This year's London Literary Festival on the Southbank is a stonker. Forget hauling arse to Hay or Port Elliot and having to fork out masses on transport, negotiate fields and holing up in a tent. Stay in the old smoke, where the action really is. The Rhyme Of The Ancient Mariner free performance by 150 school children (04/07 at 12pm and 3pm)? Check. Shakespeare sonnets set to music by Gavin Bryars (04/07 at 7:45pm)? Check. A cabaret of rap, rhyme and rhapsody (16/07 at 8pm)? Check. A series of short plays by new writers (12/07 at 7pm)? Check. A book club special on Sarah Waters (06/07 at 7:45pm)? Check. Arundhati Roy offering up her field notes on democracy (02/07 at 7:30pm)? Check. Buzz Aldrin talking about the moon (04/07 at 7:30pm)? Check. Nina Bawden on JB Priestley's English Journey (10/07 at 7:45pm)? Check. Hanif Kureishi and DBC Pierre on Oxfam's collection of short stories (14/07 at 7:30pm)? Check. Martin Parr on collectables (14/07 at 7:45pm)? Check. Vikram Seth and Sam Miller on the dreamtown and purgatory that is Delhi (05/07 at 3:30pm)? Check. It's a book-orgy for God's sake, and one that's totally worth investigating. Are you what you read, indeed? Let's find out.

NB: runs from 02/07 till 16/07.

More than 3,000 curious visitors will shuffle through the Architectural Association's Projects Review exhibition from the private view on Friday night and until it closes on 25/07. With thousands of drawings, models, photographs, films, installations, prototypes, and other materials on display, documenting the "intensive architectural speculation, vision and experimentation" of its students (culled from more than 60 countries across the globe), the opening night is either a post-indexical rhizomatic spectacle or an excursion into the dystopia of parametric urbanism, depending on which unit's agenda you choose to follow as you move through the show. If the sensory overload gets the better of you, the annual AA Summer Pavilion, Driftwood, is a good spot to go for a breather. Swirling between invisible corners in space outside the school building in Bedford Square, the temporary structure, designed by intermediate student Danecia Sibingo, is a sensually woven installation, hovering between sculpture and architecture. Hiding its box beam structure behind several layers of staggered cladding, at a distance the plywood structure looks like a supernatural piece of wood -- or like some oversized leftovers from a very late night in the offices of that French master of inflected wood geometries, Bernard Cache.

NB: runs till 25/07.

This very promising-looking evening has Svarte Greiner heading the bill of brooding ambient electronics and also features The Sight Below and Simon Scott. Greiner (aka Erik K Skodvin) specialises in dark, atmospheric soundscapes -- eschewing "light" ambience to tread doomier ground; suggesting cues from drone music. This is evident on his Knive and Kappe albums for the excellent Type label (he also treads similar ground in Deaf Center on the same imprint). The Sight Below released his debut album Glider on ever-eclectic Ghostly International last year -- nine imposing tracks of guitar treatments, woven into a dense, metronomic haze -- evoking memories of Wolfgang Voigt's exceptional Gas project. Simon Scott has impressive credentials -- he drummed for Slowdive and has worked with Brian Eno, as well as conducting extensive session work for an interesting roster of acts. More relevantly, he's got an album coming up on Skodvin's Miasmah label in September, and has been producing in the electronic realm for some time. At this gig he performs both a solo set and accompanies The Sight Below for a live AV performance. Scott's presence seems fitting given the textural similarities between a growing school of contemporary electronic musicians and the early '90s shoegaze bands.

