Tuesday 22 July (6 - 8:30pm)

@ Houldsworth, 33-34 Cork St., W1 (020.7434.2333) Tube: Green Park

An unusually introspective and un-evasive look at architecture, locality and the human identity in London, Imaging London makes an intimately critical observation of the London art scene and its "place" in the community. Physically, the iconography of London's most significant public gallery is invited into a world less-scrutinized -- the Tate smoulders away in the falsely indulgent and campy (strangely familiar) unease reminiscent of the early "B" movie. In a more personal sense, the public is engendered as a captive audience for an ongoing project by Kate Grieve in which she attempts to "approach" night transport punters with a sensitive and silly-sweet answer to the individualistic silence or the awkward social harmonium that most often dominates these unlikely evening hang-out spots. While the feel of this show might be slightly sentimental and sterile, there are some subtle, furtive angles from which the ideologies surrounding the sanctity place -- be it a physical place or a type of perception imposed on spaces associated with a higher artistic "seeing" -- there are also some interesting points made about the nature of a space and its inclination to be occupied by those interested in its objective. (Show ends Fri 08/08.)

NB: The organisors of Imaging London and the London Consortium will give a brief talk (6 - 6:30pm), to be followed the private view (ends 8:30pm). Artists included, are, amongst others, David Adjaye and Lyndon Douglas, Chris Hammond and Laura White.

Wednesday 23 July (6:30 - 7:45pm)

@ The British Library, 96 Euston Road, NW1 (020.7412.7332) Tube: Kings Cross

Firmly at the other end of our Kultural xylophone from the punk-lit party at the Horse Hospital stands Other Worlds at the British Library. Featuring the ten most otherworldly books offered up for slaughter in Aunties list-making bachannlia (The Big Read), KF defies anyone to claim that they have remained unmoved, un-transported or un-shipwrecked by at least one of these magical realms on offer. However that does leave it finely balanced, will we be presented with detailed topography of fantastical lands or a bunch of Muggles in a Narnia-hugging fest? Presented with this awesome responsibility will be: perennial literary award judge, Nicolette Jones; Kate Mosse, an Orange Prize founder and author; John Sutherland, Guardian culture correspondent; and Hari Kunzru, who wrote The Impressionist (post-colonial journey of discovery) and manages to be music editor at Wallpaper*, associate Editor at Wired, travel writer for The Observer -- and even looks "interesting" on his website -- damn him! Anyway, even if you don't think Discworld should be on the same shelf as Dark Materials and in the same section as Gormenghast, this should still be a welcome wallow in wonderland.

Thursday 24 July (8pm)

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

We first came across Spacek when we picked up their first album, Curvatia. A work that wowed us with its melodic sophistication, chilled Hip-Hop beats and Steve Spacek's ethereal vocals. Now, having recently released their sophomore album Vintage Hi-Tech (!K7 Records), we witness Spacek (composed of Steve Spacek, Morgan Zarate and Edmund Cavill) taking their signature style to a new level. The range of material impresses; from "Amazing" -- stuttering beats, haunting vocals, unexpected sound effects, to "La Bougie" -- another deconstructed beat landscape replete with contemplative strings, atmospheric keys, and touching vocals from both Spacek and female vocalist Mpho Skeef. Their first album elicited comments such as "the most futuristic soul group of our modern age" (Fader), and "Spacek are the Radiohead of soul" (STYLE and the family tunes), now the sublime mood music found on Vintage Hi-Tech can only consolidate their position as key protagonists in the evolution of soul music.

NB: Spacek appear as part of Nick Luscombe's bi-monthly Flo-Motion club night.

Thursday 24 July (8pm - 1am )

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

Los Amigos Invisibles are "a typical and autoctonal Venezuelan dance band". Based in NY, they jumped into the spotlight after being supported by David Byrne through his Luaka Bop label, praised by Madonna and nominated for a Grammy in 2002. But what is it that makes this group of 5 young Venezuelans, who sing in Spanish and refer to their very specific and culturally local situations in their songs, so appealing? It's simple: they make you dance! LAI juggle salsa, funk, and acid-jazz to produce an infectious beat. They've rediscovered the elation of dancing, infecting people with their tropical warmth on the colder atmospheres of these latitudes. Their latest work is produced by MAW (Masters at Work), and they've also collaborated with Dimitri from Paris on his new Japanese album Cruising Attitude with a track named "Paris-Brooklyn".

NB: Live support comes from Nathan Haines & Roy the Roach and DJ support from Eddie Piller.

