Wednesday 14 July (7pm)

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

Quash the mid-week blues with a beautifully curated evening of musical entertainment in the louche surroundings of the ICA. Eat Your Own Ears present four emerging acts in what promises to be a rhapsodic listening experience. Headlining are The Earlies, a 12-piece whose brooding lyrics float over a lush tapestry of sound woven by an imaginative array of music-making objects. Fellow support Ella Guru, fresh from a triumphant Glastonbury, will seduce the audience with their country-inflected guitar and willowy vocals. New Regal-singing Clor will rock your world with their kaleidoscopic musical cocktail which fuses the apparently oxymoronic; metal, funk, ska, punk and good old-fashioned rock and roll, blended with panache and a dash of humour. Compere John Kennedy of Xfm will also be introducing Gavouna, performing live in London for the first time, who will bewitch the audience with his sumptuous orchestral instrumentation and psychedelic sampling. It's Bastille Day, eat cake!

Wednesday 14 July (7:30pm)

@ St. James' Church, 197 Piccadilly, W1 (020.7734.4511) Tube: Piccadilly

If you were the gambling sort, a year ago you'd sooner have stuck a tenner on Jordan becoming prime minister than Tim Booth going back on the road. Bagging acting awards, DJing, penning a screenplay, sprouting daft facial hair -- the former James frontman has been busy doing everything of late bar releasing some decent tunes. That was until he paired up with four random musos including Lee "Muddy" Baker and stand-up comedian Milo, and recorded a new album in a Brighton bedroom. The result is Bone -- a Beck on shrooms-style foray into electronic pop, garnering reviews ranging from bemused and amused to plain confused. Accusations of self-indulgent noodling aside, Booth's appearance was one of the highlights at this year's Glastonbury, with the high priest of tie-dye whipping up the mob adulation of James at their height. Whatever your view, this low-key gig presents a chance to touch the hem of one of pop's most enduring and refreshingly unhinged stars.

Wednesday 14 July (7:30pm)

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

The Tina Modotti and Edward Weston exhibition at the Barbican Art Gallery presents the work of two key figures of Mexican Modernist photography. Professional artists and passionate lovers, Modotti and Weston collaborated in post-revolutionary Mexico during the '20s, producing a unique array of striking and tangible photos. Weston's philosophy was to "stay open to every fresh influence" in depicting the abstract beauty and ancient history of Mexico, while Modotti's style mirrored Weston's aesthetic as she moved from being a model to becoming an accomplished photographer in her own right. However, affected by the people she encountered and her strong political beliefs, she soon started to use the camera as a tool for social observation and comment. John Berger suggested, in his book Ways of Seeing, that "men act and women appear". Modotti not only appeared as a beautiful muse for Weston's photography, she highlighted the fact that women can act with conviction to become accomplished artists in their own right. If this sparks your interest, on Wed 14/07 academic and film-maker Ceri Higgins will introduce a special screening of her poignant film which chronicles the extraordinary life and times of Modotti. A scholar of Mexican cinema, Higgins' film uses friends, acquaintances and dramatic reconstructions to tell the story of her life. Don't miss a great show.

NB: Tina Modotti & Edward Weston: The Mexican Years runs till 01/08.

Thursday 15 July (7pm)

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

Sacre-bleu! Zeez fine purveyors of live experimental electronica, [no.signal] -- who recently furnished our ears with a show by Matmos and friends, and performed their Civil War concept album at the Scala last month -- next week pick up a host of acts from just across the Channel and drop them into the Spitz for a night of "musique electronique et experimentale" (we need not translate). Alors [no.signal] nattily becomes [sans.signal] for the evening. With a focus on lo-fi production values, this melodic and not-so-melodic selection showcases a range of musical explorers on the current French electronica circuit. The line-up includes detuned distortions from energetic brother duo dDamage, real-time sonic digital processing from Heller and Sebastien Roux, a distorted cello overture by Mrs Pilgrimm, and Discom, who whizz pop melodies into the blender and spit them out the other side with a sting in the tail. Not forgetting new kid on le block, Noun, and, in the spirit of DIY, a Pez sweet dispenser orchestra created by Anne Laforet. Tres bon (bon).