The proposition at this public swimming pool is an interesting one, promising separate overwater and underwater soundsystems. Creating three distinct soundspaces, with the audience moving above and below the surface of the water, this showcases a cross-section of experimental audio and performance artists. The most internationally known is Francisco Lopez, who moves between industrial and wilderness sound field recordings. Some of his performances have required the audience to wear sensory-depriving blindfolds, submitting to Lopez's pulverising waves of audio billows. In this lido environment he works with improvisational vibraphone artist Stefano Tedesco, who has previously collaborated with David Toop, Scanner, Rhodri Davies and others. Electroacoustic folk artist Leafcutter John -- adept as much at songwriting as he is at working on installations -- is joined by sound designer Tom Haines. Lastly on the bill is a special theatrical piece Sonic Fiction. Written by Clare Gasson and Anna Neil it is performed by J Milo Taylor, Neil herself and Amir Shoat. An intriguing evening of aquatic exploits.

NB: the London leg of this touring festival is divided into two parts. The free opening event takes place on 04/07 (1 - 4pm) and the closing event on 22/07 (7:30 - 10pm). See the website for full details.

ArtBus celebrates its first season with a ho-down at The Yard, a disused lot-cum-recording studio in the heart of a gypsy camp under London's Westway. ArtBus is a vintage Routemaster that aims to promote interest in contemporary art spaces off the beaten track. A not-for-profit organisation, ArtBus arranges monthly expeditions for collectors, patrons, press and curators, enticing them with gin and tonics and a curated onboard sound programme. By supporting these grassroots organisations, ArtBus aims to underline the wide range of art spaces we have in the Capital. So far, ArtBus has transported over 400 passengers to almost 35 spaces in London. The programme has included themed editions dedicated to design, South London, Hackney, and newly opened spaces. Future editions are being planned so watch this space. The Summer Party is a chance for all those who have enjoyed the ArtBus to kick back with a beer, a burger and experience some great sound and performance art.

NB: the event is free but you must rsvp and get confirmation via victoriab@sketch.uk.com.

Though Plaid are billed as headliners, you can't really knock any element of this bill, as the duo receive heavyweight backing from fellow Warp acts Clark, Tim Exile and Luke Vibert. Each of these performers is said to be planning something special for the show, with Plaid themselves set to play their first entirely live set since last year's Big Chill festival. Exile will be incorporating an integrated AV element and Clark is rumoured to have some very special guests lined-up. This event is also a the launch party for Clark's new album and not officially tied in to the Warp 20th anniversary celebrations -- which saw two jaw-dropping nights of related music in Paris at the start of May -- but until the label announces something of a similar scale in London, this should keep Warp fans sated. The blend of two of the longest-serving acts on the label's roster (Plaid and Vibert) and two younger, hyped contenders (Clark and Exile) should prove complementary -- the four sharing a common lineage of exceptional UK electronic music. Given the nature of the evening, it's set to run much later than a usual KOKO gig programme, so you'd best bank on the night bus home.

Neon Noise Project put aside their obsession with hosting Kitsune parties in cavernous London venues and focus attention on a spot of sultry New York disco. Retreating to the much more intimate Queen of Hoxton, tonight's festivities are centred around two of the many jewels in the DFA crown. The Juan Maclean served up The Future Will Come, his second album for the imprint earlier this year, switching from the robotic discoid funk of earlier material to a sublime update on the Human League sound, which has at least two contemporary classics in the shape of "Happy House" and "One Day". Joining him is the diminutive Kim Ann Foxman from Hercules & Love Affair, perhaps the one DFA act to gain commercial recognition (mostly for handbag house fav "Blind"). Offering support is a smattering of London DJ furniture with Girl Core's Isa GT and ex All You Can Eater Warboy duking it out alongside DJs from Anglo Antipodean label Modular. Neon Noise Project residents Jbag fill in the gaps with some fashion house.

Following the Partition of India (1947), the state of Punjab needed a new capital. Nehru chose Chandigarh, using it as a symbol of independence. The first planned city in India, Chandigarh would be a "symbol of India's freedom... an expression of the nation's faith in the future." Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, appointed to help Indian architects in this colossally ambitious project, certainly took this futuristic remit literally! They provided the anthropomorphic plan, the infrastructure, and the typically geometric designs of many public buildings and housing. The result was and still is a city unique in India; clean, ultra-functional and green, providing housing for all strata of society. This exhibition features items of furniture rescued from the streets of Chandigarh after the government decided to redesign Le Corbusier's monumental High Court. The trademark Le Corbusier lines are combined with vernacular techniques and materials (teak and cane); mass production was eschewed in favour of local craftsmen, making each piece original. The show also features photos and films of the city, which reveal the sur-reality of European modernist high design -- cool, minimal, clinical -- within India, a country where vitalism, chaos, and abundance is inseparable from its living pulse.

