Wednesday 28 May (7 - 11pm)

@ Astoria, 157 Charing Cross Rd., WC2 (020.7434.9592) Tube: Tottenham Court Rd.

Ben Harper is something of an enigma. He's obviously got talent, good looks and a star-sized ego, but he's never made much of an impact in the UK. However, it's easy to see why American college kids and the French lap up his brand of retro rock-soul-blues. Take a bit of Marley, Gaye and Hendrix, add a dose of overly sincere lyrics ("I can make peace on earth/With my own two hands"), simmer over a low heat (nothing too feisty), and you have an enjoyable enough hour or two on your hands. Although it can sound a bit bland over the stereo, (his latest, Diamonds On The Inside, is no exception), he clearly comes to life in front of an audience, going by the evidence of '01's Live From Mars album. A less-obnoxious, more creative Lenny Kravitz.

Wednesday 28 May (7pm)

@ Underworld, 174 Camden High St., NW1 (020.7482.1932) Tube: Camden Town

A.R.E. Weapons are so trendy they make The Strokes fans feel like Val Doonican impersonators. Recent gigs in Paris have been closed by the police, because the Weapons were believed to have hatched a plot to steal Johnny Hallyday's testicles*. Such controversy and a fanbase of fashionistas, PCP addicts and people with cat-operation haircuts, ought to be recommendation enough for any self-respecting KultureFlasher and that's before we consider their electro punk music that brings to mind Suicide in their prime. Their ditties go by names such as "Fuck You Pay Me" and "Headbanger Face". Spirited stuff indeed. Do say "pass the crack-pipe", don't say "does your mother know you're here".

*OK, we made that up, but you get the idea...

Thursday 29 May (6:45pm)

@ Calder Bookshop, 51 The Cut, SE1 (020.7620.2900)

So often modern literature is haunted by ghosts, and no one haunts modern writing more than Samuel Beckett (1906-89). Always spare but complex, it is Beckett's voice that rings through his work, perhaps strongest in his plays where, Waiting for Godot, is still his most well known yet even there, Godot, like a ghost, is spectral in presence. And like Godot, the other presence most felt when evoking the Irishman is that of John Calder, his legendary and controversial publisher. This night, Calder will channel in the spectre of Beckett via three actors taking on the ghostly roles in his late work. This will be followed by a discussion with Calder himself -- audience participation is dared and encouraged.

NB: A glass of wine will of course be included.

Thursday 29 May (8pm)

@ The Spitz, Old Spitalfields Market, 109 Commercial St., E1 (020.7392.9032) Tube: Aldgate East/Liverpool St.

Over the past three years, Break Reform have started to pop up in the right places (like Gilles Peterson's Worldwide compilation), bolstering their credibility and bringing them to the attention of increasingly larger audiences. Having decided to go down the route of bringing out their own music, they released three now-much-sought-after 12"s, one of which featured a remix from Tony Nwachukwu of Attica Blues fame. The release of their album Fractures in March consolidated their recognition, garnering several gushing comments from just the right people including Jazzanova ("First great album of 2003") and the aforementioned Mr. Peterson ("Very Special"). It's easy to see why fancies have been tickled; Soul, Jazz and Hip-Hop are combined with great song-writing and intelligent vocals to impressive effect. The live show will feature the three core members, DJ Simon Skofield, engineer Joel Webster, and vocalist Nana Vorperian, plus a few additional jazz musician pals. Touring the US and Japan later in the year, this is your chance to see, at the early stages, the continuing development of a special band.

Friday 30 May

@ Various Cinemas Across London

Takeshi Kitano sure knows how to keep busy. Arguably the most popular figure in the history of Japanese TV, since his '89 directorial debut, he has also written, directed, edited or starred in almost a film per year. And it's not like he's just knocking them out. His films have received huge critical success, most notably in '97 when he was awarded Venice's Golden Lion for Hana-Bi and more recently, with Brother, which made the Sopranos, look well... a bit girly about the whole gangster thing. Did we mention that he's also a stand-up comic, a novelist, poet, cartoonist and an accomplished painter? His new project Dolls unsurprisingly doesn't disappoint, although demanding more suspension of disbelief than most films -- the theatrical style is very conscious; paying homage to Chikamatsu, the greatest dramatist of Japanese doll theatre. The film begins in a traditional Bunraku doll theatre and then intercuts between three modern love-tragedies set in a slightly stylised modern Japan. Its deliberate use of primary colours, exquisite costumes and mannered pace burns the visuals into your memory making it extraordinarily beautiful and leaving the feeling that even though he may have already done so much, Kitano has only just begun...