NB: this event is a precursor to London Placard, a 14-hour international "headphones festival" which returns to London for the second year running on Sat 17/07.

Friday 16 July (Fri 16/07 12pm till Sun 18/07 8pm)

@ NCP Welbeck, Welbeck St., W1 (020.7486.2296) Tube: Bond St.

Ahhhh, consumerism and art putting their arms around each other in one big cross-promotional car-theme-park extravaganza. Marvellous! Every now and again an event comes along that blows you away with the shear marketing brain strain that must have gone on to make it happen. BMW have a new car (probably a few which may make it a series or possibly even a canon) and they look very shiny and nice too. Intersection is a magazine which "fuses design, fashion and lifestyle to create an alternative way of looking at cars". Together they have organized an exhibition of 16 artists' work, all of which is related to the theme of "Car", and -- this will knock ya driving glasses off -- are exhibiting it in a car park in W1. So, now we know that this isn't just about cars, it's about f*@king uber cool, like "a mullet is so 2002" and "I live in a warehouse" super doper cool. And why is this a great thing? Because there are 16 pieces of new fabulous art to see, and it will be open for 24 hours from the Friday midday to the Sunday evening. Take your mum at lunchtime to see Angus Leadley Brown's kinetic photo work, your work colleague after work to view Hi-ReS!'s web projections, your mates after da pub to hear Photek's BMW-inspired break beats; then drag ya shag after the club to ogle Atlanta Weller's sexy car-parts stilettos and push your kids in the morning to laugh at adults go-carting in Nima Nourizadeh's film. It's the kinda event that you hear about, talk about (blag about) and don't go to, but do please this time, before it's too late and you hear the words "Oh darling, exhibition? In a car park? How very 2004." (Some of the other exhibitors inlcuded are FAT Architects, Erik Halley, Inflate and Trevor Jackson.)

NB: runs from Fri 16/07 12pm till Sun 18/07 8pm (open 24 hours).

Friday 16 July (6 - 11:45pm)

@ Trinity Buoy Wharf, Tube: DLR East India

We've all heard of booze-cruises up and down the Thames; and the tourist-traps that ferry folk to snap the eye-popping spectacles of London's famous riverside. But rarely do we see a return trip to the Docklands to the backdrop of experimental electro-acoustic music. Imagine drifting down the Thames in such a sonaura, and the twilight cityscape could take on an entirely different meaning. This is what Underkurrent aims to achieve, and in a boat of only 160 capacity the affair is likely to be quite intimate, especially with the amount of artists collaborating. The cruise starts early (6pm) and we are initially to be introduced to a host of upcoming musical experimentalists, including the curious timbres of Dreams of Tall Buildings. The highlight of the night has to be the sets from kREEPA, Walter Fabeck and Trevor Taylor, whose integration of bizarre Heath-Robinson instruments weaves magic alongside traditional electronic and acoustic timbres. Fabeck's chromasone and kREEPA's tromboscillator promise to beat the electroacoustic pants off the spooky Theremin, and make the journey down river even more surreal and potentially mind-expanding with variously paced burbles nurtured and modulated through complicated electrickery. The event could prove to be the spring from which future mainstream acts are fed, and this intensely exploratory experience should be caught before those few precious tickets sell out.

NB: the boat initially departs from Embankment pier (WC2) at 6pm and then docks at Trinity Buoy Wharf at 7:30pm.

Friday 16 July (7pm)

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

Once in a while a film is made that just never goes away -- and though that is not always a good thing, when it is a beautifully apt rendition of a wonderful piece of literature, it is all good. We all know that the significance of this work is the honest attempt at exploring race relations in the Deep South and, sadly, issues of race relations are as relevant today as they were back then -- and not just in the Deep South. A classic? Sure. Revolutionary? Maybe. But ultimately, still so Hollywood. When you walk into that cinema (and you will, because it is technically an extraordinary piece of work not to be missed on the big screen), don't leave your "sense" behind. It is not black and white, it is not them vs. us, and it is not good against evil. Atticus Finch is not a perfect man, and do consider for a second how this white man came to be in the position that he is in. Enjoy great cinema, but the author Harper Lee wanted us all to think. So think.

