If you're not familiar with East London already, you will be soon: the formerly down-on-its-heels section of the city is slated to serve as the battlefield for the next Olympic games in 2012. Miles away from the gherkin building and Tower Bridge, East London is a fast and furious sprawl, a hub of hipsterdom known for its avant-garde art galleries (nearly 200), creative boutiques, grungy bars, and, quite possibly, for the most stylish kids in London. It's the city's answer to LA's Silver Lake, NYC's Lower East Side, Toronto's West Queen West. It's so cool, in fact, that our friend Kele, lead singer of Brit rockers Bloc Party, wanted to chime in on his favorites in the nabe. Kele is currently on tour in Australia promoting his riveting new solo album, The Boxer, but we're sure he misses his five favorite haunts in East London, listed after the jump. Take note: you may never want leave.

In 2005, an indie band from England burst onto the music scene and started challenging our preconceptions about pop music with thoughtful arrangements and intelligent lyrics. The songs penned by Bloc Party's lead singer and principal songwriter, Kele, dealt with topics such as terrorism and fluid sexuality. Over time, the band started distancing themselves from the guitar-driven rock-pop sound on which it had built itself, moving instead toward a more electronic sound, and now, five years later, Kele is releasing a solo album with a sound even further from that which originally made his band famous. (Bloc Party is on hiatus.) This was deliberate. His solo debut, The Boxer, released yesterday on Glassnote Records, is all about doing things differently—and, if you ask us, he has certainly succeeded. Kele sat down with BlackBook to talk about New York, new instruments, and new beginnings.

● Things didn’t go smoothly for Jon Gosselin at his MGM-sponsored pool party; the single dad of eight was heckled by partygoers over his bald spot, his weight, and his love of Ed Hardy. [Radar] ● Sandra Bullock has some dating advice for all you single gals. The queen of rom-coms advises stalking the object your affection like they’re prey, but just make it look innocent. [Showbizspy] ● Audrina Patridge is the next Hills castmate to leave the Hollywood stucco nest, saying that it feels like she’s “graduating.” [Us]

Terry Lynn, Kingstonlogic 2.0 (Phree Music) - Exploding out of the rawest Jamaican war zones, this bad sister’s matter-of-fact violent imagery is tempered only by her utterly exhilarating way with a groove. 2.0’s wicked, relentless ghetto-tech draws fluently on everything from old-school dub to austere French electro, and Lynn raps like an AK-47 in nervous hands. Her bleak but electrifying videos are a metaphor-drenched carnival of blood and guns. Hot, hot shit, yuh. -- Ken Scrudato