Henry Smithson clearly knows how to make friends and influence people. Known to the music buying/leeching (delete as appropriate) world as Riton, he has toured with Soulwax, put out a krautrock album on Modular and been among the early releases on DFA offshoot Death From Abroad under his Gucci Soundsystem partnership with Ben Rymer -- and all this in the last year or so. With a new single out in May on ex Modular lot Deadly People's new label, a trio of nights based around the concept of Riton and his famous friends taking place at London's best club Plastic People was conceived. And here we are previewing the last instalment with Soulwax opening proceedings with Ed Banger hoi polloi DJ Mehdi and Xavier Justice involved in the penultimate episode. Guests for this gig will be Zongamin, Mickey Moonlight and Nathan Gregory Wilkins. Best turn up early 'cos there's gonna be a queue and there ain't no guestlist.

It seems appropriate that Werner Herzog's Encounters At The End Of The World is just out. Herzog merely devoted a film and perhaps a couple of years to this project, whereas Thomas Joshua Cooper has devoted the last 40 years to exploring the edges of the Earth, specifically the rim of the Atlantic. The American (though now long based in Glasgow) has been making photographs in the most raw and basic states possible. The camera is not even from the last century, and like explorers of yore he has been schlepping an Agfa round the Antarctic to create most of this show. Sure it is mere landscape photography, but this is the closest a Westerner gets to the tranquil sublime of Sugimoto; Cooper's version is closer to Burke's thinking. It is bigger than us. He is an artist of the rarest kind, an explorer. The activity itself is a feat, life-threatening in fact, but the result is closer to German Romantic painting. As starlight is of another time when it reaches our eyes, he is trying to imagine the view of the first people to look across to the other side of the ocean. It is exploration disguised as painting disguised as photography.

NB: runs till 30/05. Thomas Joshua Cooper will be speaking about his work and journeys at the gallery on 01/02 (4:30pm).

Desperate Optimists -- the duo made up of Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy -- first grabbed attention in 2004 with their surreal and brilliant short Who Killed Brown Owl. Consisting of an unbroken 9 minute 35mm shot, featuring 100 people and made in a single afternoon, the film was the start of their Civic Life project, an experiment in filming a series of shorts examining local communities. Out of this grew their first feature Helen. Taking on a theme of "missing" -- physically and emotionally -- the film follows college student Helen when she is asked to play the part of missing classmate Joy in a police reconstruction. During the process care home resident Helen begins to realise that Joy's life held everything that had been missing from her own -- stability, family, a positive future -- and she begins to find her own "joy" in this temporarily assumed identity. Beautifully shot with intense colours, intricate sound detail, long takes and minimal dialogue, the film is both soothingly mesmerising and strangely foreboding.

NB: post screening both Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy will be present for a Q& A. Helen is released in London on 01/05. Also of note are the two preview Q&A screenings with Charlie Kaufman and Samantha Morton of Synecdoche, New York on 11/05 (Curzon Soho and Barbican) and the Q&A preview screening with Emir Kusturica of Maradona on 09/05 (Barbican).

As part of Baroque 09 -- which celebrates the 250th anniversary of Handel's death and the 350th anniversary of Purcell's -- these performances of Handel's rarely-performed opera Giustino (1737) couldn't have a more fitting location. Sir Christopher Wren's Old Royal Naval College (1696 - 1712) is widely considered to be one of the greatest examples of English baroque architecture. The imposing facades of its interlocking buildings, complete with domes, colonnaded passageways and imposing pillars, produce a magnificent, symmetrical view from the river. The Chapel of St Peter and St Paul is more neo-classical in style (Wren's original was destroyed in a fire), but retains the expansive character of its baroque surrounds. It will be a rare treat to hear Handel in this space. The opera itself -- one of his most "spectacular" in its visual effects and fantastical narratives (telling of the escapades of a young peasant girl, Giustino) -- presents the more "ornamental" side of the baroque.

NB: the opera is performed on 30/01, 01/05 and 02/05. Baroque 09 is covered through the year by BBC Radio 3 and takes place at various venues including the V&A, which is currently staging an exhibition of the Baroque as an international style (runs till 19/07).