Friday 16 July (Fri 16/07, Sat 17/07 and Sun 18/07 at 9:30pm)

@ a secret location (see NB for details)

Arcane entertainment in Shoreditch's sweaty underbelly as the curious are invited to join Menlo Park in a series of secret performances. Named after the birthplace of recorded sound, this Philadelphian four-piece are renowned for bespoke "happenings" that are as deranged as they are lavish. Previous Menlo Park events have seen midget boxing, trapeze artists and any amount of grand guignol nonsense. Indeed, the band are currently without a record deal after hoodwinking their former label into lavishing £20,000 on an extravaganza at the Shoreditch Town Hall (which saw the audience join them in a rousing chorus of Amazing Grace). Thankfully unlike their am-dram peers, the music more than backs up their theatrical antics -- vocalist Chris Taylor leads this three-ring shambles in a run through six-fingered country, backwoods voodoo and howling burlesque. Plus the odd cover of "Like A Prayer" and "Billie Jean".

NB: these performances take place over three nights (Fri 16/07, Sat 17/07 and Sun 18/07). On each night 85 seekers will be met at 9:30pm sharp at the George Bar (Great Eastern Hotel) and then shepherded to a "mysterious and secret location". The band wishes it to be known that, due to the unique nature of this performance, tardy guests will forfeit their right to entry. To buy tickets see the band's site or click here (no tickets will be available on the door).

Saturday 17 July (Daily 10am - 5:45pm; Fri until 9pm)

@ Design Museum, Butlers Wharf, Shad Thames, SE1 (0870.833.9955) Tube: Tower Hill

Not many people can be said to have mastered an art form that was born, flourished, and died within their own career, but Saul Bass was certainly one of them. Or can you name another recognised auteur of title sequences? Imagine, as a comparative instance, a composer achieving renown for penning overtures to other people's operas. Yet in the '50s and '60s masters like Alfred Hitchcock and Otto Preminger were proud to hand over the opening sequences of their films to Bass' stunning graphic inventions -- and the same was true of Martin Scorsese in the '90s. Already a well-known designer by the time Preminger lured him into a cinematic career, Bass could sum up the essence of a film's mood in a few minutes of jaggedly constructivist, near-abstract rhythms, like the eye turning into dizzying spiral that launches Vertigo or the shuttling elevator-like grids that conjure midtown Manhattan to begin North by Northwest. Bass' graphic look is being copied everywhere today, but the Design Museum should remind us of where we saw it first.

NB: runs till 10/10.

Saturday 17 July (12pm - 2am)

@ state51, 8-10 Rhoda St., E2 (020.7729.4343) Tube: Shoreditch

After the success of last year's event, praised as "the highlight of a long summer", the London Placard -- "headphone concert for headphone people" -- is back for a 14-hour-day festival comprising 42 performances, all 20-minutes long (controlled by a DIY constructed sequencer while a screen shows the exact running order). The Placard (closet in French) concept was created 6 years ago in Paris and has now expanded to global scale. London -- with its "bring your own headphones" policy and packed line-up -- is repeating last year's adventure by combining more "famous" artists (such as the legendary pair of David Toop and Max Eastley; Prix Ars Electronica 2004 winner Janek Schaefer and Leafcutter John; former Loop member Main and new rising pop-electro stars Hot Chip to cite some); alongside the less renowned (but great!) figures of the London-based electronic/experimental/improv scene (Dual and Murmer, 2+++'s Paul Hood and Michael Rodgers, Recon with Thorsten Sideb0ard, binaural artist Dallas Simpson and too many more to cite). This year, London will also host "continental" performers such as Italian sound artist eg0, former Mou,Lips!'s Emanuela de Angelis and a French regime which includes Placard founder Erik Minkkinen in his duo Discom, N-REC's Cylens and Heller, all playing on Thu 15/07 at the KultureFlash sponsored event [sans.signal]. For all those sceptics who might think that this is an alienating experience, the only way to understand why it is actually the most communal musical gathering is to come along at any point during these 14-hours and plug into one of the 100 available slots... and with your own headphones of course!