Thursday 24 July (9pm - 2am)

@ The Cobden Club, 170-172 Kensal Road (020 8960 4222) Tube: Westbourne Park

Billed as "The only club offering burlesque in London" -- we could mention a couple other joints where even the corners are curvy, but that'd be tellin' -- the Whoopee! Club is, as its curly-wurly-fonted website suggests, a mixture of old-fashioned striptease, comedy and cabaret, backed by a live band who play anything from '50s showtunes to gypsy circus riffs. Dresscode: corsets and crinolines, cloaks, knickerbockers, top hats and tails, whips, garters & lace. Glllaaaaammmmoouuuuuuuur! Delights such as Miss Immodesty Blaize And her Tantalising Tassels, Walter -- a Victorian "Gentleman", The Sensational Sophie and her Perilous Contortion Act, Belladonna as Jack the (St.)Ripper, A Gentleman's Word of Warning from Wyndham and The Belles of Shoreditch reward the intrepid... (And yes, the venue, The Cobden Club, is named after Richard Cobden, the famous anti-Corn Law MP, a man of the people indeed. No doubt he'd be all in favour.)

NB: Buy your tickets in advance as last month sold out. But it's a monthly event, which gives you plenty of time to get your costume in order for the next one...

Friday 25 July

@ Various cinemas across London

When it comes to pre-post Iron Curtain, pseudo-sympathetic Communist-fantasy cinema, KultureFlash is no slouch. So we were quick to sample this superb story of life, love, pickles, cosmonauts and fundamental political meltdown. Our only conclusion is that this German film is a must-see. It's a touching tale of one boy's efforts to please his Mum (well, keep her alive, really) through the most charming of deceptions. Set against the crumbling backdrop of a fast-collapsing Berlin wall and the accompanying political mayhem, Alex (the lovely Daniel Bruehl) props up the dying Communist dream within the small world of his sick mother's bedroom. This elaborate ruse soon spins out of control, yielding moments of high comedy, unlikely romance and genuine, heart-rending pathos. Take your girlfriend/boyfriend or your hard-drinking, flag-waving Marxist buddy, it doesn't matter.

Friday 25 July (6:30pm)

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

Philip Larkin called it a Toad, some people call it a four-letter word. Either way, unless you're a lottery winner, a trust-fund kid or a professional tramp you can't avoid it. Nice Work (if You Can Get It) is a series of events at Tate Modern, examining changing attitudes to work. Taking their place in the series are two early films from Nick Broomfield who's made his name with ballsy often iconoclastic exposes of the dark side of celebrity culture, dealing with such notorious cases as Kurt & Courtney, Biggie & Tupac and Heidi Fleiss. In 1980's Soldier Girls, Broomfield applies a rigorously dispassionate verite style to three female recruits as they endure the de-humanising rituals of basic training at Fort Gordon. As part of the package The Tate are offering "extras" in the shape of some Nevada prostitutes. In Chicken Ranch, Broomfield's camera documents the way in which the management of a brothel control every aspect of the workers' lives, until he and the crew are booted out. Who'd have thought a documentary film crew would be bad for business?

NB: On Sun 27/07 @ 3pm catch Ken Loach's The Navigators -- also part of Nice Work. To purchase tickets call 020.7887.8888 or email ticketing@tate.org.uk.

Friday 25 July (6:30 - 10pm)

@ Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Rd., SW7 (020.7942.2000) Tube: South Kensington

Guy Manuel de Homem-Christo, the short, moody half of French dance duo Daft Punk, runs a great filter disco label, Crydamoure, home to the likes of Paul Johnson, DJ Sneak and Le Knight Club. However, Crydamoure is positively new school compared to Laurent Garnier's 11-year-old F Communications label, the standard bearer for ice cool tech-funk (home to Mr. Oizo aka Flat Eric's pal!). The connection? Les Inrockuptibles, the French weekly music mag that's been at the forefront of reportage on the emergent Gallic dance scene and which hosts tonight's special one-off event. There will be amongst others live/DJ performances from Le Knight Club (aka Guy Manuel and Eric Chedeville), Scan X (F Com techno recluse who has just returned with a new album, How To Make The Unpredictable Necessary?), M83 and Trash Palace with their Gallic brand of "decadent rock". Afterall, how many opportunities are there to boogie down in the V&A's Pirelli Garden ?

NB: Due to limited availability, the V&A recommends booking via their Box Office on 020.7942.2209 or 020.7942.2211. In sync with French music, "fashion" photographer Guy Bourdin is also open for the duration of the evening (exhibition ends 17/08). You can virtually hear the soundtrack to these images now...

