Wednesday 26 November (6pm)

@ Gielgud Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, W1 (020.7494.5530) Tube: Piccadilly Circus

Outspoken critic of American imperialism, essayist and literary historian; Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes talks to Maya Jaggi about his latest novel as part of the Orange International Writers Season in Soho. Best known for his fictional work, which use complex narrative techniques to probe Mexican history, Fuentes' major themes are the dilemma of national identity and the promise and failure of the Mexican revolution. "Time is the subject matter of all my fiction," Fuentes has been quoted as saying. The three protagonists in Inez sweep through time in search of love and the origins of passion in music. World-famous orchestra director Gabriel Atlan-Ferrara is in love with a young Mexican soprano Inez, a character Fuentes says was inspired by the legendary Maria Callas. A mysterious third character is absent from the present, "Inez discovers him in a photograph with Gabriel and since she cannot find him in the present, she tries to find him in another time -- a past time or a future time." Born in 1928 in Panama City, the son of a Mexican diplomat, Fuentes went on to be appointed Mexico's ambassador to France in 1975. His major works include Where the Air is Clearer (1967), Terra Nostra (1975) and The Hydra Head (1978).

Wednesday 26 November (8pm)

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

This is an evening offering an intense mix of manipulated field-recordings, concrete and electronic music. A self-taught electronic musician, Aki Onda is passionate about his surrounding environment. Wandering with a walkman, he records "found sounds" -- from a little girl's voice to sirens, rain, birds, trains -- which he then juxtaposes at a most unaltered state. Performing with multiple cassette recorders, he will be presenting his Cassette Memories series suggestive of turntablists Christian Marclay rather than the clicks & cuts of current computer music. Tujiko Noriko's Japanese-speaking electro-pop songs, on the other hand, are "mostly fictions and stories". Having appeared at festivals such as Montreal's MUTEK and Barcelona's Sonar, it is a UK debut for this enchanting artist. She has released two albums on Pita Rehberg's Austrian label Mego and has recently leaned more towards alt-pop in her latest From Tokyo to Naiagara (on Tomlab), produced by Aki Onda. London-based multidisciplinary electronic artist Leafcutter John puts forward a complex array of sounds by amalgamating human physical input with computer-based technology using Max/MSP-based DIY software, contact microphones and his "orange tits" (magnetic pickups usually placed under a bra!). Leafcutter John has just released his fantastic The Housebound Spirit on Planet Mu and his omnipresent performances are always a singular experience that must be lived.

Thursday 27 November (6:45 - 8:30pm)

@ Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, SW7 (020.7792.9512) Tube: South Kensington

One Blair remark has been how he admired Maggie, whoops... Perhaps we haven't yet shaken off her Thatcherness, just as our cousins across the pond have yet to truly feel the Clinton-effect. This should be a good evening's entertainment: a gladiatorial battle of wits between political mavericks and commentators. The line-up includes the "biggest beast of the political jungle", our former Deputy PM Michael Heseltine; the first female editor of a national newspaper, Rosie Boycott, for the motion; Mail columnist and political chameleon Peter Hitchens; with Lord Evans of Temple Guiting (CBE, no less), MD of Faber & Faber, against. Keeping things clean will be Anna Ford, famous for presenting the news and throwing a glass of wine over Jonathan Aitken. Simon Jenkins and David Aaronovitch will also be on hand to fan flames. Finally, New Labour unceremoniously unspun -- it'll be interesting to see how it survives the grilling. Most of the debate is open to the floor, so here is an opportunity to get involved in a classic piece of British democracy. It's been a long time since anyone's been able to lob a question at Hezza.

NB: To purchase tickets call 020.7494.3345.