Friday 30 May (2pm)

@ Architectural Association, 34-36 Bedford Square, WC1 (020.7887.4000 ) Tube: Tottenham Court Rd.

Sound is probably the least tangible and least collectible of the visual arts, in fact it borders on not being a visual art at all. Usually a part of the performance art rubric, it is an unusual form which requires unusual artists. Now forget about the fact that NYC-based theorist/academic Allen S. Weiss is also a translator, playwright and editor (Cabinet), the man has mused over cooking phoenixes! And someone whose interests include experimental radio, landscape architecture and food aesthetics surely cannot be anything less than interesting. However with a sound work-in-progress described as a thesis on monsters and such, is one to expect a Godzilla or a King Kong? If this were a Chinese Manhua you'd get both! However, with one whose disciplines spans the mundanity of academia and the excitements of performance, we expect a highly theorized form of adventure.

NB: Allan S. Weiss will be performing Ten Theses On Monsters And Monstrocities.

Friday 30 May (9pm - 3am)

@ Ocean, 270 Mare St., Hackney, E8 (020.8533.0111) Tube: Hackney Downs/Hackney Central Rail

It's almost that time of year again for the world's foremost electronic acts to congregate in Barcelona for Sonar '03 (June 12th, 13th & 14th) -- the International Festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia Art. Ten years old this year, and to celebrate the occasion and the opening of this year's festival, a special preview party -- SonarClub, has been organised to take place at the Ocean venue. The night, like the festival itself, will play host to a somewhat eclectic line-up -- headlining and feeding you weird things is a rare appearance from the funky, precise, loose and extraordinarily unconventional Squarepusher with his unique blend of free-jazz and synthetic, disjointed, drum & bass. Other acts on the night include electropop artists Ladytron and the mysterious French no-wave outfit, Colder as well as a laptop set by Plaid and DJ sets by MJ Cole, James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem), Trevor Jackson (Output Recordings) and Spanish DJ Sideral. This promises to be a very special party and will give those who cannot make it to the festival a taste of what they are missing whilst giving those who are attending a taste of things to come. Let the songs begin and let the music play.

Giveaway: We have two copies of Do You Know Squarepusher to give away. They'll go to two randomly picked subscribers who can tell us Squarepusher's real name.

Friday 30 May (10pm - 5am)

@ Dovebridge Studios, 46 Kingsland Rd., E2 Tube: Old St. / Liverpool St.

This will be the evening of new electronic music... for anyone into deep, minimal, glitched-out music, this could be one of this year's best. Farben (a.k.a. Jan Jelinek of ~scape and Klang Electronik) plays live. And he'd be enough, but look at the support -- Sud label co-founder Portable (ever catch his spellbinding live sets at ARG!, Delay, Signal, Plastic People...? or his releases on Background Records and Context?) joins with double bassist Leo Fernandes for a unique textural excursion. Philladelphia's Jay Haze -- a.k.a. The Architect and Dub Surgeon -- (Contexterrior, Future Dub and Tuning Spork) also plays live: one of the big upcoming names with tracks described as "warmly quirky, densely minimal, faintly dubby, head-trippin' chuggers", to quote one review. Apparently, Jay's "day job" is as a glass blower; check the influence on his sound. Definitely for the real heads. And DJ sets from Lakuti (Sud) and Jonathan (Soul Jazz Records). The night coincides with the release of What was it like before I got into electricity?, an excellent compilation on Sud Electronic featuring Farben, Sutekh, Tomas Jirku, Peter F Spiess, Alan Abrahams, Andy Vaz, Jay Haze and Lump.

NB: For info contact Lerato on 020.7503.3841 or 07931.248.733 or email info@sudelectronic.com.

Giveaway: We have a pair of spots on the guest list to give away. They'll go to one randomly picked subscriber who can tell us where Protable grew up.

Saturday 31 May (4pm till late)

@ Keith Talent Gallery, 2-4 Tudor Rd., E9 (020.8986.2181)

As Drawing becomes increasingly adaptable to new media, techniques and concepts, it becomes even harder to define. With an impressive line-up of international names, Bad Touch does well in offering a broad insight into the discipline today. Having started at North Carolina's LUMP Gallery, bound for Tokyo and Berlin, this vast show now reaches Hackney's Keith Talent Gallery. Accumulating artists as it travels, this London pit stop will see a host of homegrown favourites joining up with heavyweights including Barry McGee, Tal R, and even Pablo Picasso. Expect an eclectic mix of recent works on paper from the likes of Paul McDevitt, Christian Ward, Roderick Harris, David Rayson and Paul Housley.

NB: Private view is Sat 31 from 4pm till late -- includes a BBQ. Show ends Sat 29/06.