Friday 25 July (Starts Fri 25/07 @ 7pm; Ends Fri 01/08)

@ 291 Gallery, 291 Hackney Rd., E2 (020.7613.5676) Tube: Liverpool St./Old St./Bethnal Green

Offering insight into the numerous aspects of the Beat Movement, 291 Gallery with Curzon Cinema will be presenting the work of filmmakers that not only provide a glance into the history of creative cinematography, but also act as a document to a movement that has continued to influence artists today. This tightly packed season highlights the movement's eclectic blend of artistic experiment far beyond Jack Kerouac and the satirical representation of the "beatnik" which we have all become accustomed. Emphasising the mix of style and creative drive of the artists from the delirious world of Jack Smith to the docu-drama techniques of Shirley Clarke's '63 The Cool World, this season will prove that apart from their desire to stand outside the mainstream and sorting life in it's freest forms; in their alienation the Beats questioned the values of the frightened and paranoid society they inhabited. Therefore this jam-packed week should provide, as well as the musical pleasures of the Kronos Quartet and others, a fresh perception into life outside the familiar image of post-war America.

NB: See the 291 website for the full schedule. Festival begins Fri 25/07 and ends Fri 01/08.

Saturday 26 July (2 - 8pm)

@ Spitalfields Market, London EC1

In a culture of constantly recycled sounds and images, where art, music and fashion quote, reference and sample the world around us, bootlegging is becoming ever more present and pervasive. Bootleg -- a site specific show filling up most of Spitalfields Market -- celebrates the illicit production, reproduction and distribution of illegal and counterfeit goods. From speakeasies to famous brand rip-offs, Bootleg traces the development, influence, and effect of the copied item through a series of market stalls, projections, sculptures, and performances. Over fifty artists have contributed work and installations that demolish the myth of the creator, and flatten the creative curve, to challenge our conceptions of authorship, ownership, value, and quotation.

NB: Artists included, are, amongst others, Pablo Bronstein, Cedric Christie, Cerith Wyn Evans, Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard, Paul Hosking, Matthieu Laurette, Seb Pantane, Conrad Shawcross, David Thorpe and Carey Young.

Saturday 26 July

@ St. Leonard's Church , 119 Shoreditch Hight St., E1 (020.7739.2063) Tube: Old St.

The situation in post-war Iraq looks far from resolution, and the bitching and back-biting along the government benches is gaining momentum. So why did we really go to war, and now that the Saddam has been overthrown, how is your average UK citizen feeling, particularly as, and despite early promises, no semblance of order has yet been restored? Liberal Intervention: The Empire's New Clothes? organized by the The Foreign Policy Centre, has pulled together a seriously impressive panel to discuss these questions this Saturday. The bigwigs include Michael Portillo (chairing), plus Philip Bobbitt (Director of the Security Council under Clinton), Robert Cooper (Blair's former foreign policy advisor), Lindsey Hilsum (Channel 4's diplomatic editor) and more. Focusing on liberal intervention and new notions of empire, the discussion will also look at the war in Iraq as the latest example in a history of international invasion during Blair's government (note also Iraq version 1, Afghanistan and Bosnia).

NB: To purchase tickets call the Foreign Policy Centre on 020.7401.5357. The debate is organised alongside a charity gospel concert (Fri 01/08 @ 7:30pm -- £7) promoting awareness for issues of asylum and migration (Fri 01/08), and an exhibition (Moral Combat) exploring themes of combat (all events take place at St. Leonard's Church). This roundtable is part of series of events revolving around foreign policy and young people, put together by three 20-somethings and a bank loan!

Private View: Takes places Fri 25/07 at 6 - 8:30pm. RSVP to james@talkingforeignpolicy.org if you fancy dropping in.

Saturday 26 July (6 - 11:00pm)

@ The Horse Hospital, Colonnade, Bloomsbury, WC1 (020.7833.3644) Tube: Russell Square

One may have lost oneself in London and still not heard of The Horse Hospital, 3am Magazine, or Richard Strange. But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't take a chance on the cosmic conjunction of all three this Saturday. Indeed the line-up is almost supernatural in it's assortment of high-cool low-recognition avant-gardeness. It should be a blazing array of pop-punk poetry and literary swagger. Basically the unrepentantly midcult e-journal, 3am magazine is having a party. Standing on their chairs and letting it all hang loose for the party people will be such luminaries as arch YBA-apologist Matthew Collings, Billy Childish -- king of his own little world, Vic Godard still doing Punk like it never went out, came back and went out of style again, Bertie Marshall psycho-lit boy, the aforementioned Richard Strange, the sexy Mitzi Szereto and, jeez, about ten other spokesman for counter-culture. Jessica Callan tragically won't be there (3am launched two years before the Mirror girls were ever a twinkle in Piers Morgan's eye) but don't let that hold you back. It'll be different, that much is certain. And hey, think how less lost you'll be.