NB: runs till 12/07.

In 1958, 34-year-old Louisville Kentucky saxophonist-for-hire Marshall Belford Allen joined the mighty reed section of a wildly unorthodox Chicago free jazz big band led by one Herman Poole Bolunt, a musician who'd recently re-christened himself Sun Ra and who had claimed to have been transported to the planet Venus as a youth. Allen must have believed him, for, 51 years later, he's still in the band. Over those intervening decades Allen, always Ra's principal featured soloist, has been roundly feted for his wild, pyrotechnical improvisations on the alto, reserving his considerable chops (the odd dalliance -- notably with Carla Bley -- aside) almost exclusively for the sprawling, be-robed, cosmic free jazz cabal that was and is the Sun Ra Arkestra. Indeed, Allen has fronted the ensemble since the eponymous leader's demise in 1993 (a hell of an act to follow, frankly) and even cut two Arkestra albums as band leader. Now 85, but showing no signs of slowing down, he is in town tonight at Dalston's bijou but lovely Cafe Oto for a rare solo show. It's an opportunity to get up close and personal with an avant-jazz legend and one of the most influential saxophonists of the last 50 years.

Scrutinising a national election from the viewpoint of an international group of observers runs the risk of didacticism. The Observer delicately balances national against international, wisely avoiding too many easy answers. Varied accents and African dress hailing from at least three regions lead the generous viewer to conclude that Richard Eyre has avoided overt links with recognisable historical connotations. Whilst the absence of specific punch is perhaps to be regretted, the sweeping political dialogue is intelligently coupled with an insistently precise depiction of West Africa. Anna Chancellor excels as Fiona, the observer. Intelligently foiled by Chuk Iwuji, the African translator torn between endorsing and opposing Anna, Chancellor's emotive restraint descends into almost frenzied action as she succumbs to the intensity of an ambiguously fair election. James Fleet is sublime as the crumpled foreign office presence surveying the observer and Lloyd Hutchinson superb as the hard-nosed hack. Writer Matt Charman emotes sympathy for those attempting to forge their own path between international constraints and the demands of an oppressive dictator. Although the inherent violence -- and perhaps the play itself -- can occasionally feel muted, this is a heartfelt performance from a cast who truly seem to understand the country that they are portraying.

NB: runs till 03/09.

Van Gogh award-winning Polish artist Wilhelm Sasnal's third show at Sadie Coles HQ displays nine large oil on canvas paintings, and a 16mm film. As with much of his work, these paintings are figurative yet highly reduced. Untitled (2007), a simple seascape, exudes humid charm, with a Dulux duck-egg wave breaking on to the shore. Mountain, beach and sea meet at a single point on the horizon with a hazy something suggested on the skyline. Untitled (a cargo) (2008) is a beautiful monochrome oil on canvas painting of a truck. It should be dull, childish and masculine, but Sasnal's treatment of the paint, like a master plasterer, renders a smooth, incredibly satisfying work without menace. The most striking piece in the exhibition is Untitled (Kacper and Anka) (2009), its eastern European melancholy seeping in as you examine it, the reflected blue sky not clearing the impression that the water is stagnant. His arid seven-minute short Mojave (2006) though relegated to the Balfour Mews space is not an indulgence, but a key component of a bleakly gratifying show.

NB: runs till 11/07.