Saturday 17 July (8pm)

@ Jazz Cafe, 5 Parkway, NW1 (020.7916.6060) Tube: Camden Town

Well, it sounds like a corny premise: an LA-based collective whose primary purpose is making music to inspire peace in the world. But cast aside your cynicism and sneeringly arched eyebrows, this is a project that has been conceived and underpinned by a deep love of music and its associated powers. The ensemble, led by producer Carlos Nino and vocalist Dwight Trible, have fashioned an uplifting, almost celebratory sound, incorporating elements of older soul and jazz but also lots of contemporary improvisations. Build An Ark wear their influences on their sleeve, as beautiful interpretations of old classics testify: saxophonist master Pharaoh Saunders' "You've gotta have freedom", Stanley Cowell's "Peace With Every Step", and perhaps most memorably their joyous interpretation of Michael White's "The Blessing Song", which was recently given the Gilles Peterson seal of approval, by appearing on his excellent Worldwide Exclusives compilation. Each effort does justice to, and ultimately builds on, the original. Build an Ark is an innovative project and should constitute an exciting live experience. Imagine The Polyphonic Spree without the silly white cloaks and deeper, more soul-drenched renditions of loved-up anthems.

Saturday 17 July (10pm - 7am)

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

Amidst the sparse electronic bleeps, searing techno and increasingly unfashionable "progressive" sounds, the resolutely underground line-ups of Saturday nights at Fabric have experienced a slight change. Yes... a band has been invited to play, and a rather unconventional and punky one at that. The obtusely named !!!, or chk chk chk, or whatever one thinks might be appropriate (for it must be a triplicate of identical sounds), are headlining Room 1 alongside two more conventional masters, Messers Weatherall and the diminutive Edgar. !!! have been creating a buzz for well over a year now and hail initially from Sacramento. Their sound is a raw and visceral blend of guitar, drum and horns, but with a rather dancey/poppy sensibility and a bizarre deal with the Warp label. This will certainly be in a sharp contrast to the DJs whose sounds will be darker, sleeker and dirtier. What can one say about Weatherall, an originator and man of many guises? Tonight Weatherall is likely to stick to his magical Haywire formula of deep, piercing and fascinating techno. Jimmy Edgar, hailing from Detroit and 19 ruddy years old, retains a little more soulful smoothness in his music compared to some of his more jagged and brutal contemporaries in the motor city. Nevertheless, expect a memorable set bursting with only the finest in modern electronic music. This is a trio of highly talented artists, and that's only Room 1...

Sunday 18 July (1pm)

@ Curzon Soho, 93-107 Shaftesbury Ave., W1 (020.7439.4805) Tube: Leicester Sq./Piccadilly

Who is Marc Almond? Factually of course he is the man who was once one half of Soft Cell. Who is he now? The man himself states he wishes to be more known as "the man who used to be Marc Almond." So who is he now? Almond's forthcoming book, In Search of the Pleasure Palace (Sidgwick & Jackson), aims to find out. The book refuses the status of autobiography, and the book chart compilers will find it difficult to place it in either fiction or non-fiction for it relates Almond's journey from fame to post-fame both in the material reality and the singer's own psyche. In Search of the Pleasure Palace is launched at the Curzon Soho this Sunday with a talk from the author and a screening of the 1958 Douglas Sirk high melodrama Imitation of Life. One of the major threads of the film is the rise of an actress, Lora, and the dichotomy of her successful material life against the strains of her inner life. It seems an inverse of Almond's theme. Who is he now that he is post-famous and who is Lora now she is famous? They are of course both mere developments of who they had always been, if only perhaps we knew what that was.

Sunday 18 July (8pm)

@ Sadler's Wells, Rosebery Avenue, EC1 (020.7863.8000) Tube: Angel

Gustavo Santaolalla is one of the most important names in Latin electronic music, who's found greater renown for his scorching soundtracks to 21 Grams and Amores Perros. Bajofondo Tango Club is his live project fusing Argentine tango and contemporary sounds from house to dub. Inevitably this attracts comparisons with the Gallic Gotan Project, but this grittier sound sliding from raw bandoneon and violin to unrepentant electronic beats merits parallels with the dynamic Mexican Nortec Collective. Somewhat inevitably the line-up is of several bearded men and one dark winsome singer, but with Argentine musicians of pedigree like Pablo Mainetti and Adrian Iaies, Bajofondo deserve to be more than background noise in uber-trendy international hangouts. Modern tangueros are going to try it in progressive milongas, even if some frenetic tracks drive into the drum and bass arena. Bajofondo are represented by Universal, so don't be fooled into believing this is the underground action from Buenos Aires, but they will have you itching for the Americas, and given the painfully hip audiences Sadler's Wells can attract, they are bound to be huge.