Dog Kennel Hill Project is a collective of intriguing performers and artists, bringing together the skills and experiences of Ben Ash, Henrietta Hale and Rachel Lopez de la Nieta. Their work is usually presented in alternative environments; they have created dance for stage and screen as well as site-specific works in galleries and other non-performance spaces. For this performance at The Place, their experimental, surprising choreography will be presented in a triple bill of unique, playful works in promenade. Featuring a dark journey to the underworld in The Odd Honesty Code, an obsessive percussive performer dressed in cymbals in Man Working and an examination of the unknown in Safe/Unsafe, each audience member can take an individual journey through the theatre space in order to interpret these intriguing pieces. Ahead of their Spring Loaded performance, an interview with the "Dogs" can be seen online.

NB: the Dog Kennel Hill Project performs on both 01/05 and 02/05 and is part of The Place's Spring Loaded festival that runs till 16/05. Also of note in dance is Sadler's Wells' William Forsyth season, which runs till 10/05.

For any true cinephile, the experience of going to the movies is not just about what you see. For us film geeks the whole night out is dripping with excitement and atmospheric details: the ambience of the theatre, the other audience members, popcorn, pick 'n' mix, and, of course, zombies. Besides being the top of the food chain, and in recent years the source of a curious amount of academic reflection, the zombie flick, bloody shocker or creature feature is the cinephile's spectator sport, and we relish the whole thing with the bloodthirsty contemplation of Roman civil servants at the coliseum. Ok, so we might be overstepping our bounds to say that the zombie film is a pillar of modern western civilization, but the creation and delivery of a film worth its salt requires a particular sensitivity to the flesh eating mores of the undead, not to mention a prophetic political sensibility, that few have mastered. This weekend, Curzon has resurrected the Midnight Movie to pay homage to two directors who stand alone as maestri of the thinking man's B movie genre, Dario Argento and George A Romero, featuring a screening of the Dead trilogy (including zombie makeovers, a cocktail party and an unmissable chance to meet Argento in the flesh) and a screening of the newly restored Suspiria over two nights, all introduced by Argento and composer Claudio Simonetti.

NB: Midnight Movies runs at the Curzon Soho on both 01/05 and 02/05 and is part of Cine-Excess III, the cult film festival that runs from 30/04 till 02/05.

Admit it, the words "free party" when associated with a well-known venue make you think of hackneyed line-ups and musical snoredom for the undiscerning. None of the attributes you'd readily associate with FACT magazine, or indeed the mysterious dubstep collective Various Production. Ok, so their second LP's penchant for spoken word hasn't gone down quite as well as their first outing The World Is Gone, but given how rare a live appearance this is, it's surely worth having a look what some of dubstep's less-sung heroes are doing. Just in case you've forgotten -- or are pretending you don't know -- where all this bass- heavy business came from, garage alumnus Wookie is on hand. Lest it not be forgot, the Jazzie B protege's melding of RnB and DnB also landed him the chance to remix Nas and Public Enemy. No sign of Craig David here. The boys over at FACT have been getting animated about new kid Brackles for a while, and if his remixes are anything to go by, there are plenty more infectious woofer wobblers to come from him. Plus Rinse FM, overlords of dubstep's crackly airwaves, also send forth two of their most talented DJ/producers, Geeneus and Alexander Nut.

Eastern Electrics emerge for a second year of multi-flavoured bank holiday merriment after their launch weekender last August. Again, there's a collaborative theme as several of the capital's most vibrant party crews make their own contribution to the line-up. On Saturday, it's the turn of Bloc, Dublime and MMM, proffering a bass-friendly musical programme including Monolake (full live surround sound show), Metro Area, Appleblim, Zomby, Brendon Moeller (live), Congo Natty (live) and Justin Martin. Should do the trick. Sunday's offering, hosted by Mulletover, Disco Bloodbath and Data Transmission, has more of a House/Disco slant, with 2000 and One, The Mole (live), Craig Richards, Loud-E, Seuil and a Freak n' Chic showcase featuring Dan Ghenacia, :TERRY: and Shonky. There's more on each day then there's room to list here fully, but if you're in the target crowd then you're probably already hooked by the above details. The whole thing takes place at a (shhhhhhh!) secret central London space, at which we're promised a chill out space, comfortable outdoor smoking and even "executive toilets". Fancy.

NB: Eastern Electronics takes place on both 02/05 and 03/05.

