Four films set in London, one in Barcelona and he's just finished shooting in Rome: that Woody Allen sure gets around.

More percussive sorcery, soul jazz wizardry and seductive sounds from the south Pacific courtesy of human metranome Will Ricketts (aka Wild Bill) from the Phoenix Foundation, and many other bands.

A traditional-style epic tale, this well-paced musical extravaganza is by turns cheesy, dramatic and genuinely moving.

Where the Dum Dum Girls' debut album I Will Be was an accomplished addition to the world of fuzzy, sugar-driven surf rock, their sophomore effort is a clear step up for the Californian all-female four-piece..

Sharon Finn brings out the quirky, playful musical side of Neil. They started having jams at Roundhead Studios on Friday nights, with Neil on drums and Sharon on bass, having a bit of fun with a glass of wine or two.

Quite when one might listen to Bjork's eighth album is hard to figure - apart from when you get the chance to lock yourself away in seclusion so you can appreciate Biophilia's mighty feat of sonic beauty and its many elaborate layers.

The vinyl reissue is something of a victory lap for contemporary musicians – and if there’s any artist from the last 10 years who could claim to having ‘won’ at music, Ariel Pink’s a likely contender.

Bo Diddley was the originator – without him there’d be no Beatles, Mick’n’Keef, no Pistols, no rap. Big call? Yes. Is it true? Absolutely.

This particular Bachelorette performance was always going to be weighted by sentimentality.

Minrose Gwin clearly had a miserable time of it. Her father, Al the airman, only stuck around long enough to witness her birth, then fled to parts unknown, never to be seen again, although, to be fair, he did send Minrose a birthday present every year.

Murders, battles, seduction, witchcraft ... and a water goddess. It would be hard not to write a ripping history of the English War of the Roses.

Christchurch-born, Britain-based Edlin's first novel, The Widow's Daughter, was a crammed narrative of World War II Auckland, and the reverberations of a sexual liaison across decades and oceans. It was commendably ambitious and inevitably uneven.

Linda Olsson's novels sell in mega-numbers overseas. There are many places in this tender, loving story where you can understand why.

When the stone deer was placed in position in the pool in front of the Chalabi home in Kazimiya, near Baghdad, locals immediately named the palatial home the Deer Palace.

Thirty-five years on (or thereabouts), this is the sequel to Cooper's Welcome To My Nightmare album, his first solo outing following a clutch of classic records with the original Alice Cooper band.

The visual trick that is 3D cinema is designed to heighten reality but, in my experience, makes it less convincing.

In typical Throwing Muses fashion, the American indie pop rock band - formed by step sisters Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donnelly in the early 80s - have put together a two-disc collection made up of songs they like.

Rainer Maria Rilke has always commanded a devoted following among connoisseurs of fine literature but he is also widely read.

The Basement's reputation as a hot-house for new talent is emphatically confirmed by a blast of youthful energy that has teams of young actors, each with their own writer and director, devising three short plays.

With pedal steel, banjo and a melancholy delivery, some songs come close to classic country-influenced songs by Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clarke and Butch Hancock.

The tranquility and rejuvenating quality of Tinariwen's desert blues tunes is remarkable. That might sound a little hippie dippy - far-fetched, even - but the Tuareg Malian band's minimal music really does have that healing power.

An at-times unusual blend of intense futuristic boxing and schmaltzy, predictable father and son drama, this science fiction adventure is a mixed bag but should find a keen audience these school holidays.

Alongside his Alzheimer's diagnosis and a farewell tour comes this self-announced "final studio album" by the 75-year-old legend Glen Campbell.