Saturday 26 July (10pm - 5am)

@ Egg, 200 York Way, N7 (020.7609.8364) Tube: Kings Cross

Haywire's support of the rather lovely Egg club, tucked away in an obscure corner of Kings Cross, continues with their monthly Electric Egg party this Saturday. At first the club may feel slightly labyrinthine, but if you head straight down to the basement you'll discover the full-on Fuel soundsystem crew: Stormfield, Andrea Parker, and the bass-bin god/master scratch DJ, Tipper who'll each be producing sounds of the lowest, loudest, bassiest, bowel-shaking quality! Heading upwards, on the terrace there's an electrosynthy kinda lineup with Optimo's very own Creme de Menthe playing live, plus live death-breaks-action from Tokyo Windbag, Rick Hopkins, and Andrew Weatherall. Meanwhile, to keep the fashionistas sweet, up in the loft you'll find plenty of stylish space for sashaying around to the sounds of Bones & Ramsey and David Guetta, while the rest of us get dirty down stairs. Head outdoors, and you'll find a secluded and chilled garden area, which, given the recent spate of good weather, could be the ideal place to find your head again if it all gets too much!

NB: For the total party mentalists among you, a pre-party-eat-drink-thing is happening at the Lock Tavern in Camden starting at 7pm to get you in the mood for later naughtiness at Egg -- music from Proper Freaks, Miz Licious and Simon Rigg. You can sort out queue jumps and discounted tickets there, plus they've laid on a free bus to Egg from the Tavern from 11pm.

Giveaway: We have two guest list spots to give away. They'll go to one randomly picked subscriber who can tell us who along with Andrew Weatherall makes up the duo, Two Lone Swordsmen.

Saturday 26 July (11pm - 7am)

@ The End, 16a West Central St., WC1 (020.7419.9199) Tube: Tottenham Court Rd./Holborn

Underwater at The End, the night hosted by ex-Underworld geezer Darren Emerson, is always an event; the big room sound system and sweaty arches vibe suiting the generally tech/house soundtrack. Tonight sees Philadelphian DJ/producer Josh Wink entering the fray, a man who likes to inject a bit of subtlety and grace back into the dancefloor. He drops acid house that's so twisted you'd think it was made in a fusili factory. Mixes that last forever are layered sound upon sound, hitting the decks like a drunken Kung Fu master engaged in a little water boxing. At times it sounds like he's got about ten records simultaneously on the go, even when there's just a solitary beat pulsing from the speakers. He messes with your head like that. And if Wink drops his own maniacal acid house anthem Don't Laugh (think of the Laughing Policeman on bad drugs) then the next sound you'll hear will be that of everyone scrabbling around on all fours trying to find their marbles. Check his new mix album, Profound Sounds Vol 2, on his Ovum Records label for more sonic proof.

Sunday 27 July (1:30pm)

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

Ever notice how the word "Asian" refers to Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis here? Whereas people from China etc. are "Orientals", while in American such folk are all "Asian-Americans". Now this slippage in language which defines "us" from "them" is what the Palestinian, New York-based academic Edward Said has described in Orientalism. Well actually it is Said's very thorough study of how the term has arisen from a Western idea of the East. Orientalism is a formal study of a concept of the East from the West, whereas more and more in this post 9/11 world-order, Said is being called upon to comment on the rapidly changing ideas of the Middle East from within the West. In this unedited 4-hour long interview, the NYC-loving intellectual speaks broadly about his illness, father, and politics, and one can expect the complexity of the man to show through; note that despite his long engagement with Middle Eastern politics, he has written also of his love of music, and on Freud. Bring cushions and stacks of note paper...

NB: Said is interviewed by Charles Glass, the director is Mike Dibb and producer, D.G. Guttenplan.

Ends Sunday 27 July

@ Curzon Mayfair, 38 Curzon St., W1J (0871.871.0011) Tube: Green Park

Leading up to this years Pride In the Park , Curzon Mayfair is providing us with the opportunity to experience some of the gay, lesbian, transgendered and bisexual films rarely seen on the big screen. This festival has something for everyone. Though the quality of GLTB films is often dubious, but when quality comes along, it is more than worth seeing. And this time quality certainly came along. Take special note of the documentary Gendernauts and thriller Lola & Bilidikid from the selection of evening screenings. Saturday, of course, will not see any screenings as the main event takes off in Hyde Park. This full day of food, music and drink may leave you exhausted, but keep in mind that the closing gala French Kisses, which features the absolutely hilarious Pourquoi Pas Moi? along with the more conventional sexual discovery movie Girls Can't Swim, can provide a good hangover cure.

