It’s official, September is here. Summer is over and the nights are getting shorter, but not all is lost, we’ve rounded up a host of good stuff to distract you from the chill of impending winter – brrrr. 

Lovers tiff
Ira Sachs’ sultry new drama follows the downfall of a same-sex marriage when one man begins an affair with a woman. Starring Franz Rogowsi, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Ben Whishaw in the turbulent love triangle, Sachs’ Paris-based drama has been praised by critics since its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January for intimately and accurately depicting the nuances of relationships in all their messy glory.

Passages is out in cinemas now. 

Microcosmic mischief
Chinese-American artist Martin Wong was at the fore of documenting the social, sexual and political climate throughout the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. Focusing on San Francisco and New York City, Wong’s work highlights the narratives of marginalised communities, queer existence and urban gentrification in the 20th century through a visual language which fuses Chinese iconography, graffiti and urban poetry. Malicious Mischief at Camden Arts Centre is a survey of over 100 works from Wong’s archive, displaying a comprehensive overview of his three-decade-long career and as a result, painting a portrait of one of the most recorded periods of recent American history.

Martin Wong Malicious Mischief runs at Camden Arts Centre until September 17th, more info here. 

Night to remember
Master of ceremonies Ian Svenonius returns to London under his latest guise, Escape-ism. Playing at The Lexington this Friday, the cult US musician – formally of The Make Up, Weird War and Chain & the Gang, amongst others – brings his distorted, off-kilter rhythms to the capital. An artist you have to see live at least once in your life (we’re in double figures now), there are somehow still tickets available – so what’re you waiting for?

PS: Add Svenonius’ Supernatural Strategies for Making a Rock ‘n’ Roll Group to your reading list immediately.

Escape-ism play The Lexington on Friday 1st September.

One for the bookworms
If your coffee table or bookshelves are looking a little bare then say no more, German luxury publishing house Taschen are having an end-of-summer sale for five days only. With prices slashed from 25%–75% on titles across fashion, design, travel, pop culture, photography and lifestyle, you can get your hands on a limited edition David Hockney or Annie Leibovitz for a fraction of the price tag.

The sale runs until September 3rd at 12 Duke of York Square, London SW3 4LY. 

Game, set, match…
Renowned British photographer Martin Parr’s latest exhibition – Sports & Spectatorship – at Rocket Gallery sits at the cross-section of sports and their audiences. Featuring images from the duration of Parr’s career, the exhibition offers an in-depth analysis of sports’ changing landscape – as commercialisation takes over, refs become virtual and fans become secondary. This latest retrospective combines unseen black and white photographs from the 1970s with Parr’s signature vibrancy from the last four decades, spanning golf, cricket, horse racing, tennis, motor racing, bowls, cricket, football and rugby.

Martin Parr: Sports & Spectatorship runs at Rocket Gallery until February 29th 2024, more info here. 

Midnight in Peckham
On Saturday, Chaos In The CBD is taking over the new home of The Cause on 60 Dock Road for an eight-hour set of disco, funk and soul (yes, eight hours). The electronic duo have been soundtracking the city’s underground music scene for over a decade and having just finished a hectic string of festival appearances, the pair are returning to London for an all-day session to see off summer.

Chaos In The CBD will play at 60 Dock Road on September 2nd, more info here. 

Spend your day here
Giacco’s in Finsbury Park is a twenty-seater Italian offering expertly brewed coffee, low-intervention wines and fresh pasta. Yum. Running as a cafe and bottle shop during the day, you can pop by for some Terrone & Co coffee, salads, Giacco’s take on the Florentine classic schiacciata ripiena (aka stuffed focaccia) and wines to go. In the evening, small plates of burrata, artichoke hearts and salame cacciatore take over the menu alongside pasta dishes such as pici cacio e pepe and pappardelle al ragu bianco. A selection of vinyls and a set of vintage Celestion Ditton speakers also mean your negroni olives will be accompanied by a top-notch soundtrack. Drop the needle, pass the wine.

Giacco’s is located at 176 Blackstock Rd, N5 1HA, more info here.