Rating: 3.5/5

Rating: 4/5

And you thought Matt Berninger, the oddly charismatic mate of President Obama and singer in the National, was an introverted type.

Rating: 3/5. Verdict: Smoking, drinking, singing, sex - sometimes all at once.

Rating: 2.5/5. Verdict: Life is a cabaret, but this sure isn't

Rating: 3.5/5. Verdict: Gorillaz' swansong that doubles as a Damon Albarn solo album

Rating: 4.5/5. Verdict: Top of the pops

Rating: 2.5/5. Verdict: He might be smarter than your average ursine. His film isn't

Rating: 3/5. Verdict: The Louisiana spirit evoked by those who know the territory

The Gaia hypothesis - a theory of planet-as-a-whole-organism propounded by James Lovelock in the 1970s - was the underlying theme of the Gaia Galactic New Year's Eve party, Prana.

Books editor Linda Herrick checks out what's cooking in the international market.

Scott Kara on Public Enemy's Auckland show.

Get blown away with mafia hit Period crime drama Boardwalk Empire lives up to all the hype, writes Deborah Hill Cone.

Plan B's soulful, uplifting and edgy sophomore album was one of the biggest-sellers of 2010 in the UK, but here it barely registered on the Richter.

A year ago, fans had all but given up on Kiwi rockers Steriogram - not surprising given the band's members had embarked on solo projects, like Bradley Carter's Pistol Youth.

Work-life balance is just a story idea to Becky (Rachel McAdams) when she takes the reigns of a barely watched TV breakfast show that repeatedly chews and spits out producers, especially ones as green and peppy as Becky.

Joanna Lumley adds another string to her bow with this two-part series that examines people's relationships with cats.

While this doesn't disguise that the story still follows a generic romantic drama/comedy route, it does mean you don't feel bad about falling for it.

Deposited as you are in a kind of Deadwood saloon it's surprising how much sense the futuristic and modern music of Ladi 6 and Shapeshifter make in this setting.

Rating: 3/5. Verdict: Fun but the Focker-Byrne feud might have run its course

Rating: 3.5. Verdict: All in the family.

The virtual band are beamed on to the giant screen and act out Hewlett's intriguing and twisted stories.

Aidan is a thirty-something professional blogger, living a low-rent version of the high-life in post-9/11 New York. His relationship with his journalist girlfriend, Cressida, is strained; he's stuck in a bit of a rut.

Alas, this this is the second-to-last novel from the Portuguese Nobel Prize winner from whom I have gained so much enjoyment and stimulus over the past few years.

A book that poses the really big questions: about war and friendship, about love and loss, about living and dying.

It’s not often that you get a book endorsed by both Philip Pullman and Winston Churchill. But then, Conan Doyle’s French cavalry officer has been around for nearly 120 years, and has been read by five or six generations.