Are our cities working? This is not just a question of overcrowding on the night bus -- there are bigger problems afoot. Are Britain's cities become increasingly dysfunctional, with the gap between the loft-living rich and the estate-dwelling poor becoming ever wider? Has the credit crunch revealed that urban regeneration was a fig-leaf covering the underlying malaise of poverty and crime? Are our public spaces becoming private corporate domains? And what of shrinking cities -- the phenomenon where post-industrial decline leads to a kind of tactical withdrawal, turning suburbia back to fields? (Not a problem in London, but come to think of it, whatever happened to Mr Prescott and his Pathfinder "demolish the north of England" plans?). We don't know the answers to all of these questions, but this event will feature some people who do, or at least claim to. The panel discussion includes architect, designer and thinker Nigel Coates, always reliable for thinking outside the biomorphic box, as well as sociologist Saskia Sassen and writer Anna Minton. Expect sparks to fly, not least between the British Property Federation's Liz Peace and chair Tristram Hunt, a historian sometimes criticised for hiding snobbery behind a green agenda.

Justice is a malleable term. More malleable than most would like to think, but when you consider polarised positions on the death penalty, for example, there is obviously at least some blurring of the line between penalty and vengeance. So, the assumption would be that for those living in a society where reason prevails, and brings with it the rigours of a justice system based on an overwhelming drive to "civilise" society by means of correction as opposed to pure penalty, justice is a concept that is readily available and capable of withstanding close scrutiny by its citizens. Is the concept of justice aligned with class? Is it indicative of the prevailing attitudes of the culture it is enacted upon or carried through? Are failures in the system simply developmental hitches or are they symptomatic of deeper currents of inequality in the ethos that produced the system itself? Nobel Prize winner and Harvard Professor Amartya Sen will be lecturing on his radical rethinking of justice and its relationship to reason before appearing in conversation with political theorist John Gray.

NB: you can also catch Amartya Sen for a free lecture on 27/07 (6:30pm) at LSE.

No doubt much to the satisfaction of his indomitable ire, Black Box Recorder's Luke Haines remains British rock's perennial nearly man, his cleverly cultivated image as indie rock's misanthropic churl-in-chief undented despite it being over a decade since he looked on while contemporaries Suede, Pulp and Blur ascended to the UK's indie high table. History may have consigned Haines' cerebral yet splenetic '90s combo The Auteurs to the role of Britpop bridesmaids, but Haines endures, forever adding further acidic layers of excoriating bile to his writing, whether under his provocateur pop alias Baader Meinhof, or in his caustic, recently published autobiography Bad Vibes: Britpop And My Part in Its Downfall, or with darkly glamorous sometime pop trio Black Box Recorder. The latter's 1998 debut England Made Me found Haines' gallows humour matched by fellow writer-guitarist John Moore (once of the Jesus & Mary Chain, latterly a linen-suited flaneur- about-town and urbane Guardian columnist) and breathy chanteuse Sarah Nixey. The record garnered rave reviews and its successor The Facts Of Life became a worldwide hit in 2000. After a lengthy hiatus the trio returned to the stage last year and this Southbank headline date precedes an as yet unveiled third BBR album. Expect vitriol and melody in equal measures.

This, the second part of Haunch of Venison's Keith Coventry "retrospective" (there's new work here too), shows a charismatic and talented artist at his confident best, the skill and intelligence of his work shining through again and again. Consistently subversive and left-field, Coventry's work couples a straight visual attractiveness with an assured underpinning of technique and an educated, informed and thorough understanding of art and art history. Highlights of the show include the fantastic Echoes Of Albany series of 40-plus paintings in the style of Walter Sickert, dealing with life in Mayfair's exclusive Albany. This being Keith Coventry that means dealing with both the celebrated and the seedy -- paintings of gentlemen inhabitants and habitues hang by ones of drug-takers and prostitutes. Also shown is a mesmerizing new series Repressionism, featuring repeated near-monochrome paintings of the head of Christ, based on Han van Meegeren's early twentieth-century Vermeer forgeries and running left to right through the colours of the rainbow. Add in favourites like his Raoul Dufy-rendered-in-black pictures and you have a great show of work that is consistently both fascinating and challenging.

NB: runs till 15/08.

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