across the UK. From circus arts and acrobatics to cabaret and vaudeville, a fusion of puppetry, mask work, kinetic sculptures and chemical experiments promises to ensure that the LIMF remains an unforgettable montage of unconventional theatrical expression.

NB: runs from 10/01 till 25/01/09 at Barbican Centre, ROH, Southbank Centre, Shunt Vaults, ICA and other venues.

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CONCERT ANIMAL COLLECTIVE

KOKO

Monday 12 January [7pm]

1A Camden High St., NW1 T:0870.432.5527 Tube: Mornington Crescent/Camden Town
£16 (advance) £18 (door)

If you're looking for a musical antidote to mid-January gloom, you could do worse than check out Animal Collective at KOKO. They've got a new album about to drop on Domino later the same month, so expect plenty of new material. Apparently, the new album (entitled Merriweather Post Pavillion) furthers the heavily sampleadelic approach of more recent recorded work, which took on the form of a much more rhythmic and electronic live beast on their last tour. For a band that appears constantly in flux, their live appearances seem to be consistently thrilling -- managing to encapsulate the madcap energy of their music and retaining a sense of unpredictability. Despite their off-kilter nature (or because of it?), Animal Collective are a wildly popular band, so make sure you add a ticket to your Xmas list or you'll be left out in the cold.

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CLUB / CONCERT WHITE HEAT + NO PAIN IN POP: BANJO OR FREAKOUT...

Madame JoJo's

Tuesday 13 January [8pm - 3am]

8 Brewer St., W1 T:020.7734.3040 Tube: Piccadilly Circus
general £5 | concessions £4

With the mainstream music press trying to suffocate you with their opinion on who will take the place of the MGMTs and Ladyhawkes in 2009, you obviously need a new name to drop when you're trying to impress people at the next magazine launch instead of your Little Boots or La Roux. A fair bet would be London dwelling Italian Banjo Or Freakout. Supposedly borne out of boredom whilst waiting for his missus in a Hackney flat full of strangers, he has the requisite wanky name, trades in the eerie electronic shoegaze drone which will lump him in with Telepathe et al and has wowed the bloggerati with covers of Radiohead, Vampire Weekend, Burial and Battles. Those bastions of indie taste, White Heat and No Pain In Pop join forces in showcasing Banjo Or Freakout at their first party of 2009.

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TALK SIMON REID-HENRY: FIDEL AND CHE

Southbank Centre

Wednesday 14 January [7:45pm]

South Bank, SE1 T:0871.663.2501 Tube: Embankment/Waterloo
£7.50

The relationship between Che Guevara and Fidel Castro has been shrouded in mystery, vilified alongside the crumbling Soviet regime, and, more recently, attached to romantic notions of revolutionary heroism in the name of popular culture. But beneath the glossy surface is a friendship forged from a shared political purpose and a deeply influential ideal. Simon Reid-Henry has received various accolades for his work in Cuba, and his investigation into the lives of these two men follows their progress through Central American geography and politics, and parallels the story of their friendship with the convergence and eventual splitting of their beliefs. Reid-Henry will discuss his new book Fidel And Che: A Revolutionary Frienship and his notably in-depth research practice.

NB: this event is the first of the Southbank's Revolutions series of talks that will run through spring 2009. Also of note is the release of Che: Part One in London on 02/01/09.

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ONGOING
Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 Ongoing

ART FRANCIS BACON

Tate Britain

Ends Friday 4 January [Daily 10am - 5:50pm and Fri until 9pm]

Millbank, SW1 T:020.7887.8008 Tube: Pimlico
general £12.20 | concessions £10.30

Firmly ensconced as a modern master whose works can be relied on to draw in a pretty packet at auction, it might be easy to get complacent about Francis Bacon -- a trip to Tate Britain's monster retrospective, however, proves there's plenty to get excited about in the old dog's legacy yet. Canvases seared with virulent oranges and reds, bisected by cruel caging forms, and menaced by absolute blackness, set the stage for Bacon's remorseless deconstruction and distortion of the human form. Everything is covered here; early works in which the human is already grappling with the animal and losing the fight, the vacant horror of the Man In Blue series, the screaming popes, and the ambitious crucifixion triptychs. The Archive Room contains secondary material -- photographs, magazine pictures -- painstakingly salvaged from the cataclysm of Bacon's studio after his death, which allow fascinating insight into his working methods.

NB: runs till 04/01/09.

