6th February 2012
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Illustration by Julie Khan

Clubbed to Death...

Clubland is being rocked. And not in a good way... A couple of weeks back we brought you news that the Foundry is scheduled to close, and now the infamous and colossal SEOne has ceased trading. All of a sudden, the police are apparently trying to shut down Shoreditch's Plastic People, and Ministry of Sound is under threat from 'regeneration'. What's happening to our capital?

In good news, Gorillaz have been confirmed as Secret Garden Party headliners, Norman Cook aka Fatboy Slim is topping the bill at SW4, and with the likes of Teenage Fanclub, Dan le Sac and, um, Cornershop all scheduled to perform, Camden Crawl looks like being a ruddy belter.

Also, with London Fashion Week all done and dusted for another season, why not read our round-up of all the celebrities, trends, shows and parties.

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Thursday 25th

The surreal genius and legend that is Simon Munnery returns to the Battersea Arts Centre with his latest show. A former Perrier Award nominee, Munnery has made ground-breaking live performances throughout the UK in his time and impressed critics with his innovative multimedia shows. He has also written and starred in his own TV series
 
Is it that time of year already? Oh yes, Breakspoll is upon us once again. This annual get together of breakbeat artists and DJs from around the world will be welcomed by its host Fabric to begin the 2-day party, which will overall encompass 4500 people, 70 artists and 18 awards. It might be a Thursday but this night will not be something to do by
 
Raising crucial funds for the people of Haiti, this charity event unites some of the biggest names in the music industry, including The Futureheads, Seasick Steve and Kate Nash.

100% of all money raised will be donated to ActionAid and Médecins Sans Frontières in aid of their life-saving work with those affected by the earthquake.

Friday 26th

Man vs Machine! Deep Blue was the chess playing computer that beat human chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997. Kasparov accused the creators of Deep Blue of cheating and wanted a rematch. Deep Blue was then dismantled. Hmmm..... Inspired by Deep Blue the machine is deepblue the dance company. In You Are Here, they explore the information
 
The legends that are Zinc and MJ Cole will be spinning the decks for the lucky crowd at the Westbury tonight. They will be joined by the residents DJ Blakey and DJ Khalil to make for one of the most varied house nights around. This is a rare opportunity to see two true heavyweights doing what they do best, packing out dance floors, and for tonight
 
A founding member of cut-and-paste avant-rock group Sun City Girls, guitarist 'Sir' Richard Bishop now works mainly as a solo artist. His improvisational playing is more consistent in style than Sun City Girls material, but still travels far in its experimental approach, drawing on traditional music from around the world including that of India

Saturday 27th

From the moment William Andrews comes on stage, you feel inclined to giggle. With a nervous on-stage persona similar to his Geordie character act Tony Carter, he launches into an hour of multimedia mayhem in Nitwit ; with stand-up, sketches, video and music. A former BAFTA winner and one half of Channel 4 sketch duo Will and Greg; this is a
 
Lick My Deck kick off their 2010 residency with an interesting pair of artists. Peter Ford (Baby Ford) is one of the acid house originators and Bruno Pronsato is a live, post-punk inspired techno performer whose album 'Why Can't We Be Like Us' recieved endless accolades. Label founder Shaun Soomro presides over the affair with his usual

Sunday 28th

One of the hottest character acts to emerge in 2009, Colin Hoult follows up his critically-acclaimed Carnival of Monsters with a preview of his brand new show for 2010.

Prepare for a study in villainy, a trip through the dark recesses of your black and withered souls, a feast of tragicomic delights.

Monday 1st

Shimmering beauty and submerged fear combine in the sumptuously fascinating paintings of London-based contemporary artist Kerry Brewer.

By piling up oil glazes on linen, Brewer creates multi-dimensional works that seduce and beguile whilst simultaneously inducing in the viewer a sense of discomfort and inexplicable worry.

Completely brilliant basically - Brewer has a solo show this March at The Gallery in Cork Street.
 
Winner of the esteemed Fringe First Award 2009, PARTY now comes to the West End this month, with a stellar cast of actors.

Written by and starring Tom Basden (if.comedy 'Best Newcomer 2008'), he is joined by Anna Crilly (star of BBC Two's Lead Balloon), Tim Key (Edinburgh Comedy Award Winner 2009 and BAFTA nominee), Katy Wix (BBC Two's Extras and Time Trumpet) and Jonny Sweet (Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer Winner 2009).

Directed by Phil Breen, it follows the mission of four young idealists, who have decided to form a new political party to save the world from itself, in a garden shed. It's a play about tackling the big issues in life - China, sex trafficking, cycle lanes, unfair trade coffee, whether to call the party 'The Friendly Party' or 'Gladios', and when, exactly, they should break to eat a cake.

Tuesday 2nd

A month of book/language-related performance shenanigans at Shoreditch's ever-delightful artists' book gallery/shop, Kaleid Editions.