As every smug, self-made millionaire is always keen to point out, the first rule of success is never change a winning formula -- and that's a theory Excuse The Mess are firmly sticking to, with another selection of Berlin's finest. Despite forming in 2003, MyMy (Lee Jones, Nick Hoeppner and Carsten Klemann) didn't start turning heads outside the German capital until they released their excellent debut album, Songs For The Gentle, at the tail end of 2006. After pursuing various solo projects, they returned to the fold last July and reinforced their quality with "Everybody's Talkin", a release largely credited to be the best straight-up house track of 2008. The duo (sometimes trio) have focused their output to date on blissfully deep reductions that suit horizontal nodding more than dancefloor jacking. However, those now fearing a Saturday night with maybe a little too much restraint and sophistication in the air do not need to fear, because as a live act, MyMy (here Jones and Hoeppner) adopt a much tougher stance. An act likely to switch in and out of carefully planned tandem, expect a weaved tapestry of upbeat electronics ranging from everything from doe-eyed trance to upfront techno. Also onboard to join in on the fun are Ralf Kollmann co-founder of Mobilee and Crosstown Rebel's Matthew Styles.

Paintings are simple things really -- bits of coloured pigment glued onto a flat surface. Yet painters have made so much out of it over the years, from portraiture and landscape to religious iconography, not to mention the shattering surfaces of Julian Schnabel or the hardly discernible ones of Robert Ryman. Its ever-renewing capacity is part of its enormous appeal. Over the years, the sheer limits that Robert Mangold has set himself can only be compared to those of his compatriot, Ryman. This show, comprising two groups of works from the early '80s -- X, Plus paintings and Frame Painting, -- presents a unique opportunity to view nearly an entire body of his ideas and demonstrates how Mangold explores the nuances of each group. With colours evocative of the '50s, as their titles suggests the "X" paintings simply have a cross in the middle, while in the other a simple line creates the structure for the "frames". Hence the simple logic of their creation is there on show, such is the deceptive ease with which Mangold's creative process operates.

NB: runs till 08/05.

Despite the inaugural Escape From New York party not escaping the typical Bank Holiday weather in London it didn't stop some 800 revellers enjoying a disco dust off betwixt New York and London's finest on the Hoxton rooftop. Promoters Tropicana have conspired to make the line-up of the second installment just as special. In the New York corner we have DFA remix elite Holy Ghost! whose glitterball infused refixes of Panthers, Moby, Cut Copy and most recently Curses! betray the fact they used to be in a hip-hop group! The duo, currently working on a debut album for DFA which according to internet rumour contains a track with Steely Dan legend Michael McDonald, have barely played London so their billing should guarantee attendance. Providing the UK hype are Glaswegian edit don The Revenge (aka Graeme Clark) whose work under a number of aliases has sold out several times over on Jiscomusic, L.E.S.S. Productions and his own Instruments Of Rapture imprint. Adding a touch of continental flavour by way of Austria is sometime Gomma artist Diskokaine, executive producer of Sally Shapiro's last album and collaborator with such luminaries as Alexander Robotnick and Legowelt. Tropicana residents and friends fill in the gaps between the aforementioned long into the night.

In a house on the edge of the world, a party gathers for dinner -- an evening of social niceties and minor tragedies for a family and their friends. But there are dangers lurking in the darkness outside, and not just polar bears. In a stroke of unalloyed genius, we the audience watch them on the other side of a gigantic thick-paned window that fills the stage, unable to hear a sound of what is happening in the room but imagining everything through our voyeurism of these poor souls. Later we are joined by a mysterious voice, whose position to the household remains beautifully ambivalent, but whose omniscient commentary starts to illuminate what's going on inside before a heart-stopping sequence foreshadowing the end of everything. Glasgow-based company Vanishing Point have always been a good bet to follow, but this production is an inspiration. It's based on Maurice Maeterlinck's Interior but re-imagines this set-up afresh with wit, resonance and integrity. The performances from an excellent cast are near pitch-perfect and Matthew Lenton's direction expertly focuses our attention so that this is so much more than a slice of naturalistic reality, but a funny and humane dissection of destiny. Don't miss!

NB: runs till 09/05.

