Mariele Neudecker
Regency Town House, Sat 4th – Sun 26th May
Mariele Neudecker is an extraordinary artist, known for her eerily imposing sculptures in works shown at Tate and beyond. Typically ambitious, her Heterotopias & Other Domestic Landscapes installation enters deep sea space in the basement, rising through iceberg pictures on the ground floor to pictures of the sun on the upper level. She’s got an equally striking exhibition, The Air Itself Is One Vast Library, in an accompaniment to James Bridle’s show at Lighthouse. (BM)

James Bridle: Under The Shadow Of The Drone
Lighthouse, Sat 4th – Sun 26th May
James Bridle is the man who compiled a 12-volume account of all the changes made to the Wikipedia entry for little-known skirmish the Iraq War. Outdoor work Under The Shadow Of The Drone is somewhat more exciting but no less doom-laden than that. Based on a replica of a military aircraft, Bridle is mapping out recreations of the drones which allow remote aerial attacks, bleakly and starkly portraying the technologies of war and the ways they distance politicians and button-pushers from those they most affect. (BM)

Audible Forces
Western Lawns, Sat 4th – Mon 6th May
An installation of wind-powered musical creations, Audible Forces places itself in a lineage stretching back to ancient world instruments like the Aeolian harp. The assemblage, premiering at the festival, features the work of six contemporary artists in association with Max Eastley, whose extensive work in the fields of experimental sound first came to notice under the patronage of Brian Eno’s record label Obscure. It’s free to experience, of course, just down on the beach near Sackville Gardens. (SH)

Beardyman: One Album Per Hour
Corn Exchange, Sat 4th May
Battlejam beatboxer Beardyman is widely admired here in Brighton and around the world for his lightning fast talents. One Album Per Hour is the hometown debut of his musical comedy improv show, testing his powers of instrumental mimicry and imaginative freestyling to the limits. The audience throw out titles, subjects and genres, challenging Beardyman to invent an album of new songs from scratch. Sounds like a brain scrambling task, but we know he’s got the skills to turn it around. (SH)

Sinéad O’Connor
Brighton Dome, Weds 8th May
Rising to fame with her precocious ‘87 debut ‘The Lion And The Cobra’, before sealing the deal with an emotive take on the Prince-penned tearjerker ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’,’ Sinéad O’Connor has always been a vital – and often controversial – figure in the music world. Calmer now than in her early ‘banshee’ days, this should be an eloquent, if intense, show, that pulls songs from her vast career and new album ‘How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?’. (TLB)

Lionel Shriver’s Who Needs Another Book?
Corn Exchange, Sat 11th May
Memorably eerie, Lionel Shriver’s prize-winning novel We Need To Talk About Kevin was the sort of runaway bestseller every coffee shop writer dreams about. She’s sold millions of copies in dozens of countries whilst maintaining a quirky, art-house style, had a major box office film made, and tours the world talking about books. She’s in a good position then, to judge whether any of us need another book, and what drives writers to create more. (JMM)

When Does A Comic Become A Graphic Novel?
Dome Studio Theatre, Weds 15th May
Are graphic novels just comics for the kind of people who read Harry Potter with the grown-up dust jackets on? Is it possible to write a comic about Auschwitz? Does anyone say ‘pow!’ any more? Graphic novelist Woodrow Phoenix and his contemporaries Nye Wight and Hannah Berry debate the cultural shift to graphic novels, their criteria and content, and their personal favourites in this talk hosted by comics fanatic Tim Pilcher. (JMM)

Bullet Catch
Spiegeltent, Thurs 16th – Sun 19th May
Rob Drummond’s William Wonder character is a man adroit at mind-bending, theatre, magic and levitation, and for his trick at this ‘ere Fringe he’s resurrecting the stern-browed intensity of Derren Brown’s roulette wheeling ways and attempting a stunt so morbid Houdini turned it down. The origins of the bullet catch date back 400 years, with a finale braver than attempting a smile at a bus driver on a rain-lashed single-decker full of sweaty men bearing moist-coated bulldogs. (BM)

Bug: A Fatboy Slim Special
Brighton Dome, Mon 20th May
Adam Buxton’s irreverent Bug celebration of music video turns its attentions to the mighty visual work of Fatboy Slim and his collaborators, most famously Spike Jonze. Christopher Walken’s gravity defying dance routine in ‘Weapon Of Choice’ and the mall moves of the Torrance Community Dance Group in ‘Praise You’ are Slim and Jonze’s twin peaks, but there’s plenty more for Buxton to pick over this evening. You’d be making a pretty safe bet to assume that Norman will be in the house somewhere tonight too. (SH)

The Flaming Lips
Brighton Dome, Weds 22nd May
For a Brighton Festival directed by a master of children’s literature, the appearance of The Flaming Lips – a band who never let go of their childhood wonder – is a beautiful booking. Although known for their colourful live shows, all sprays of confetti, giant inflatables, hand puppets and cartoonery, the Lips’ new album ‘The Terror’ is a markedly more sombre reflection on life without love. Hopefully tonight’s gig will be both moving and joyous and we might even see Michael Rosen crowdsurf too. (SH)

Martin Parr’s Desert Island Pics
Corn Exchange, Sat 25th May
Iconic photographer Martin Parr has got an eye for a brilliant image and is known for his critical, funny snapshots of modern British life, capturing package holidays and pudding bowl haircuts with equal aplomb. As well as being a lifelong photojournalist, he’s an avid photo book collector, and in this talk will be discussing his eight favourite photographs with fellow artist Stephen Bull. (JMM)

Musik Kabarett
Brighton Dome, Sat 25th May
This festival exclusive aims to recreate the counter-culture theatre of Berlin in the 20s and 30s. Berlin-born political punk goddess Nina Hagen should be the perfect exponent of the theatrical, anti-establishment songs from the Weimar era. Following his stunning 2009 concert of Harold Arlen songs, angel-voiced David McAlmont returns to Brighton to put his own stamp on some classic numbers. Jamie McDermott and his atmospheric band The Irrepressibles complete the eclectic line up – check out their powerful ‘Nude’ trilogy. (SC)

Brighton Festival, Sat 4th – Sun 26th May
Words by Stuart Huggett, Teoh Lander-Boyce, Jessica Marshall McHattie, Ben Miller