Thursday 27 November (7:30pm)

@ Royal Festival Hall, South Bank, SE1 (020.7960.4203 or 4242) Tube: Embankment/Rail Waterloo

Cantankerous, obstreperous, insightful and intriguing -- and that's just Tom Paulin. The poet, critic and original grumpy old man will be interrogating the unsurpassable wealth of knowledge accumulated by Roy Foster -- master of Irish history and guardian of the great WB Yeats. Through two almightily acclaimed biographies Foster has traced Yeats' astonishing existence, adding pounds of flesh and blood to the haunting skeletons of his poetry, evoking the rise of a people through the eyes of their prophet. "Now I may wither into the truth," wrote Yeats in 1910 before the Easter Uprising of 1916, before so much yet to come. There was mysticism, romance, intensity and politics in every footfall (and every word) of Yeats' complex and illustrious path. Foster's exacting history maps out this rich and mesmerising tale with fine prose and an elegant analysis. If he speaks with half the grace of his biography it will be an edifying and engrossing evening.

Thursday 27 November (7:45pm)

@ Cabot Hall, Cabot Place West, E1 (020.7418.2783) Tube: Canary Wharf

As we've seen, the Kiwis this year have proved pretty inept at rugby. Thankfully their jazz pedigree would seem to be of a different class, judging by Nathan Haines. Haines has become very much the international musician, at the forefront of jazz-dance fusion and a whole lot more. You need only to check recent collaborations to see the indelible mark of quality that Haines' work seems to possess: Marlena Shaw, Rich Medina, Masters at Work and many more. More recently Haines has balanced his presence on the jazz festival circuit with frequent forays into the club underground, including appearances at the seminal Body and Soul in New York, and yielding his mighty sax at the Ministry of Sound in London of all places, with MAW. On Thursday the saxophonist finds himself in the more refined surroundings of Cabot Hall, "Canary Wharf's Premier Venue" (amid a sea of competition...). A night of deep, varied and uplifting sounds will be delivered by a maverick respected by many as both creator and innovator in the underground scene.

Thursday 27 November (8pm)

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

How many musical outfits do you know who funded their early gigs through visits to the sperm bank? And how many, in your experience, have given Christmas tunes a techno make-over while powering up the odd soldering iron? The CVs of glam rock revivalists Earl Brutus and gadget-happy Juneau Projects bristle with such episodes -- guaranteeing a surreal ICA playoff if ever there was one. Juneau Projects, who have made smashing electronic goods into tiny pieces an art form, will be performing their greatest hits while cunningly sampling Earl Brutus' trademark stomp-pomp. The result will either be the best thing you've ever heard or an excruciating cross between an Alvin Stardust gig and a Black and Decker convention. Either way, nascent disco-punk stars Trash Money are set to bring on the cavalry with a live-set, making gobbing on all acts compulsory.

Friday 28 November

@ Various cinemas across London

Spun is the feature debut from Jonas Akerlund, a director more commonly known for his music videos, and most recently hitting the headlines for his controversial promo of Madonna's American Life, eventually pulled by the artist herself after accusations of anti-Americanism. The director has clearly made his Hollywood connections, with the movie boasting starring roles from Brittany Murphy, John Leguizamo, Mena Suvari and a ravaged-looking Mickey Rourke, as well as a supporting role from Debbie Harry. While pretty thin on plot -- the story documents the adventures of a group of meth-heads on a bender -- Spun amply shows off Akerlund's considerable visual and editing skills, and also serves as homage to other drug-driven movies, particularly Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Requiem for a Dream. Even though you'll feel like the rest of the cast on the comedown by the end, if you want some good ol' druggy fun mixed with MTV slick, Spun is worth checking out.

Friday 28 November (1:30pm; 4pm; 7pm & 8:30pm )

@ V&A Museum, Cromwell Rd., SW7 (020.7942.2000) Tube: South Kensington

With a Bardo-esque Kate Moss fronting their current advertising campaign, and a James Bond-inspired theme tune for their website, Italian label Missoni are the current darlings of this season's '60s revival. Not bad for a modest, family-run knitwear company who for the past 50 years have been spinning endless variations on a fairly banal, multicoloured zigzag pattern. While they'll never achieve the cult status of that other Italian pattern demon, Emilio Pucci, Missoni have nonetheless earned a lasting reputation for their sophisticated, flattering designs in an exuberant palette of jewel tones, which avoid the Eurotrash vulgarity of the former. Following the recent, disappointingly provincial London Fashion Week, and the dreary retrospective of suitmaker to the stars Giorgio Armani at the Royal Academy, the V&A's one-day staging of Missoni catwalk shows will provide a rare opportunity to see world-class fashion live among the museum's own eccentric sartorial displays. Best of all, it's free. You'd be a dummy to miss it.