Saturday 31 May (11pm - 5am)

@ Egg, 5-13 Vale Royal, Off York Way, N7 (020.7428.7574) Tube: Kings Cross

In addition to their existing nights at Fabric, Bridge & Tunnel and the Fortress, the machine funk specialists at Haywire have been invited to programme a monthly Saturday session at Egg --- London's newest club. The Egg is an 800 capacity venue incorporating the shell of a Victorian warehouse, with three floors of dancing, as well as two roof terraces and outdoor courtyard. Chanteuse, DJ, Hacker-collaborator and nurses outfit wearer Miss Kittin from International Deejay Gigolos headlines the electro dominated Room One, alongside Ellen Alien from bpitch control and, direct from the Rotters Golf Club, Andrew Weatherall. The lineup in Room Two promises to be a bit more techno with a live set from 23-year-old ghetto-techer Debasser, another rotter -- Radioactive Man and Rick Hopkins of Outlet. Room three... wait for it... is hosted by Dazed & Confused.

NB: Free shuttle bus from Kings Cross tube to the venue running every 30mins from 11pm onwards (tickets can be bought online through ticketweb.co.uk). For a free Ellen Alien taster set, visit Bridge & Tunnel on Thursday 29/05.

Sunday 1 June (3 - 5:30pm)

@ Tate Modern, Bankside, SE1 (020.7887.8008) Tube: Southwark/Blackfriars

This is the first screening and discussion of TJ Wilcox' entire cinematic works to date. The American artist maintains an obsessive fascination with the media of film and video, appropriating images from popular culture and history in order to construct poetic series of baroque and dreamlike narratives. Fragments of vintage and new footage are spliced together as a complex montage of evolving icons, questioning our collective fascination with various romantic figures, and re-appropriating events and history to re-choreograph our understanding. After the screening of such works as The Escape of Marie Antoinette, The Death and Burial of the First Emperor of China, The Funeral of Marlene Dietrich, and a Homage to the Bloomsbury figure Stephen Tennant, Wilcox will hold an informal conversation with critic and curator Ian White.

NB: For tickets call 020.7887. 8888 or email ticketing@tate.org.uk. Wilcox's work will also be on view at Sadie Coles HQ from Tue 03/06 till Sat 05/07.

Sunday 1 June (4pm)

@ Barbican Centre, Barbican Centre, EC2 (020.7638.8891) Tube: Barbican

A night of film nostalgic for a time when war and cinema both occupied very different places in the hearts and minds of the world at large. Bristol Silents, a group of dedicated silent film enthusiasts, have compiled a number of films that focus on WWI in their recognized tradition of meticulous research and authentic presentation. The Battle Of The Somme (1916 -- 65 min.) is a visual descriptive of the infamous battle in which over a million soldiers lost their lives. Paul McGann, actor, the I of Withnail and war buff, and Andrew Kelly, author of Cinema and the Great War will be introducing the film as part of the evening's proceedings, and providing insight into the details of the event and the senseless nature of its outcome. Filmed in support of the war effort, Charlie Chaplin's The Bond (1918 -- 9 min.) ventures into all of the various bonds in life -- love, marriage, friendship -- in order to declare the value and promise of Liberty War Bonds. The Bond is a comic classic likened to The Great Dictator, as a commentary on WWI. Conscription (1915) is accompanied by a live pianist in the true style of the early days of cinema. This event is a unique opportunity to take a retrospective look at film and war -- two crucially relevant social entities -- as they existed at the beginning of the last century.

Sunday 1 June (2pm - 12am)

@ Cargo, Kingsland Viaduct, 83 Rivington St., EC2 (020.7739.3440) Tube: Old St./Liverpool St.

Brighton's Chungking have just released "Making Music" their first album We Travel Fast is released 09/06 on Tummy Touch, and they have plenty of dates for the coming months in what appears to be a series of pretty well selected venues. Despite the suggestive band name, the music doesn't exactly gush forth any deep and meaningful Eastern philosophy... rather it is the texture that is key, and probably the driving force behind their success. Some attractive melodies can be spied within, like wee babies' faces peeking over the lusciously-lolloping under-groove. As such, they are simplistic and repetitive enough to appeal to a crowd accustomed to, but tired of, the archetypal in-yer-face 24-7 monstah-clubbin sesh. This is an attitude reflected in the process of the band's own forming, which, to cut a long press-release short, states boldly that "I'm bored of clubbing, getting stoned and going to the beach. Let's write some tunes" (well good on yer, we say). This is music to be enjoyed in a comfy sofa ... so at the gig, be sure to pick them up from the Cargo bar and move them into the live hall. And finally, Salesmen: If you've been charged with reviving the flagging sales of Aero or Hubba Bubba, go to HMV and head straight for the clearly signposted "new-wave lounge dance" section.