Four artists are getting up to all sorts of different things, all linked more or less closely to the concept of Scriptura Continua, a form of script without divisions between words (it was standard practice for a while in Classical Greek and late Classical Latin).

As well as evening performances every Tuesday there'll be week-long exhibitions of work by each artist involved.
 
Is it possible to return to a place that's completely changed and still feel the same about it. Part of this experimental poetry event is moving it around the theatre and trying it in different settings.

The story follows Noah who returns to the home he fled and tries to work out how he should feel about his new surroundings.

It's part film, part camp fire tale, part spoken word so expect imagery by the truckload and a tangible atmosphere.

Part of The Big Story - a collection of work celebrating dozens of invented and retold stories across BAC?s home in Battersea?s old Town Hall.

Wednesday 3rd

Tommy and the Weeks are Tom Bell (a cardigan-wearing daydreamer) and Ed Weeks (a brash, power-suited lothario).

Performing surreal sketches from mockumentary WIND: Friend or Foe? right through to the dangers of haunted hair, their inventive and wonderfully silly ideas have helped to make them one of the best sketch groups on the UK circuit.
 
Indie rock receives a thrilling revision, courtesy of multi-instrumentalist, Peter Silberman.

Fusing electrifying riffs with harmonica, harp and accordion performances, The Antlers are among the post-rock scene's most exciting new recruits.

Thursday 4th

As part of Red Bull Music Academy, Moodymann drops by the roller disco with his many years of passion, knowledge and fine skate dittys. Roller Disco is close to Moodymann's heart. He runs Detroit regular Soul Skate. Moodymann brings a crate of skating rink jams with him - plus 10 of Detroit's most notorious four-wheeled dancers between 8 and 80 years of age. This will be sweet.
 
An innovative night of music, art and spoken word performance at The Old Blue Last this March.

The first ever Decorative Stamp Night sees the launch of an exhibition of work by emerging contemporary artist Timothy Betjeman as well as performances from Jamesphoney, Jamesreindeer and intense shoegaze types Wild Dogs in Winter.

In addition, the whole venue is being decked out by Minns & Vaughan - the head creatives from super-cool theatre peeps Punch Drunk, and the Rough Trade DJs are on hand to close things off in style.
 
Whoa, some kill-for-a-ticket hip hop at Madam Jojo's courtesy of Doctor's Orders. Statik Selektah has produced tracks for everyone and made mixtapes with Nas and Termanology to name a couple (you don't need more names than that though really do you). Saigon IS underground rap in the U.S at the moment and this will be the first time we in London get to see him live. Buy a ticket yesterday.

Friday 5th

I actually couldn't love Ed Banger more.

They have made the French electro sound their own and quite simply do it better than anyone else.

Their 6 1/2 birthday last July with surprise guests Justice was a complete sellout. Tonight they return in earnest to celebrate the big seven.

They bring SebastiAn - one of the best producers in the world, Busy P - the boss, plus So Me, Breakbot and guests Fake Blood and Riton.

There are more rockers to be added to this bill - keep your ear to the ground and your eye to Spoonfed.

Ed Banger, we love you. 
 
Tonight, The Westbury opens its doors to celebrate three years of delivering the best music to the best crowds in London. They will be joined by DJ Khalil, DJ Vadim and The Cuban Brothers, who will be leading the festivities with their infectious comedy-cabaret sounds.

The party is also themed towards the venue's age so expect candyfloss, magicians, face-painting and cocktail sausages. 

Saturday 6th

Alice Bell:
A poignant fairytale for adults. This is the story of Alice, a fictional character born into a fictional world, she searches for love, companionship and belonging but what price will she have to pay to get it?

Daniel Hit By A Train:
Inspired by a Victorian collection of 53 true stories about people losing their lives trying to save the life of another, Daniel Hit By A Train tells each tragedy in turn, in all their heart-wrenching, comedic, vaudevillian glory.

The Festival:
When the big bad world outside shakes up our tranquil private live, it can be to devastating affect. And so goes the dramatic love story of a couple who meet at a festival.
 
After their jawdropping birthday party which carried on for three days, London's best club throws its doors open for round two.

They open at 11pm tonight, and don't close again till 5am Monday morning.

The line-up will be added to in the coming days but I think you'll agree - it's already looking AWESOME.

It's not a sprint it's a marathon! 

Sunday 7th

The second woman ever to win the Perrier Award in 2005, Laura Solon (BBC 1's Harry and Paul, Al Murray's Multiple Personality Disorder, Radio 4's Talking and Not Talking) brings her critically acclaimed character comedy show to the BAC's comedy festival after a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe.

A social satire about the world of publishing with a beautifully written script, Solon excels herself here playing several different characters from the hard-nosed American agent Marcie Blitzer to the pretentious Frenchman Didier Auberge, author of a 6,000 word tome with no punctuation.

Next week

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