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THEATRE 1927: BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA

BAC

Ends Thursday 10 January [now till 03/01]

Lavender Hill, SW11 T:020.7326.8200 Tube: Clapham Common/Stockwell
£10 - £16

A wonderful evening's entertainment lies in store if you visit this cabaret by 1927. You'll see the sun and moon enjoy a Sapphic relationship, a cat die nine times, gingerbread men come to life and a pianist turn into a monkey. These are among the sketches on screen, as two cheerful flappers regale fairy tales in a stylish vaudeville show that was a hit at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe. The animated motifs of the silent movie, produced by Paul Barritt, seamlessly complement the musical actions of the girls (played by Esme Appleton and Suzanne Andrade). Wearing prim tea dresses and with white-painted faces, these shocking sisters describe how their parents died in a strange "wishing-well accident". Having lost their grandmother, they invite a hapless member of the audience to become their playmate. The result is an interactive and enchanting piece of theatre, where the devil is in the detail.

NB: runs till 10/01/09.

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ART RICHARD HUGHES

Sadie Coles HQ

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

35 Heddon St., W1 T:020.7434.2227 Tube: Piccadilly Circus
FREE

Taking it easy? The simple way to do this show would be to trawl a few skips in the burbs and drag in what you found. Each sad object looks like it was once someone's favourite something and then, after 15 years forgotten under a privet hedge, was disinterred by an art student looking for some gritty Arte Povera chic. But Richard Hughes is taking the piss with this title (One Man's Struggle To Take it Easy); each piece is actually painstakingly conjured from traditional sculptural materials -- resin, fibreglass, plaster. A drab cinderblock wall reads "Why Do I Do This Every Day?" taken from some soul crushing bridge graffiti on the M40. Very Christmassy. It's deeply ennui-ish and utterly compelling. Sadly our favourite art piss-bottle Road-Sider: First Of The Morning (road-cider, geddit?) is not here.

NB: runs till 10/01/09.

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DESIGN COLD WAR MODERN: DESIGN 1945 - 1970

V&A Museum

Ends Sunday 11 January [Daily 10am - 6pm and Tue + Wed until 8pm]

Cromwell Rd., SW7 T:020.7942.2000 Tube: South Kensington
general £9 | concessions £7 | students £5

If you are interested in seeing what the future used to look like, hurry to the V&A before this superb exhibition finishes. Here you can see how "frontiers" were re-imagined, after the destruction of WW2, from the Space Race to the design of domestic spaces (especially kitchen appliances!). As the utopias of consumerism and communism, underwritten by the "military-industrial complexes" of both East and West competed for public allegiance, design was visionary as much as instrumental. However, the ambivalence felt towards these political futures is already evident in many of the works shown. The prototypes of space suits, for instance, are displayed alongside Lucio Fontana's wonderful Spatial Conception, End of God -- an egg-shaped homage to punctured rust.

NB: runs till 11/01/09.

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ART BLOOMBERG NEW CONTEMPORARIES 2008

A Foundation

Ends Sunday 11 January [now till 11/01]

Rochelle School and Club Row, Arnold Circus, E2 T:020.7033.3539 Tube: Old St.
FREE

It's always worrying walking in to a show like this -- what if the best UK art graduates are all rubbish? It would be so depressing. But never fear, some are really quite ambitious; Nicholas Tayler's cowboy themed web project is a detailed piss-take of Matthew Barney's Cremaster Cycle, and Tyler Bright Hilton's storyboard etchings seem from a whole new aesthetic; unafraid of linear story telling, they borrow from fantasy and porn. High gloss photography is back, notably by Rita Soromenho and Sarah Michael. There are the obligatory crap video loops and trashy assemblage sculptures, but these are tolerable padding around a select few real gems. This year's panel, Ceal Floyer, Richard Billingham and Ken Lum, cut down a record 1,400 entries to 57 and have stuffed the Rochelle School with an enjoyably argy-bargy spread.

NB: runs till 11/01/09.

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ART THOMAS DEMAND

Sprueth Magers

Ends Saturday 17 January [Tue to Sat 10am - 6pm]

7A Grafton St., W1 T:020.7408.1613 Tube: Green Park
FREE

All change at the White House now that this new chap is measuring the drapes, so take some timely reflection on the outgoing president's interior design choices, and other less significant legacies. Thomas Demand's photographs, commissioned by the New York Times, depict the Oval Office, one of the world's most recognisable interiors -- but one that most of us will never set foot in. Demand's images, however, are illusory constructions -- life-sized sets made entirely of paper and cardboard. Photographing this theatre of power from odd angles, such as from under the chair, Demand reveals its power as a house of cards, drawing our attention to the removal of idiosyncrasy -- blank faces in photograph frames on the desk, and memos of blank paper. Demand claims to destroy the paper sets once he has photographed them, which, if it hasn't been done already, sounds like a great idea for a party on 20th January.

