I realise I am a bear of little brain who doesn't grasp the subtle smartness of post-modern personality-driven television. I need things spelled out to me in simple, non-ironic terms.

Just like the US in World War II, Captain America is the last to get in on the act, but still does more than enough to end the season with a bang.

He could have turned up and played some records - or whatever they scratch and mash-up tunes on these days.

The prolific and weird beat conductor Amon Tobin is back to wrestle and toy with your mind on album number seven. Since starting out in the mid-90s he's gone from using samples, to field recordings, and on ISAM he takes another bold new step.

If Charles Hardin Holley was alive today he'd be approaching his 75th birthday and would probably still be wondering why his fans are crying out "play the old stuff" at his shows.

From the literary suggestion of the band name and the chief songwriter here - Damien Wilkins - you could guess at some serious lyrical chops.

African Cats is a wonderfully filmed animal documentary aimed at a young audience.

A basement bar in Karangahape Rd provides an appropriate venue for a highly original variation on the classic "man walks into a bar" scenario.

Vivienne Plumb's new collection of poetry - beautifully designed by poet and publisher Helen Rickerby - reminds me that poetry books can feel so good in the hand. Plumb's poems have a chance to breathe on the page.

After years of failing to front at shows and hurling abuse at their supporters, Aussie band the Vines have channelled their raucous energy in this, their fifth album.

Isabelle Huppert has an uncanny ability to parlay her very distinctive appearance - flame-red hair, high cheekbones, a sprinkle of freckles and thin, sensuous and faintly cruel lips - into creating characters of astonishing individuality.

This debut from British pianist, arranger and jazz eccentric Greg Foat starts out brilliantly strange and tranquil, with the harpischord-driven Time Piece 1, and then it gets head-nodding and smooth on the title track.

As the ritualistic rumblings of Spectrum escalate, so begins the latest, and one of the best, chapters in the hard, pummelling and heavy Sepultura story.

The last appearance of Texas' Okkervil River was them providing emotional support and the musical context for damaged cult figure Roky Erickson on his exceptional, moving True Love Cast Out All Evil.

Not content with just conjuring up stylish grooves and skanking reggae lounge music, the dynamically dressed duo of Rob Garza and Eric Hilton have injected more overt political and social messages into their music in recent years.

It's been 10 years since the great Australian documentarian Bob Connolly made a movie. Probably his silence has had something to do with the untimely death of his wife to cancer, just after the release of 'Facing the Music.'

There's nothing remotely horrible or terrifying about British band the Horrors. Not any more. Now their palette blends pastels and aerated emotion to create the sort of smooth, rousing pop-rock heard around London in the 1980s.

A confession: I've never really "got" Chekhov. I have seen productions of three of the four "great" plays and all seemed remote and unapproachable.

Award-winning Sunday Times columnist Danny Danziger made the inspired decision not to write a book about British soldiers, but to let the soldiers tell their own stories.

Sarajevo, in Bosnia, was the perfect city for a siege. Nestled in a valley surrounded by hills, the people below became easy targets.

Franz Hasenohrl's transcription of Richard Strauss' Till Eulenspiegel turned out to be a witty frolic.

Oh come on. Who really has a stag do the night before their wedding? Hugh Sundae reviews last night's feature length episode.