Recipient of an Asian Woman Of Achievement award in 2008 for her contribution to the arts in Britain, Shobana Jeyasingh founded Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company over 20 years ago. Her new full-length work, Just Add Water?, examines the multi-cultural palette of Britain and suggests that "cross-cultural eating" indicates a level of integration and tolerance that is lacking in other aspects of UK life. Jeyasingh has developed a dance language that still shocks traditionalists, a combination of classical Indian Bharatanatyam, long, lean ballet lines and dynamic contemporary movement. SJDC dancers are incredibly strong performers; they attack their movement vocabulary with verve and grace, and are equally skilled in choreography, as the recent production of The Dancer's Cut demonstrated. This work sees them reveal more of their personal histories, through intimate memories of childhood dishes and favourite foods. More exciting than a night at home with a takeaway, this work serves up a culinary platter of British Indian dance.

NB: Just Add Water? is performed on 01/05 , 02/05, 05/06 and 06/05. Also of note in dance is Sadler's Wells' William Forsyth season, which runs till 10/05.

With third album Still Night, Still Light set to propel Brooklyn's Au Revoir Simone right into the medium time, expect fierce competition for tickets for their Bush Hall show next week. The all girl trio of Erika Forster, Annie Hart, and Heather D'Angelo have perfected the art of making music as light as a Heston Blumenthal foam, simultaneously insubstantial yet with surprising depth. Last year they supplied the breathless vocals for Aeroplane's incredible remix of Friendly Fires' "Paris", a track capable of transforming even the grimiest East End basement into a sun kissed Elysian paradise. Don't let that brief flirtation with the dancefloor mislead you though; it's unlikely you'll need your sweatpants and dancing shoes tonight, as despite the odd metronomic mechanical beat their music is still much more suited to moments of blissful reverie than doing the running man. Support comes from the wonderfully eccentric Cortney Tidwell, a singer whose previous tours of the UK saw her described as Bjork raised by Dolly Parton -- a surprisingly good description as it turns out.

In contrast to the expanse she maintains in SE15, energetic young dealer Hannah Barry has gone back to her old stomping ground as former d'Offay stock to 21 Dering Street, in a Timothy Taylor space kindly lent to allow her breed of young (and we mean very young, with the youngest barely 22 and still in school) artists the exposure of showing in the centre of London's art district, no less in a contemporary art-historically relevant location. Appearing much wiser than her years, Barry has selected eight male artists rendering their perception of love through paint in a carefully considered exhibition, allowing for a show that speaks volumes beyond the limitations of the space. In To Paint Is To Love Again the works range from satin covered shaped canvases, precise draftsmanship, gold-flecked cloudy abstractions -- some soft, some wild; and neatly precise manipulations of panel and paint. While the tradition of paint on canvas may have changed over the years, Barry proves the traditional principals behind "painting" as the artist's signature expressive tool remain the same.

NB: runs till 07/05.

It's difficult to image the importance of Paul Graham's photography today. Somewhat like Citizen Kane and all those old black and white flicks that critics like Phillip French and David Thomson love to keep whittering on about, Graham's seemingly shoot-from-the-hip casual style was, and is, pioneering. Inspired by American photography of the '60s and '70s (eg Eggleston, Arbus, Winograd, Friedlander), these images are a kind of fictions, but they are real, life on the street real. Documentary photography posing as art, that we seem to catch all to much today, but Graham's style was revolutionary here in this country and in art. Winner of this year's Deutcshe Boerse Prize, and about time too, Graham, today an expatriate in New York City, was one of the first to use colour in the context of socio-documentary photography. With a touring retrospective (landing at the Whitechapel next year) and MoMA show, this mini-survey (and it is mini, presenting one work from each major group) is a taster of things to come.

NB: runs till 09/05. Paul Garham's work is also currently on view in New York at MoMA (till 18/05) and Greenberg Van Doren Gallery (till 02/05).