NB: runs till 17/01/09.

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ART JANET CARDIFF AND GEORGE BURES MILLER

Modern Art Oxford

Ends Sunday 18 January [Tue to Sat 10am - 5pm and Sun 12 - 5pm]

30 Pembroke St., Oxford T:01865.722.733
FREE

Canadian husband and wife duo Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller have won international recognition for their multi-media installations at events such as the 2001 Venice Biennale, yet their work has not often been exhibited in the UK. This show surveys their career, from their first formal collaboration Dark Pool (1995), an assemblage of curios that plumbs the depths of memory, to The Muriel Lake Incident (1999), a film noir using the realistic binaural recording that is behind Cardiff's walks, and the cross-Canada slide show of the Road Trip (2004). It also features the theatrical Opera For A Small Room (2005), inspired by the sounds of rural British Columbia, and the chillingly beautiful installation, partly based on a Franz Kafka story, The Killing Machine (2007). It then returns the visitor to a structure composed of layers of memories, which in all shapes and forms make up the content of the exhibition: The House Of Books Has No Windows.

NB: runs till 18/01/09.

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ART ROBERT CAPA

Barbican Centre

Ends Sunday 25 January [Daily 11am - 8pm, Tue + Wed until 6pm and Thu until 10pm]

Barbican Centre, EC2 T:020.7638.8891 Tube: Barbican
general £8 | concessions £6

Nothing in his life became him like the leaving of it: war photographer Robert Capa's tragic death in the field when he stood on an anti-personnel mine is all of a piece with his dramatic images of violence and conflict from around the globe. One of the co-founders of the Magnum agency, Capa documented just about every conflict going, including the Spanish Civil War, the Sino-Japanese War and the liberation of Leipzig, all of which feature in this extensive exhibition of over 150 photographs. Although Capa may now be most famous for his contested and controversial image The Falling Soldier, there is plenty here to settle any doubts about his ability to capture the grit of war, from troops charging through the frothing Normandy waters at D-Day, to the bleak stillness of an American soldier pooled in his own blood at the window of a Leipzig room.

NB: runs till 25/01/09. Showing alongside this exhibition is a retrospective on Gerda Taro, Capa's collaborator and lover during the Spanish Civil War, and On the Subject of War, which features contemporary work by Omer Fast, Geert ven Kesteren, Paul Chan and An-My Le.

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ART / FILM MICHAEL SNOW

BFI Southbank

Ends Sunday 1 February [now till 01/02]

South Bank, SE1 T:020.7928.3232 Tube: Embankment/Waterloo
FREE

There's no question about it: Michael Snow is a quietly dazzling film and video artist. To watch even this teeny selection of film works at the BFI Southbank Gallery is to witness an artist who has spent his career unravelling film as medium, stretching it, breaking it, and most importantly caring for it. An "x" made in tape on the gallery floor is filmed by a video camera and projected through a live feed next to the real cross. Stand on this, and realise that X = you are here = you are observed. The intellectually charming silent film That / Cela / Dat consists of single white words flashed up on a black screen for different durations, creating the effect of someone talking to you -- just you, you special thing -- in your head. Wonderful. So, in his honour, sing altogether now: let it Snow, let it Snow, let it Snow.

NB: runs till 01/02/09. The BFI Southbank is hosting several special Michael Snow events in January click here for more details.

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ART DOGTOOTH & TESSELLATE

The approach E2

Ends Sunday 1 February [Wed to Sun 12pm - 6pm]

47 Approach Rd., E2 T:020.8983.3878 Tube: Bethnal Green
FREE

This group exhibition, as its sharp title suggests, is about pattern as provocation -- how it has been codified and re-branded by artists of the past century. The curators (Michelle Cotton and Emma Robertson) have chosen very specifically from this large and ever-shifting classification to explore the frayed edges between art, nature, commerce and politics. It's a surprisingly light, yet textile-heavy installation that pays little heed to an historical timeline, dipping in and out of territories as diverse as vorticist tug-boats courtesy of the late Edward Wadsworth, who designed "dazzle camouflage" for allied war ships in WWI, to Alice Channer's sculptural fusion of art and fashion methods and motifs. Despite the many famous names in evidence (Dufy, Dali, Delaunay, Riley) the contemporary works hold their own, such as Sebastian Hammwoehner's doily reconfigured in chalk, and Matthew Harrison's floorboard customised with wood sourced from around the globe.

NB: runs till 01/02/09.

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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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