Usually when we say that there's been an addition to the le cool family we're talking about a new city added to our list of issues but this week a couple of our writers have taken the phrase a little more literally.

So we say a big hello to little Beatrice, new daughter of Eamon Downes and Stella, and to not-so-little Arlo, son of Jake Jones and Gabby. In true writers' fashion both came in way past deadline, but were well worth waiting for. And if you see a slight downturn in the number of after-hours drinking dens in issues to come, and a corresponding rise in cinemas that have their own creche, or sleepovers at the Natural History Museum, well, you'll know why...

Wah wah, say Chloe, Tom, Josh, Mat, Clare and everyone else at the le cool London hacienda.

Follow @lecool_London

The riots pissed me off. Was it the kids’ Day of the Dead-style mash up of their local shopping centres when they should’ve been doing something productive like consuming goods or pretending to be in Twilight? Not quite. Instead of spending my evening at Efe’s bent over the snooker table, I had to pass the night indoors watching zombie journos wage old-school class warfare. Toby Mott, in his latest exhibition, Unrest, captures this emotional rollercoaster of experiencing events through the gaze of the media. He wraps headlines and images from the riots in gold and asks us: with so much commentary, is it possible to toe anything other than the official line? And from my perspective, if they happen again, how can we align disorder with a night out in Dalston? / Ryan Mahan

Set in the cavernous vaults of South London, the Boom Boom Club returns for another stint in the Old Vic Tunnels after a sold out two week run in July. Taking cabaret to the next level (or you could say underground), the Boom Boom Club have developed a reputation for excelling in everything they do. This time it’s no different. With a range of cabaret performances, you can expect to see a whole host of top names from Frank Sanazi to Miss Polly Rae. For those who haven’t adventured deep into this world of entertainment, now is your chance. If you’re going to do something, you may as well do it properly and The Boom Boom Club is just the place to start yourself off. What’s more, the magical setting of the Old Vic Tunnels is just the sort of atmosphere to take you away from a busy autumnal London. / Firas Waez

A long-standing industrial icon of the Peckham skyline, the Bussey Building is now a centrepoint of the burgeoning local cultural scene. A favourite Peckham moment was standing on Frank’s not long after this summer’s opening and being insulted (affectionately, y’know) by the folks atop the Bussey Building opposite, who had a megaphone. And now, The Royal Court are coming.This is pretty special. Don’t miss the opening night, when Debbie Tucker’s Truth and Reconciliation will open the residency. The play is set in five different countries and explores human stories behind conflicts in South Africa, Rwanda, Bosnia, Zimbabwe and Northern Ireland. Sounds a bit heavy yes, but the experience is sure to blow you away. / Delaina Haslam

We're pretty damned stoked about the 2011 Raindance Film festival - hundreds of new films, from a series of Balkan directors to the return of Chris Langham. But we're most excited about a film we got a chance to see just before its premiere. Acts of Godfrey is as far outside the Film-Council-sanctioned feel-good dramas about people overcoming difficulties oop north as you can get. Instead it's just your standard entirely-in-rhyming-couplets darkly comic look at infidelity, motivational speakers, pharmaceutical companies and revenge. Featuring Simon Callow putting the 'arch' into archangel, Harry Enfield in full-on hangdog mode and a great turn from Celia Imrie, this is funny, wise and fresh as the proverbial daisy. Go see. / Rob Valid

It's all too easy to tempt people to the V&A by toting the word 'Robot'. You'd be overlooking the rest of the Power of Making Exhibition. Yes, there's robots, but there's also 99 exquisitely crafted objects from crochets bears, glittery bikes, giant knitting, iPad light-art , a QR code dress, and yes, a robot that makes shoes. Made up of professional and amateur work from around the world, this is the V&A's latest adventurous exhibition: the Power of Making curated by Daniel Charny (running until 2 January 2012). On Friday though, rather specially, you can catch it in all its after-hours glory in the third and final design installation of the summer. The last Friday Late promises a cabinet of curiosities, and all other sort of alliteration. / Claire Tayler