NB: The event is a warm up for the Big Chill Festival at Eastnor Castle. Joining Chunking at Cargo are Flipside, Laura B and Alucidnation. DJs: Pete Lawrence and Lol Hammond. And VJs: The Ombudsman, Amukidi & Marc Everett.

Monday 2 June (6:30pm)

@ RIBA, 66 Portland Place, W1 (020.7580.5533) Tube: Portland St./Regent's Park

Having been the editor of Architecture Magazine and a contributing editor for publications such as I.D. and Blueprint, as well as curator of Architecture, Design and Digital Projects at SFMOMA, Aaron Betsky is currently devoting most of his time to being director of the NAI in Rotterdam. Yet he still manages to squeeze in the odd book or two every now and then, the most famous ones being Architecture Must Burn (Gingko Press), Zaha Hadid: The Complete Buildings and Projects (Thames & Hudson) and Landscrapers: Building with the Land (Thames & Hudson). It is the ideas he brings up in the latter that form the basis for this talk, which will focus on "geotectures", the possibility of engaging the earth's surface as a building element, and the idea that architects should "pay for the potential crimes of their buildings" by giving back a square meter of land to public open space for every square meter they use in their buildings. It is a journey from architecture, via land art, through to landscape architecture -- and beyond.

NB: For tickets call 020.7307. 3699 or email gallery@inst.riba.org.

Giveaway: We have a copy of both Landscrapers and Zaha Hadid: The Complete Buildings and Projects to give away. They'll go to two randomly picked subscribers who can tell us which building has just won the E.U. Prize for Contemporary Architecture -- Mies van der Rohe Award 2003. (Hint: the building was featured on one of our headers.)

Tuesday 3 June (8pm)

@ ICA, The Mall, SW1 (020.7930.3647) Tube: Charing Cross/Piccadilly

Before people paid high premiums on their health care in order to secure a Priory style respite in the case of mental breakdown, some countries used Mental Asylum Systems to control political dissidents, the disabled and women. So, if you're paranoid, it's probably best not to read too much of Albert Deutsch's early 20th Century paper "Shame of the States". Have a cigarette and listen to a record instead. "Shame" shows the treatment of mental patients in the US at that time, and it's scary. This work inspired a lad from Chichester to name one of our brightest new bands in its honour; vocalist Sam Herliky of Hope of the States. But you gotta wonder what kind of group would feel this twist a representation. Well, the answer is they aren't ya ordinary C21st young Rock band. Firstly it is NOT garage punk or rhythm and blues, Sam, Ant Theaker, Jimi Lawrence, Paul Wilson, Simon Jones and Mike Sidell have been compared to Sigur Ros, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Mercury Rev and Spiritualized. A broad range, pleasing critics and joe public alike, expect high, atmospheric, clever noise.

Ends Saturday 7 June (11am - 6pm)

@ Arthouse, 168 Pitfield St., N1

Skateboarding is the simplest thing in the world: piece of wood, couple of wheels, and yer cruising... Well for two weeks, two floors of the Arthouse have being transformed into an opportunity for just that. A Surface In Between is not quite a half-pipe but a bowed room with viewing gallery above. Think skateboarding Gladiator style! The big prize is the roof-top ramp/obstacle. Why cruise on the streets when you can jump to the backdrop of the London evening sky. And it's not just skateboarding on display but skateboard culture as well. Perhaps chic, perhaps not so chic, there is artwork, t-shirts, DJs at the weekends, this is truly an event for boardoholics or just the curious!

NB: Log on to the site for updates on activities and to see the building of the ramps.

Monday 9 June (6:30pm)

@ Geological Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly, W1 (020.7434.9944) Tube: Piccadilly Circus

Consider the letters: s-k-y-s-c-r-a-p-e-r. Probably a '60s term for 'tall building', but consider its meaning: something that scrapes the sky. 9/11 also proved that tall buildings can be both symbols as well as targets. Not only do they provide solutions for crowded cities, they are handy things for architects to show they have the stuff! Now Norman Forster, himself no stranger to tall buildings, has curated a show of just this: tall buildings. With such London landmarks as Ken's new city hall, the Millennium Bridge and the about-to-be-complete Swiss Re HQ, 30 St. Mary's -- more commonly know as the "Erotic Gherkin", the '99 Pritzker prize-winner is certainly well placed to put together Sky High: Vertical Architecture, though no doubt it's to support his agenda for skyscraping. As part of the talks accompanying this exhibition, Sir Norman will also be speaking on Foster and Partner's own skyscraper designs, so make sure to ask awkward questions!