Who was the greater footballer? Pele or Maradona? Some contend that it was the Argentine who pulled an average Napoli team by the scruff of its neck to a Scudetto, not to mention winning the World Cup, whereas the Brazilian was part of a great team. Now consider Emir Kusturica: Serbian filmmaker, creator of When Father Was Away on Buisness, Time Of The Gypsies and Underground and also guitarist in his own band, No Smoking Orchestra -- you could say all round big ego. This film, as befitting a project by Kusturica, is not a regular documentary, rather it is a meeting of egos: somewhat akin to when De Niro faces Pacino in Heat, though don't expect Kusturica to tail Diego and invite him round to the diner for a face off. Pele never had a cocaine problem, never got bumped out of the World Cup for said problem, never had stomach stapling, never had the help of Castro, never had a documentary like this, and certainly never, ever, used the "hand of god" like Diego. No interest in football? Well, this is a Scorcese movie waiting to be made...

NB: post screening Emir Kusturica will be present for a Q&A. Also of note are the two preview Q&A screenings with Charlie Kaufman and Samantha Morton of Synecdoche, New York on 11/05 (Curzon Soho and Barbican) and the Q&A preview screening with Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy of Helen on 01/05 (Renoir).

This is a bloody weird film. So weird, in fact, it almost defies explanation or synopsis. And you'd expect no less from the writer of Being John Malcovich, Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. But here Charlie Kaufman directs as well as writes, so it's double weird. Take, for instance, the title (which you pronounce sin-neck-doh-key, btw). It means, in basic terms, a part which stands for the whole, or the whole which stands for the part -- for example "the big screen" for cinema. The film is a play on this -- Philip Seymour Hoffman is a playwright whose swan song is a vast, sprawling, constantly evolving play about the lives of the people in his life. Himself included. Complex indeed, like a giant hall of mirrors where there are infinite version of the characters as each are directed, acting, observing and being. And then different versions of characters get involved with one another off set, throwing things into total disarray. Lost? You're not even started, honey. But it is funny, and strangely insightful, and thought provoking -- about performance and relationships and the random metaphorical significances of daily life. Go see it, and take this Q&A opportunity to ask Kaufman just what the heck is going on.

NB: for those of you that cannot make this special screening you can also catch another Q&A and preview with Charlie Kaufman and Samantha Morton a little later on in the evening at the Barbican (8:15pm). Synecdoche, New York is released in London 15/05.

The Jesus Lizard was one of the most potent bands to come out of the alternative US rock scene of the early '90s. They disbanded at the end of the decade, pursuing independent paths, but their re-formation for shows this year (including top billing at the upcoming ATP festival) will be welcomed by fans of their taut (occasionally unhinged) sound. Frontman David Yow is known for his raucous stage presence (perhaps the physical embodiment of his vocals), so it will be interesting to see if he's mellowed with time. Additional to the significant draw of TJL, the recent announcement of supporting act Grails (another ATP highlight) is a nice bonus. Their intricate, atmospheric rock will provide an interesting counterpoint to the energy of the headline act. Further support comes from Harvey Milk, from Athens, Georgia, who have been compared to the Melvins for their riffing sludgery. That's a good thing, by the way!

NB for Grails fans catch them when they headline at Corsica Studios on 12/05.

Walking into a gallery is sometimes like time travel. Once through Maureen Paley's fuck-you-if-you-don't-dare-ring front door it's a bit like wandering into a Joy Division gig, ominous and disorienting. David Ratcliff's large monochrome canvases make no sense at first, but stand back and things start looming out -- is that a pair of legs, or lungs? Each work is an incomplete mirror image, like a psychoanalyst's inkblot but more confusing. It's just pattern but it jars and reverberates. Maybe it's what you see behind your eyelids when you've got a migraine. They feel out of time, dripping in 20th century nihilism. The source material is found web images but they are reprocessed to hide their meaning. Ratcliff makes them with complex hand-cut stencils and spray paint, but this has nothing to do with graffiti; it's more meticulous and more unsettling. When we start seeing evidence of sticky-tape and failed edges, another veil is thrown up around the paintings' secrets. It is strangely enjoyable trying to decipher it all as long as you feeling secure in your own psyche.

NB: runs till 24/05.

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.

If you want to tell us about an upcoming event please do so by sending an email to: events@kultureflash.net. We receive many emails and thus please realise that sadly we cannot reply to all of them. Every single email receives attention and we will contact you if we need anything further. Please note that KultureFlash is not a listings ezine and we do not receive any payment from venues, artists, managers or promoters.

Please send all press releases, invites, books and CDs to:

KultureFlash Ltd.
52 Cranmer Court
Whitehead's Grove
London SW3 3HW