NB: Admission is free but tickets must be booked by calling the V&A Bookings Office on 020.7942.2211.

Friday 28 November (7 - 11pm)

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

Mark Lanegan takes the stage with a stride that is somewhere between swagger and stagger, he grips the mic stand with strangler-like commitment and his voice is rough with gravel-pit crunch. When he's got the backdrop of Queens of the Stone Age, his stage presence is close to terrifying. With his own band, menace gives way to bluesy, throaty passion. Touring in support of the six-track EP Here Comes the Weird Chill, song titles like "Methamphetamine Blues" (which features QOTSA's Josh Homme on vocals) sum up the atmosphere of substance-abuse tension and torture that gives Lanegan's performance its might. With new album Bubblegum due for release in the Spring, some sweet new treats are also likely to appear in a set-list from the band's critically acclaimed five-album back catalogue that swings from alt.country yearning to Sub Pop rock distortion. In one guise or another, Lanegan (whose band also features fellow Queens member Troy Van Leeuwen -- formerly of A Perfect Circle -- with Van Leeuwen's own band Enemy also on the bill) has toured relentlessly this year. Yet, despite exhibiting a cadaverous fragility, he never fails to transfix and drive his bittersweet melodies into your heart just before he damn near rips it out.

Friday 28 November (7:30 - 11pm)

@ Forum, 9-17 Highgate Rd., NW5 (020.7344.0044) Tube: Kentish Town

In yet another wallow in the rich mud of interdisciplinarity, Artangel brings us lucky Flashers a scare-mongering collaboration between the American filmmaker Cameron Jamie and legendary US rockers The Melvins. Jamie has directed three films -- Kranky Klaus, BB, and Spook House -- under those nurturing seraphim at Artangel, each an investigation into violent suburban rituals in the days running up to Halloween. Set in the spook houses of Detroit, the macabre pieces will be screened at the Forum (Fri 28/11) to an electric live score by The Melvins, a cult three-piece who, among other things, make claims to having influenced Nirvana. And they're all prepared to sit down over a nice cuppa, put aside any creative differences they may have had, and talk about it before the gig (6:30pm at the Jorene Celeste Pub in NW5). Which is nice.

NB: Cameron will be in conversation with Alex Farquharson at The Horse Hospital (Thu 27/11 @ 7:30pm) and at the Jorene Celeste Pub (Fri 28/11 @ 6:30pm) along with Chris Bohn and Darren Flook before the screening/concert with the Melvins at the Forum.

Giveaway: We have two pairs tickets to the concert/screening to give away. They'll go to two randomly picked Flashers who can tell us where the Melvins hail fom.

Special Offer: Call Artangel (020.7713.1400) and quote KultureFlash to receive a 2 for 1 special deal on tickets.

Friday 28 November (8pm - 2am)

@ Neighbourhood, 12 Acklam Rd., W10 (020.7524.7979) Tube: Ladbroke Grove/Westbourne Park

Matthew Herbert's Accidental Records is as unpredictable a boutique label as you'd expect from a man for whom wild musical eclecticism is a way of life. Only recently signed to the Herbert empire, Reykjavik's Ornelius Mugison may be barely out of his teens but, on the evidence of his Lonely Mountain debut, his music's blend of intimate, sophisticated song craft and eccentric, burbling electronica (not to mention the album sleeve's meticulously hand-sewn artwork) means he should fit in splendidly. With encouraging noises already being made by the likes of feted countrymen like Sigur Ros and Mum, Mugison's live UK debut promises to pull in laptop cognoscenti and windswept post-rock aficionado alike. Herbert will himself be manning the DJ booth -- an event that alone promises sonic whimsicality of the highest order.