NB: Also as part of the RA's Architecture Lectures series, on Mon 16/06 (6:30pm) Renzo Piano will give an illustrated retrospective of his work and his practice. For tickets email events.lectures@royalacademy.org.uk or call 020.7300.5839.

Ends Saturday 14 June (Tue to Sat 10am - 6pm)

@ Victoria Miro, 16 Wharf Rd., N1 (020.7336.8109) Tube: Old St.

Followers of the annual Carnegie Art Award may have already been charmed by the hugely optimistic paintings of Tal R -- a regular in the competition, he was awarded third prize last year. Included in Vitamin P (Phaidon), this Israeli-born artist now joins Victoria Miro and fellow CFA (Berlin) painters Peter Doig and Daniel Richter, as one of the leading proponents of storytelling through the painting medium today. In his first U.K. solo show, a collective spirit of craft-making is evoked through several vibrant, quasi-totemic drapes, and a drawing project (Burda), which accompany a selection of his most recent celebratory paintings. These collaged and care-worn canvases bear the traces of an energetic sampling and relentless adjustment. Pasted scraps of popular culture, the artist's most inconsequential suburban remembrances, and key moments from 20th Century Art are all given equal status. The awkward perspective of early computer games, Philip Guston's discombobulated and caricatured forms, and the trademark horizontal palette borders still give shape to Tal R's narratives, but now, elements of Minimalist painting and Constructivism wrestle to the fore. Zappy, radiating compositions are soothed by calculatedly abject dot paintings and, although these works go far in sharing many of the artist's enthusiasms and present formal concerns, it is this consistently home-made aesthetic that ultimately appeals.

NB: Ends Sat 14/06.

Ends Saturday 12 July (Mon to Sat 11am - 6pm; Sun 12pm - 6pm)

@ Photographers' Gallery , 5 & 8 Great Newport St., WC2 (020.7831.1772) Tube: Leicester Square

Writing about his photographs of painted railway car insignias in the '50s, Walker Evans explains, "they are worth examining, not only for the commemorative thoughts they carry, but because they are going to disappear from the US landscape one day -- then will a whole world of cherished association have been destroyed." Evans' passion to forever preserve the minutiae of a distinctly American vernacular spans a career of more than half a century: from his well-known shots of rural sharecroppers during the Great Depression, through a lifetime of recurring themes including storefront displays and windows; New York subway passengers; commercial signs; religious and domestic architecture and portraits of passers-by and friends. This unmissable exhibition brings to London for the first time more than seventy of the 2,500 colour Polaroid photographs shot in the last months of his life between 1973 and 1974. It takes a master to transform the expedient spontaneity of the Polaroid into these jewel-like, timeless iconic images. Here, the peeling paint on a wall, a sign on a road, or a single image of a skull have as much depth and presence as any of the virtuoso images by the artists he inspired such as Warhol, Johns, Rauschenberg and Ruscha. Said Philippe de Montebello, Director of the Metropolitan Museum, "with keen intellect, astounding visual acuity, and superb technical skill, he captured for us the very text and texture of 20th-century America."

NB: Show ends 12/07.

Ends Sunday 14 September (Daily 10am - 5:45pm; Fri until 9pm)

@ Design Museum, Butlers Wharf, Shad Thames, SE1 (020.7940.8790) Tube: Tower Hill

Beginning his career with a poster for Tony Wilson's Factory Club in '78, Peter Saville went on to co-found the legendary Factory Records, designing album sleeves for the likes of Joy Division and OMD. Since then, he has gone on to create identities for institutions such as the Whitechapel Art Gallery and worked as a consultant for the likes of Givenchy and Stella McCartney. As the exhibition chronicles Peter Saville's 25 year career, it also follows the history of style culture and modern graphic design. Featuring work from Saville's archive including original drawings and source material, works vary from record sleeves and posters to personal projects like the Waste Paintings of the late '90s and collaborations on ad campaigns with photographer Nick Knight (see also SHOWstudio) and Fashion designer, Yohji Yamamoto. Peter Saville's work epitomises a moment, while having the elegance and finesse to withstand the fickle world of fashion. Mixing the raw with glamour, sub with high culture and an ongoing obsession to find new techniques in design has ensured his enduring position on the cutting edge. (Show ends 14/09.)

NB: New Order has specially recorded a soundtrack for the show and the installation is by New York-based architect Lindy Roy. Peter Saville's book Designed by Peter Saville has been published by frieze to coincide with the exhibition.