There's no way we were going to miss this one out, because it's a collaboration between two of our favourite new London institutions. In the blue corner, the Montpelier; Peckham's all-conquering music/film/quiz night/gallery pub. And in the red corner the tiny radio station that has (until now) always been beaming out of an east London coffee shop - London Fields Radio. A whole host of LFR regulars will be recording their shows directly from the Montpelier's cinema, before handing over to the creme de la creme of Peckham's artists, musicians and general cool cats. The music in the bar looks pretty cool too - we're going to be down the front, laughing and booing, for the match-up between le cool's own John Power, and this week's interviewee Justin Quirk. / Rob Valid

Arrh. It seems only yesterday that this fledgling of a Dalston discotheque hatched onto the East London club scene - promising a bass-lined abode, a bastion for emerging electro talent and my, hasn’t it nestled in well? Jack Beats, Erol Alkan, Aeroplane and Simian Mobile Disco have graced the plinth of this beat basement and what better way to celebrate the venue coming of age than with it’s most successful of UK bass nights: Redlight. So this Friday, the cameleon of club music, Melé, along with Lil Silva, Sampha and the Stripes will be there to puff out candles and blow off socks. But the fun doesn’t just stop there folks, for Saturday sees DJ Hervé stamp his Cheap Thrills insignia all over the Lemonade party with the help of Baxta and White Arrows. Sure to be plenty of chicks there too. / Sofi Goddard

From those crazy powerful minds that brought you Urban Nerds comes a new series of events all set to take London by storm. Found is a 13-event-strong celebration of progressive electronic music; a mix of some of the most forward-thinking and exciting artists, all put together into an old-school warehouse project-style night out. Names like Justin Martin sit easily next to T. Williams; the excellent Mosca next to Bristol’s Appleblim; Matt Jam Lamont next to Hot City - its got it all. Old-school legends like Scott Garcia and Zed Bias will be passing the baton to new stalwarts such as Boddika. Let's just say that this party promises to be one that’ll keep you jumping from the moment you walk in to the moment you leave. This has got RAVE written all over it. / Firas Waez

North vs South London: an established and undeniable force that divides London’s settlers but what about East vs West? It has to be argued there is a similar disparity but making the leap across town for three days is East Pop, a touring art venture that will deliver west London with a giant shot in the arm of artistic talent from the East End. The Red Gallery, who have been at the forefront of hosting exhibitions from upcoming talent will present the best contemporary creative collectives and collaborations from east London in the fitting location of a warehouse pending demolition. Artist/curators Alice Herrick and Kate Kotcheff will follow East Pop West with East Pop Red to coincide with Frieze Art Fair and then trips to Berlin and Edinburgh. / Leonie Ellis

One of our favourite events of last year was the wonderful but unlikely Rock Lobster pop-up - a one-off lobster roll cafe with a punk theme set in an east London jewellery shop. So when we hear the people behind it are back with a new idea our ears prick up. And it's another doozy. Riffing on the oh-so-posh French Laundry restaurant which is guest-starring at Harrods next month the guys have come up with their very own English version. Served in a launderette (where else?) their old-school five-course meal (mixed grill, cheese 'n' pineapple etc) is topped off with a performance art dessert trolley, local sourced cocktails and all manner of other surprises. Tasty. / Rob Valid

The Monument is one of those odd bits of London that most of us only get to see if we have sight-seeing friends in town ("I think it's something to do with the Fire of London... um and it's at the epicentre, no it's one Monument's length away, or something...") For once though there's a good excuse this week for all you been-there-seen-that Londoners to pay a visit - it's being turned into a music venue. On Oct 1st and 2nd performers will be secreted away in various nooks and crannies, playing a specially commissioned 15-minute piece at various times. And of course you still get the opportunity of great views, a bit of exercise and another tick on your list of London sightseeing musts. / Rob Valid

Well this is an unlikely response to Tate Britain's fantastic new exhibition of John Martin's apocalyptic nineteenth-century oil paintings. It's a mash-up of all kinds of underground art as part of the Young Tate series. So instead of windswept hellish vistas you get everything from the mighty Rinse FM DJs serving up garage and dubstep to a poetry takeaway where you can get a personalised poem on the spot. With chances to work with professional street photographers, screenprinting collectives and even a zombie workshop this is way more interesting than the usual timid fare served up to try and get London's youth into art galleries. An eclectic, brave and fascinating afternoon of events - we'll be watching with interest. / Rob Valid