Friday 28 November (8pm - 3am)

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

Bonobo the man has a gazillion glowing pithy 100-word write-ups barreled out online by wannabe muso-hacks yet remains resolutely anonymous to anyone who has never been enchanted by the aural spell of his sublime musical incantations. How come? Dunno. Well, now it's Bonobo the band. Yes, Simon Green, previously proficient in conjuring the belief that the Arcadian orchestra of chillout was massaging your soul while he stood on stage and pressed the occasional button is going live with the debut performance of a new six-piece band. Cargo hosts this beautiful promise and is an ideal venue for Bonobo's idyllic beatscapes and the long winding road to sonic bliss that is Dial M for Monkey. Die-hards will be screaming for the love-inducing Terrapin from the acclaimed Animal Magic (the sounds that first alerted Ninja Tune) but the focus will be the new single "Flutter". Expect a room of open mouths, closed eyes, blessed eardrums and cosmic harmonies, and you won't be far from the mark.

NB: For those Cargo and electronica Flashers out there be sure to check out Cursor Minor and The Chap who play the night before (Thu 27/12).

Giveaway: We have two copies of Dial M For Monkey to give away. They'll go to two randomly picked Flashers who can tell us what Bonobo chimps do all the time.

Saturday 29 November (2pm)

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

By happy coincidence, this retrospective of Foreign Office Architects' first ten years follows last week's news that they've won the BBC's competition to design the prestigious Music Box -- making the project a front runner to become the capital's most talked-about new building since Foster's Gherkin or Libeskind's V&A Spiral. However, unlike the work of the big name "signature" architects, there is no instantly recognisable FOA brand. Husband and wife team Alejandro Zaera Polo and Farshid Moussavi are at pains to emphasise how each of their buildings is a product of its locality and purpose. All architects say this of course, but compare the BBC scheme with their best known project to date, the Yokohama Ferry Terminal in Japan, whose sinuous curves make it quite unlike any other building, including any of their own projects. The good news for us is that since the Venice Biennale there's been more UK work on the horizon, with their competition bid for Hastings seafront, and the appointment as part of a consortium to design buildings for London's 2012 Olympic Bid -- here's hoping. Maybe "Home Office Architects" has a certain ring to it... (FOA's ICA exhibition runs till 29/03/04.)

NB: For those architectural Flashers out there check out Eva Jiricna's talk on Mon 01/12 at the RA. Despite having designed projects ranging from hotels to the Faith Zone at the Dome, this Czech-born architect's work has been dominated by "retail therapy" catch her discuss why.

Saturday 29 November (2 - 8pm)

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

Those of you unfamiliar with the work of post-war German philosopher Theodor W. Adorno (1903-69), are probably still aware that he postulated that there could be no poetry after Auschwitz. Part of the highly influential Frankfurt School -- of which NYC's New School is an outpost -- and best-mates with Walt Benjamin, Adorno fled Fascist Germany for refuge in sunny LA, which probably explains his dislike for the "culture industry". Needless to say the philosopher and pianist who rejected Heidegger and Existential philosophy, in support of a dialectic other than that of Hegel's -- that is, a Negative Dialectics -- and who was so instrumental in mixing Marx and sociology in his thinking, developed a love for the avant-garde music of Schonberg, Webern and Berg. An inspiration to intellectuals like Edward Said, Adorno, who died while producing his master work Aesthetic Theory, seems due for a night in which his music is appreciated through his thinking. Thinking about the man through the music he loved will be philosopher Alexander Garcia Duttman, music theorist Daniel KL Chua, and composer Brian Ferneyhough; live music will be provided by violinist Mieko Kanno and The Kreutzer Quartet.

Giveaway: If you have successfully worked your way through TW's Minima Moralia, KF will reward you with a kindly "thank you" upon receipt of a 500-word summary.