Tuesday 20 July (8pm)

@ Somerset House, Strand, WC2 (020.7845.4600) Tube: Temple

These two need no introduction... Two huge award-winning names on the British music scene, and with good reason. This gem of an event is inspired by, of all things, cricket; namely the summer's England vs. Windies testmatch. Roots Manuva and Asian Dub Foundation headline an impressive musical line-up in the magnificent courtyard of Somerset House -- all part of a celebration of West Indian influence on British beats. The sustained and respected talent of Roots Manuva grew from Jamaican origins and London soil. Now his latest album Brand New Second Hand shows a refusal to lean on old forms, and treads new territory with expertise and a sense of gritty and brilliant pre-bling hip-hop. The ADF are also famously good live. Their rich fusion of sound engineering with sitar, ragga, dub and considered lyrics is in itself a celebration of influences. This night is a one-off collaboration with Chuck D, Public Enemy of fame, and the tickets really are a tenner.

NB: other events are planned for C4's Summer Sessions the following three nights across town. Guests DJs include Damon Albarn, Norman Jay and Roni Size. Check site for details.

Ends Sunday 18 July (Tue to Sat 10am - 6pm)

@ David Risley Gallery, 55 Laburnum St., E2 (020.7613.4006) Tube: Bethnal Green

Portraits of Non-Humans brings together artists from distinct generations and subjects. Despite this, two-dimensional works from Graham Sutherland to Peter Jones sit comfortably together. Within the painted tradition, portraiture is one of the most accessible genres. It is also one of the most mass-practised. The success of this show is however its ability to make you re-examine what you consider a portrait. For example, Matchhead is one of George Condo's more abstract pieces. On a peach skin background what looks like a burnt matchstick becomes the blackened crown of a head. Turned away from the staring viewer, the subject's ears burn bright red and the length of his neck bristles with cold tufts of grass. You recognise an emotional state rather than a physical likeness -- an almost comical image of naked nape isolation. For his Holy Land series John Stezaker takes images of Palestinian hill villages and digitally masters them so that the image is vertically reflected. Down the central spine the windows in buildings and camps, and the craters and holes in the hillside, become eyes, nostrils and open mouths. Eerie distortions emerge into faces that turn the landscape, usually a passive subject, into one replete with sentient perception.

NB: runs till 18/07.

Wednesday 21 July (6:45pm)

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

10 years ago the term "ubiquitous computing" was coined by Mark Weiser to "predict" a future digitally networked society that would be transformed by a new mobility embedded in miniature technologies, cars, furniture, clothing and public infrastructures in the city. Christian Moeller, a leading pioneer of interactive architectural and electronic media installations, will discuss the aims of his digital/analogue works and the art of reactive signs and cognitive sensory manipulation. Supported by the Science Museum, the debate will take place at the ICA. Moeller, who is Professor at Design/Media Arts (UCLA), will also exhibit a major new work which will be on view to the public in the Science Museum's new gallery, Energy -- fuelling the future, curated by Hannah Redler (from 23/07). Moeller will be speaking with 2004 RIBA award winning architect Shona Kitchen and chaired by curator and critic Lucy Bullivant.

NB: this event is in programmed in conjunction with the launch of Moeller's latest book A Time and Place (Lars Mueller).