Love movies? Love dancing? Love coffee? Good you’re gonna need some for this bad boy. Midnight Movies and Reel music present I could have danced all-nighter at the Roxy Bar and Screen, a nightlong movie-fest of toe-tapping classics to see you through the night. From Bugsy Malone (which makes my skin crawl personally, but each to their own), to Rock 'n' Roll High School, Can’t Stop the Music and cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show this is an event for film buffs who love their musicals with a big slice of cheese and a retro filter.  Pre-screening party, free coffee and prizes for the best-dressed movers. Now go throw some shapes at the silver screen. / Jo Gifford

As prescription glasses, a working knowledge of circuitry and obscure t-shirts reign over the music industry, gone are the days when ingesting a live mammal and suffering from acid-induced flashbacks were the philosophical instruments that kept bands on the cover of Melody Maker. Homemade beanies out-trump Fender Stratocasters any day. So, where better to indulge in a little arts and crafts than this Sunday at Rough Trade East? Cast-off your woolly preconceptions of home economics and learn how to knit in style. Brought to you from the gals behind Prick Your Finger in Bethnal Green, all you need to do is turn up, chose between advanced and beginners and begin designing your own pattern to create your very own piece of music memorabilia. / Caroline Christie

It was a late-night trawl for inspiration that first led me to Ben Woodeson’s website. As soon as I saw his series entitled 'Health and Safety Violation’, I knew I had discovered a kindred spirit. There are few things that depress me more about contemporary art galleries than their oppressive, hush-hush churchy shtick. No one needs another ‘do not touch’ sign in their life. Ben’s work is a passionate flick of two fingers in the general direction of all that confined, controlled, health and safety-obsessed nonsense. Since I first saw his work online, I’ve been waiting to see it in the flesh, so this new solo show at one of my favourite London galleries – Elevator – is pretty bloody exciting. I suggest you high tail it to the Wick and check it out. / Crystal Bennes

Here's a thing.... This brand new monthly night from poetry collective press free press, on the mezzanine at the Curzon Soho, is creating a multi-lecture. With a performer. And a writing experiment. And you're all invited. And you're all involved. Each month whoever is performing (in this case Nat Raha) and you've got to bring your answer, which is no more than 50 words, along with you. This month's question is 'How Does The Place/Space You Are In Initiate Your First Action?'

                                                 Discuss. / Josh Jones

PoMo is go-go! A big new show at the V&A about Postmodernism kicks off a major re-assesment of the movement, started when Italian designers said ‘basta!’ to straight-edged Modernism. It went crazy in the 80s, and like all of the best design revolutions, hooked into Big Money before sinking slowly into cliché.  In the US, it produced PoMo architecture like Johnson’s magnificent AT&T ‘Chippendale’ skyscraper in NY. In fashion, it injected colour and power, like Jean-Paul Gode’s maternity dress for Grace Jones or red Memphis Milano ties suitable for brashing about Wall Street. From furniture to cinema, postmodernism had its day - is today too soon to grasp it all? I have my thoughts… Whatever, this visual feast of an epic exhibition is a must-see! / Herbert Wright

This is the last time this year you'll be able to catch raven haired songstress Shona Foster and her excellent band, and this final show of 2011 coincides rather neatly with the release of the new single Her Grace' / 'No.34, so you'll get to watch her live and then take the noise home with you. Fresh - well it was a couple of months ago - from a live set on Dermot O'Leary's Radio 2 show (and no they didn't manage to get a Dermot hug, sadly) where she won an army of new fans including Q magazine. Haunting, melodic and soulful, it's no wonder her voice has been compared to Kate Bush's, because, well it does sound a bit like it. Shona holds her audiences in an enthralled silence. And the last time I saw her and her band playing there was a man with a leopard print haircut in the front row. For realsies. / Josh Jones

