William Bensussen AKA The Gaslamp Killer doesn't even need to think about his answer when I ask him about his preferred rhythm structure.

The second consecutive night of Flying Nun's Nunvember celebrations saw a crowd filled with characters from Dunedin's musical history and father/son combos ready to celebrate the label's 30th anniversary in the historic Flying Nun home of Sammy's.

Seven groups, 13 songs, one-minute changeovers. Shameless genre-shifting, fearless showmanship, a healthy nod to metal and no shoegazing.

Te Kupu and Upper Hutt Posse travelled to Detroit in October 1990 at the invitation of Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam.

It has taken four years and four directors to bring this supernatural romance fantasy, based on the popular young adult novels by Stephenie Meyer, to a close - almost.

This 21 track "best of" collection from Portland's 13-piece mini-orchestra is how one imagines a live show of theirs might go - although obviously these tracks are polished recorded studio versions.

Russian Circles are a post metal-rock trio from Chicago. At least, they are mostly instrumental, because on Praise Be Man, the last of the six sprawling epics here, there is a spiritualized-style gospel mantra throughout.

A confession: I've never been a great fan of dance, whose appeal I have often found more athletic than aesthetic.

French-born electronic soundscape wizard Anthony Gonzalez set out to create something "very, very, very epic" with this double album, and he succeeded.

It was a poignant moment when Ladi6 went on stage to accept her Tui from Bic Runga at the NZ Music Awards. Ladi was genuinely thrilled. "This is amazing to receive an award from you. You've won one of these right?"

The largest human migration in the world is Chinese heading home for the holidays: some 130 million workers who keep the wheels of China's economic miracle turning, try to get on trains for 30-hr journeys to spend the lunar new year with family.

Given the title of this debut long-player from young Bristol native The Joker, you can tell this bass music whiz - he has distanced himself from being labelled a dubstep producer - was aiming high.

The new film by the director of the electrifying Man on Wire is another jaw-dropper, but for different reasons: it's a troubling and troubled meditation on the ethics of science and the apparently limitless human capacity for self-absorption.

William Bligh, he of the mutiny on the Bounty, was arguably the most complex, interesting and observant of the European explorers in the South Pacific.

Parents wishing to change the attitude of their science-averse teenage boys could do worse than to drop into their Christmas stocking this account of Tim Flannery’s adventures as a young zoologist.

If you get past the crushingly obvious title, subtitle and cheap looking cover, you'll find a collection of provocative, insightful essays.

Mr D-a-double-l-a-s may have a cool and mellow nonchalance to his rhymes, and the production and beats are first rate, but his sophomore album The Rose Tint tells Dallas' story.

Many a horror film has a man with odd teeth and strange accent. Contagion has Jude Law.

The vexed question of where the boundary lies between environmental activism and terrorism (thoughtfully explored in the documentary If A Tree Falls in the recent film festival) gets the once-over-lightly here.

This album by Far North reggae band 1814 is the soundtrack to the best garage party and sing-a-long you're ever likely to be invited to.

The Pixies' Black Francis and his long-time mate and songwriter Reid Paley team up for an album that can be rambling, intense, and then uplifting - sometimes all within one song.