Ends Sunday 25 July (Thu to Sun 11am - 6pm )

@ Interim Art, 21 Herald St., E2 (020.7729.4112) Tube: Bethnal Green

British photographer Hannah Starkey (bn. 1968) has been compared to Edward Hopper, her tableaux of solitary or small groups of women in stark yet banal architectural settings possessing the same self-consciously moody atmosphere as the latter's paintings and hinting at similarly uncanny scenarios. Yet the tenderness with which she handles her female protagonists, allowing them both a vulnerability and degree of hardened self-possession, perhaps has more in common with Sofia Coppola's films. Both share an interest in how young women can relate to the cold modernist, capitalist -- and by implication, masculine -- environment of the 21st century city. In Starkey's new works, a busty girl looks uncomfortably fleshy in an empty room of desks and lifeless office equipment; other women appear isolated, trapped, behind corporate windows, in airless lobbies. Luminous, wobbly Japanese sweets are teasingly seductive to the passer-by; lined up in perfect rows they also seem utterly untouchable, a luxurious and artificial fantasy.

NB: runs till 25/07.

Wednesday 4 August (7:15pm)

@ Design Museum, Butlers Wharf, Shad Thames, SE1 (0870.833.9955) Tube: Tower Hill

The difference between Art and Design is that with the former, one creates one's problems, while the latter is about solving problems. Nonetheless, in Design, problem solving is not necessarily the only creative aspect of the job, just ask Alan Fletcher. After years in the Big Apple, he became a founder member of Fletcher/Forbes/Gill (1962) first, then Pentagram (1972). He has worked in every aspect of design from simple corporate image to the more challenging icons. Appreciated for his work with the V&A, Daimler Benz, Domus, Reuters among many others, Fletcher has won numerous awards, and is now a design consultant to Phaidon and Novartis Campus. His books are now considered classics if not innovations of an intellectually curious mind. Yet it is the visual wit of Fletcher's work that makes his designs transcend their mere function. Here he will be revisiting the '60s and introduced by another design guru, Peter Saville.

NB: this event is nearly sold out so get your tickets asap if you want to go! (To book, call 020.7940.8783 or email talks@designmuseum.org.)

Ends Sunday 15 August (Thu to Sun 11am - 6pm)

@ Modern Art, 10 Vyner St., E2 (020.8980.7742) Tube: Bethnal Green

Never has a title been more appropriate to the unpredictable days of this mid-July, in which meteorology and mood are so intrinsically tied. Openly quoting Marianne Faithfull's nostalgic album, this exhibition, a sophisticated creation by new gallery director Rob Tufnell, has a contained inner instability at its core. First, a cactus carved by Ricky Swallow in minute detail (including graffiti) dialogues with Mike Nelson's helmet chiselled into the pattern of a skull. In the bigger gallery, the first instance of gothic and meticulous sculpture is combined with the sensibility of a psychedelic minimalism. Felix Gonzalez-Torres' pile of light blue paper sheets sets the tone for a carefully orchestrated discourse with more recent pieces. Eva Rothschild's spooky corner sculpture develops the intricacies of geometry while hinting at the organic, and resonates with some of the visual suggestions emanating from Pae White's line of mirrored glass bricks and Phillip Lai's enlarged, rainbow-coloured tambourine. While the mood is no doubt melancholic and disillusioned, the elegance of the sculptures gathered is replicated in the discipline of its exquisite installation. (Runs till 15/08.)

NB: also along the theme of weather is the group show Summer Pursuits at Store.

Ends Tuesday 2 November (7:30pm - see website for exact dates)

@ National Theatre, South Bank, SE1 (020 7452 3400) Tube: Embankment/Waterloo

The NT is on a roll it seems. Following the phenomenal success of Jerry Springer: the Opera, and the critical acclaim for the wave of classical Greco-Roman drama hitting the capital, director Edward Hall brings us the "missing link" between those two theatrical genres: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. This musical -- a very '70s, Pythonesque take on Classical comedy -- is the first for which Stephen Sondheim wrote both the music and lyrics. The story draws on the plays of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus, one of those oldies whose works have had more influence on theatre than most people realise. His works have also been used as the basis for comedies from the likes of Shakespeare and Moliere, and although you may have never seen the musical before, you have probably heard its show-stopping opener, "Comedy Tonight". For you theatre triva buffs out there, if you see A Funny Thing... and are reminded of the zany madcap film The Producers, you might be interested to know that Zero Mostel, the actor who starred alongside Gene Wilder in the original Mel Brooks farce (recently made into a musical), also originated the leading role of Pseudolus in A Funny Thing... when it first opened on Broadway in the '70s.

NB: runs till 02/11.