Rating: 4/5 Verdict: A brutal but beautiful collection from reformed industrial pioneers.

Rating: 4/5 Verdict: Second album from hip-hop soul diva looks to the future

Rating: 4/5 Verdict: Another instalment from rock's most fertile mind.

Rating: 4/5 Verdict: A new and smokin' hot take on country.

Trick or treat? Rufus Wainwright slowly pads his way to the grand piano.

I suppose expecting a writer to match the impact of The Reader, Bernhard Schlink's extraordinary novel of a few years ago, is asking too much of him.

If reading is a pleasure and a refuge in this day and age, imagine what a joy it must have been to snatch a few hours alone with a good book for pioneering New Zealanders.

The Modfather overcomes issues with his guitar tech and sound mix to become something worth the wait.

Rating: 4/5

Rating: 4/5

For those readers who do not regularly encounter the New Yorker, Guardian, Financial Times, and others it may come as a surprise to find historian Simon Schama finds time away from writing best-selling books.

When Frank Sargeson was 78 years old, not long before he died, I interviewed him for a half-hour television documentary.

At the age of 76, Leonard Cohen, the dark poet is a warm, gracious, comfortable performer on stage.

Rating: 3/5. Verdict: Funny and creepy

Rating: 5/5 Verdict: Indie knockout

Rating: 4/5 Verdict: Old fashioned feel-good yarn

Rating: 4/5 Verdict: Nun veteran acquires new habit

Rating: 4/5 Verdict: Float across a tumultuous sea of female emotions

Rating: 4/5 Verdict: A golden book of musical intrigue

Rating: 3/5 Verdict: A few good laughs but not many surprises