Russell Baillie reviews the first night of Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly's Auckland Arts Festival season.

Graham Reid is left wanting more from San Francisco's Jason Robert Quever.

Lest I be labelled a seal-clubber and eater of endangered species, I say at the start that no sensible person could disagree with any assertion in this film.

Langley's rootsy folk-cum-alt.country EP Lost Companions of 2007, recorded in Wellington, announced a mature lyricist and a singer with a delivery like the best Americana artists with a little Dylanesque drawl.

With the three members of REM now all into their fifties, it would be nice to report that they've fixed whatever stopped their Noughties albums being as vital as the ones which got them there.

Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro face off in this drug-fuelled thriller, and it's hard to work out who comes out on top in the story, or in the acting contest.

This remix album is a collaboration between Jamie Smith of hushed electronic rockers The xx and Gil Scott-Heron, the 1970s street poet and revolutionary rapper.

Charlotte Randall is an award-winning New Zealand author whose novels reflect someone utterly in love with the potential of language.

Scarlett Thomas has penned a chatty, delightful easy read about friendship, love, and making those hard, life-defining choices.

For a "grown-up" morning news show, tune into TV3's Firstline, writes Deborah Hill Cone.

The 42 Indian musicians of The Manganiyar Seduction work their wiles in the glare of red and light-bulbs, piled up in a grid inspired by Amsterdam's red-light district.

Some marvellous images are being created at the Basement this Fringe, writes Janet McAllister

Martha Wainwright describes her look as "ageless" - she is poised on the stage dressed like a school-girl with hair all wispy like her grandmother's.

Maguy Marin's landmark work, celebrating 30 feted years of continuous performance, begins with the sculptured forms of its ten dancers, posed in dusty alabaster-like desertion.

This 35-year-old son of famed British folk-rockers Richard and Linda follows his own path.

Liam, the first Gallagher brother out of the gates since Oasis split, delivers this sound debut with a "new" band, which is especially promising given Noel was the songwriter/prime-mover behind Oasis.

Barnaby Weir has built such a strong brand for himself fronting his big bands Black Seeds and Fly My Pretties, that he had the confidence to drop the dub, the back-up and the moniker for his latest solo venture.