Saturday 29 November (8pm - 3am)

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

Cargo's regular ComeShakeTheWhole event has been putting on parties down under the arches for two years or so (although the night's been running for about 6 years), and on Saturday it waves a hectic farewell to 2003 (don't panic, it's back in January) with a choice selection of electro-punk DJ action. With residents Ewan Pearson and Stan Fontan at the helm, tonight's special guest skipper is the mighty Zongamin (aka Japan's Susumu Mukai, signed to XL, also home of The White Stripes, Dizzee Rascal and Basement Jaxx). His artisan music approach involves the use of good ol' fashioned musical instruments -- bass, drums, guitar and percussion -- to achieve his breathtaking funky-electro sound, reminiscent of NYC's first laydees of Soul Jazz, ESG. Not convinced? Well, we wouldn't usually do this, but check out the press quote: "With a mighty roar, the Japanese monster breaks the waves, rears up and crushes other bands like the puny fishing vessels they are." (i-D) With an exceptionally well received, self-titled first album to back him up, we thinks he'll be a skipper and a half.

Saturday 29 November (10pm - 7am)

@ Fabric, 77A Charterhouse St., EC1 (020.7344.4444) Tube: Farringdon

Back recording and playing again under the Plastikman moniker, the diminutive don of modern techno once more graces the decks in old London town. Along with Ricardo Villalobos, Hawtin promises a "back2back" all-nighter in everybody's favourite Farringdon meat storage premises, aka Fabric. Over the last year, Hawtin has been busier than ever, with the release of his new Closer album (novamute). Continuing to take techno to ever darker, more inventively glitchy and emotively minimal areas, Hawtin stands alongside Carl Craig, Moodyman and Theo Parrish as a true innovator and creator of the modern sound: and he's not even from Detroit... Expect a soundscape of compelling diversity, from metallic intricacy to more funky "spastik" rhythms. Hawtin, consistently dapper in his laboratory chic, will batter those ears. If of course it all proves too much, the other rooms of Fabric may provide refuge. Residents and masters of twisted and dubby tech house Craig Richards and Terry Francis preside over Room 2, whilst you may cower in the corner of Room 3 to be soothed by those Amalgamation of Sounds.

Giveaway: We have three copies of Closer to give away. They'll go to three randomly picked Flashers who can tell us where Hawtin was born.

Monday 1 December (7pm)

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

Sunderland's answer to Fugazi? The Futureheads are set to front the first of five Playlouder gigs at the ICA this week. The Queen's only just started going to bed without her earplugs when another racket starts belting down the Mall. Hollering a host of post-punk influences sung in their northern twang, The Futureheads' distinctive sound and energy have won them many fans and attracted one of their major influences, Andy Gill from Gang of Four, who has produced their EP. Support comes from maverick hair-flicker Patrick Wolf, who made Playlouder go all weak at the knees at his breakthrough gig at the Barfly earlier this year. Following the success of the first festival in 2002, the ICA and Playlouder bring a second helping of the best of contemporary hip-hop, folk, electronica and rock spread over five nights. Highlights include high-octane rock 'n' roll from Ikara Colt (Tue 02/12); folk ditties from Hawksley Workman (Wed 03/12); Bling and that sort of thing from Gold Chains (Wed 04/12); and, rounding up the pack, Autechre's electronic side project Gescom (Fri 05/12), supported by Cassette Boy and DJ Rubbish.

Monday 1 December (7pm)

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

In 2002, Fernando Corona (Murcof) won deservedly superlative praise for his full-length debut Martes, a meld of intricate electronica and sweeping orchestration that received favourable comparisons with Angelo Badalamenti's Lynchian scores and the ascetic spiritualism of Part or Gorecki (specifically the latter's Symphony of Sorrowful Songs). With sublime strings and creeping bass punctuated by the noir-ish cackle of revellers, Martes was a festival of dark delights to both lift and chill the heart. Following the "Ulysses" single and recent soundtrack work with the Amores Perros production team, this European mini-tour precedes the release next year of a remix collection and second album proper. Support comes from fellow purveyor of skewed electronics Astrobotnia and a DJ set from Mira Calix.

Giveaway: We have two copies of Martes to give away. They'll go to two randomly picked Flashers who can tell us the name of the Tijuana-based collective that Murcof used to be part of.

