I missed her. Twice. I would like to have not missed her. Yes. Both times.
I would also have liked her to stand on the stage in the blackness, that solitary light encompassed only Papa M/David Pajo, the musician she backed on the album Whatever, Mortal. The haze of that Sunday morning at All Tomorrow’s Parties this past April, at which she performed, denied me some things.
She’s Tara Jane O’Neil- not only a musician, but an artist, she matches sparse, folky sounds with charming and poetic, almost autumnal, illustrations. The other event that passed me by, due to absent memory capacity, was her exhibition at the 96 Gillespie Gallery, a gallery which seems to bring many (American) musicians artworks to life, and to London. Fortunately, they archive their shows online, so if you missed it, as I did, then only negligence would allow you to miss this.
Words by Angie Lawson

Apologies to Sydney siders if I'm a bit late off the mark with this one- but upon hearing of 21 Beach Cells, the installation on Bondi Beach which Gregor Schneider, the artist who created one of the most amazing and sinister art pieces I've ever experienced, I had to give it a mention.
There seems to be some contention over whether this piece is relevant to Australians and the residents of Bondi Beach, who have no doubt been rather bemused by the 21 cages enclosing beach umbrellas and blow up mattresses, erected on the beach since September 18th. He's mentioned beachside race riots and there must be references to asylum seekers in there, but Schneider simply says he chose Bondi because it is an intrinsic part of the national identity of Australia.
After being suitably shaken by 'Die Familie Schneider' in 2004- two identical houses in grimmest Whitechapel, London which the viewer had to enter solo, using a key supplied by the organisers, and in which he put 3 sets of identical twins who were instructed to do identical unspeakable things- I'm just jealous I'm not able to experience his latest offering on my home turf. For those lucky enough to be beach side, it's there till Oct 21st.

Thrilled to hear the new Beirut album has just been posted for our listening pleasure...more sweet swaying and crooning gypsy melodies from boy genius Zach Condon.

What would would you ask the NME crowned Coolest Person in Rock, guardian columnist and the raucous and souful front woman of The Gossip, Beth Ditto, if given the opportunity? The mind boggles.
Well, now YEN is giving you the chance to pose  that burning question to probably one of the most interesting and outspoken people working in music at the moment. Only the best of the bunch will make the final cut.
Send your questions to mross@ptmg.com.au by Friday Oct 5th and include your full name and where you're from.

Not only is Brazilian artist f. marquespenteado the proud bearer of a tongue twister of a name, he is also quite the master with a needle and thread. Working between London and São Paulo, Penteado has worked in fine art, fashion and community based projects and was included in the endearingly titled ‘boys who sew’ exhibition organised by the UK Crafts Council in 2004.
f. marquespenteado’s East London show at v22 gallery presents stitched figurative works that address the role of masculine identity through a medium traditionally associated with female practioners. The show's press release explained this butterfly catcher embroidery using the most indecipherable pile of jargon I've come across in a while- "a reference to paradigns around contemporary science and anthropocentric debate surrounding subaltern species." Phew. He also uses very pretty colours and some lovely beading.

Makin Jan Ma has taken a rather odd route to get to filmmaking, travelling through many mediums and finally through a fashion context. A Central St Martins graphics grad, Makin moved into fine arts, opening the M+R gallery in Shoreditch, then co-founded the Jan Family, a collective of artists who create whimsical multimedia collaborative creations. Now Makin's focus is creating clothes for the characters who will populate his short films. The first of which, Life Sucks But it Tastes Good, was screened last Friday night at the fancy Mayfair Curzon cinema. The collections form the story for the films, while also clothing the characters. While Guts is the name of a piece from an earlier collection, he is also a central character in the narrative- a very sweet, very self-consciously naive love story. Guts dreams of playing the drums, Snow dreams of owning her own bathtub. Aw...nothing like a bit of simplicity to lighten the load of fashion week.

East London specialist film rental storeTODAY IS BORING hosted a Zombie Walk - a flash mob convergence of hundreds of people dressed as zombies, who yesterday trudged through the streets of London, from Central to East, scaring innocent bystanders and sucking brains a plenty along the way.