I ring the doorbell and make my way upstairs to Jack Bell’s new space. Hidden away and intimate, the gallery is part of London’s growing African art scene. Images and objects speak of symbolic worlds where the boundaries between the living and the dead are blurred. Paintings - monumental in scale - stay with me. Ghanaian-born Afedzi Hughes tells of the precarious borders between things we desire and fear. Soccer, brand icons and war collide as I look. Aboudia, from Abidjan, intrigues me with his raw textures and dripping, urban surfaces: an internal world haunted by its past as much as it searches for a way of making sense of today. There is a political vitality to African art that has the potential to resonate far beyond its borders. / Yvette Greslé

Because of my ongoing battle with innate slackness and non-clinical retardation, it's taken me a full year to get round to eating at Season Kitchen (the closest restaurant to my house). And now, after having one of the best meals I've ever had in London, I feel like an idiot. An idiot who has missed out on a year's worth of suspiciously awesome meals that are almost literally on my doorstep. By rights I should kick my own ar$e. As the name suggests, everything is seasonal - the menu changes all the time depending what's available. When I went last week, I had the venison shoulder and I cried a little. In a good way. If I gave stars (and I don't), I would five star the h£ll out of this place. Oh, and they're now open Sundays. So, yeah. / Foo D

After starting out as Chief DJ at St. Luke’s hospital in Norwich, Alan had a glistening future ahead of him. Nevertheless, due to a few creative differences, the connoisseur of British Broadcasting failed to reach the back of the net and his livelihood took a turn for the worse, all chronicled in the second series of his “post-documentary” I’m Alan Partridge. However, all is about to change. With a new tell-all book just released, over 80,000 Twitter fans (despite his constant use of #hashtag) and a lengthy list of demands prior to his book signings, the eagle of daytime blunders has risen from the ashes of 24-hour Bondathons to hit the literacy circuit. Only on the condition he gets a hot meal and a chair with proper lumbar support./ Caroline Christie

Given that they’re absolutely everywhere, it’s amazing how few people do anything interesting with chalkboards. Gavin Fernback, owner and barista of this recently opened coffee stall on the bridge by Primrose Hill village, is one of these few. While the boards are constantly changing, his most talked-about, smiled-at creation just read “Apparently really great coffee served here”. And it is great coffee: he is trained by a guy who has coached two baristas to world championships, and his super-smooth flat white is made from the finest St. Ali beans and Gloucestershire farm milk of unparalleled creaminess. Having spent years dreaming (and blogging) of setting up the café, it is nigh-on impossible not to feel the love after a visit. / Jamie Leptien

Yup, it can be hard having a social conscience at times. There’s only so much of Bono’s sermonising that one can take. I don’t think I’m the only one who has a problem being told what to do by a man who doesn’t have the sense to take off his sunglasses at night time. One issue directly affecting us London dwellers in the aftermath of the riots are the independent record labels, who had extensive stock burned by thugs in a warehouse fire. As many indies struggle with cash flow at the best of times, the fire is considered by many to be a crippling blow. So for a cleaner conscience AND a good night out with artists affected by the fire like Ashley Beedle, Andrew Weatherall and Richard Norris amongst others, roll down to Favela London and set the town alight... too soon? / Hugo M

le cool is a free weekly magazine distributed every Thursday that features a selection of cultural events and leisure activities, revealing the things you really shouldn't miss. We filter out, among other things, the best art, film, music, and club nights, as well as a careful selection of extraordinary bars, restaurants and other fine places. Our new 2.0-oriented website offers le cool readers new ways of sharing our recommendations and organising their own weekly agenda. le cool content is chosen because we believe it is worth your time and will never be traded for money.

To contact our editorial team, email Mat and send press releases to our lovely assistant editor, Clare. For interviews and photography, it's Tom. For cover art, and silly jokes - always Josh.

For marketing, advertising and other commercial type stuff, email Chloe

Published by: le cool Publishing

PRIVACY POLICY All subscriptions to the le cool newsletter have been activated through the submission of the recipient's e-mail address at the le cool site. If you are receiving the newsletter and do not wish to continue receiving it, follow this link to unsubscribe. If you want to receive our newsletter please subscribe. Your e-mail address and any other personal information stays with us and will never be sold or given away to third parties.