NB: For the full programme, see the Curzon's Pride 2003 microsite.

Ends Thursday 31 July (Tue to Sat 10am - 5:30pm)

@ Richard Salmon, 59 South Edwardes Square, W8 (020 7602 9494) Tube: Hight St. Kensington

Artworks are strange objects in that they depict or re-present a reality, but are also unusual luxury items. Unlike Takashi Murakami who is veering very close to the commercial, Peter Liversidge rides just this intersection. His current show entitled The West is neatly divided into both these groups, with all the watches of Switzerland painted on paper upstairs, and a series of "cowboy" landscapes downstairs. Liversidge, who's adopted a naive painter's style, full of charm and visual sincerity -- following a somewhat parrallel trail to that of Tom Sachs' -- has become renowned for his simple depictions of luxury objects (e.g. rolex watches, flash logos, airplane tailfins, camcorders) which instantly become both a critique of the object and transform into one. On the other hand, he's also fascinated with a certain Americana: landscape, Montana (where he spent 5 months as a student), moose, UFOs, and lightning. Go figure? Downstairs, Liversidge has a room of western landscapes, but what really sets the scene is the corral and cow skeleton he's carved out of wood. Ride 'em strange cowboy! (Show ends Thu 31/07.)

NB: Liversidge is represented by Paul Stolper, who after years of publishing fine art multiples, has finally opened his own gallery near Old Street.

Wednesday 6 August (8pm on Wed 06/08 & Thu 07/08)

@ HMS President, Victoria Embankment, SE1 (020.7583.1918) Tube: Blackfriars/Temple

Drill 'n' bass, obtuse electronica, twisted garridge and funked-up freeform jazz all get a look-in in the world of Squarepusher. Tom Jenkinson has been battling against mediocrity for years now, and thanks to a plethora of releases on seminal labels such as Nothing Records, Rephlex, Spymania and Warp. He likes to play gigs in weird places such as Mount Fuji (Japan) and a polo field in southern California (Coachella Festival), so these two gigs aboard the HMS President on the Thames should follow the form. Often improvising live bass and ghost town vox around a cacophonous noise emanating from a pile of silver boxes and melted wires, Squarepusher excites, intrigues and perplexes in equal measure, usually in a bid to reconfigure your limbic system into positions you didn't even know existed.

NB: This event will sell-out (as capacity is only 300 each night -- Wed 06/08 & Thu 07/08). To purchase tickets call Stargreen on 020.7734.8932 or Wayahead 0115.912.9000.

Ends Friday 8 August (Tue to Fri 10am - 6pm, Sat 10am - 1pm)

@ Emily Tsingou Gallery, 10 Charles II St., SW1 (020.7839.5320) Tube: Piccadilly Circus

A collection of images designed to intrigue and disturb, the horror-show theme at Emily Tsingou this month brings together an unlikely lineup in a visual discussion around the nature of illusion. Borrowing from a range of sources, this exhibition draws together a group of artists working from a similar motivation but with dramatically different results. The phony, almost spoof-like allegory in the video work by Olaf Breuning compliments the subtler and perhaps more socially and psychologically loaded work by Ricky Swallow, who uses the language of sci-fi and pop cult imagery to derive a less calculated response. Marnie Weber takes a perversely childlike approach to a series of collages that menace through a veil of idyllic fantasy and unsophisticated -- even savage -- desire. This collection of works exhibit an oscilation of themes around the notion of popular culture and its liaison with a silent and sinister system of acuity.

NB: Show ends Fri 08/08.

Monday 11 August (7pm)

@ Shepherds Bush Empire, Shepherds Bush Green, W12 (020.7771.2000) Tube: Shepherds Bush

The unconventional, androgynous punk pioneer looks pretty much the same as ever; skinny, pale, depressed, won't look you in the eye, a heavy blunt fringe of black hair framing her angular face. Gaunt fairygodmother of PJ Harvey and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O, the good news is Patti Smith's raw but poetic arthouse sound still booms out of the stereo in the same way too -- although probably via a remastered CD rather than crackly old vinyl. Indeed, the gig forms part of the original anti-fashion icon's tour, supporting the release of LAND 1975-2002 (Arista records), a double album of classic tracks, live stuff, lesser-known songs -- some previously unreleased -- as well as unheard early demos, most of which have been voted on by her fans. So if your white t-shirt and drainpipe jeans need a well-overdue airing, then get down to the Shepherd's Bush Empire on 11/08, to experience a momentous gritty slice of original NYC punk.