Ends Thursday 27 November (Tue to Sat 10am - 6pm)

@ Sutton Lane, 1 Sutton Lane, EC1 (020.7253.8580) Tube: Farringdon/Barbican

After showing a series of handmade street vending tables laden with the unsellable at this year's Venice Biennale, Cheyney Thompson (US) has installed 60 paintings around three walls of Sutton Lane's gallery space for his first UK show. The exhibition references the gamut of art historical genres and specifically Gericault's masterwork The Raft of the Medusa, although the fragmentary nature of the installation recalls more vividly Gericault's infamous studies of severed heads and limbs. Combinations of wood, planks, plywood and bricks in a seemingly meaningless and endless process of construction or deconstruction could represent the raft, a gallows or canvas supports. Among these disconnected forms are a handful of more formal paintings. Hung low on the wall, a cardboard box overflows with everyday rubbish and a few Polaroids of sections of a male body. Two stone cupids holding cornucopia, the horn of plenty, occupy symmetrically the bottom corners or the gallery's far wall. Thompson relates the scandal of the Medusa to current US foreign policy. However, the exhibition, formally at least, seems to allude to a situation even closer to home where the fragmentation of capitalist society allows overflowing plenty to occupy literally the same space as the seedy detritus Thompson finds spilling out on to the streets of New York.

NB: Show ends Thu 27/11.

Wednesday 3 December (7pm)

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

The signing of !!! to Warp in a worldwide licensing deal this year affords us the opportunity to experience the Sacramento-based band's contribution to live dance music. We are reliably informed that the only rule to the pronunciation of their name is that one utters a thrice of identical phonetics -- the generally accepted form being "chk chk chk", but improvisation is encouraged (we would therefore like to contribute "uh uh uh" and "nngh nngh nngh"). This group of guys attests the nudity of live dance music with their simplistic guitar, drum and horn line-up, and electronic gizmos contribute little to the sound other than to ply their repetitive, minimal vocals with multi-tap delays. The result is a funky bass groove with a spattering of brass stabs over the standard four-to-the-floor club beat. The music carries strong undertones of '80s disco-house (a kind of light industrial concoction reminiscent of something between Trent Reznor and Pete Burns), but there are also clear parallels with genre idols such as Chic. In many ways this is a one-off introductory show, and ironically whilst this band could quite easily produce some pop chart toppers, they go against much of the Warp grain. Suck it and see.

NB: Opening for !!! are the Gallic boys M83.

Ends Saturday 24 January (Mon to Fri 10am - 6pm; Thu till 7pm; Sat 10am - 5pm )

@ Haunch of Venison, 6 Haunch of Venison Yard, W1 (020.7495.5050) Tube: Bond St.

When is a house not a house? When it's an artwork, of course. We're not referring here, dear Flasher, to "architecture" but to the art of Jorge Pardo, and his now classic 4166 Sea View Lane. Part of his MOCA exhibition, it is also his home and a package of philosophical questions. Known early on for his eerie appropriations -- nay, recreations -- of works of design, Pardo's art is one of celebration, 'cause copying is the best form of flattery. By creating total environments -- from furniture to murals to lamps to floor tiles (e.g. at NYC's Dia) -- the Havana-born, LA-based artist really opens the question of where Art's work begins and Design's end. Perhaps an older Angeleno, Robert Irwin's art can shed some light here. Irwin is all about perception and sensitivity to your environment -- achieved through shimmery fields of light -- Pardo recreates a similar awareness albeit through design. Here he's presenting elements from a house he's re-building in Merida, Mexico. With an array of lamps, dangling web-like and spider-style, drawings, paintings and cut-outs, expect to be beguiled. Perhaps, Pardo is just Art's most recent version of Total Football. (Ends 24/01/04.)

NB: Pardo is also presenting an equally atmospheric and beguiling collection of work at Gagosian in Los Angeles (ends 20/12). Also, while in the neighbourhood make sure you pop by to see Jean-Marc Bustamante at Timothy Taylor, Robert Mapplethorpe at aspreyjacques and Jeff Burton at Sadie Coles.

Giveaway: We have three catalogues to give away. They'll go to three randomly picked Flashers who can name the architect influential to the building of 4166 Sea View Lane.