CD - Black Sabbath: 13

Black Sabbath to Number 1 on the album chart last week, as if it was 1970, with their 19^th album, 13, and it may have had a little something to do with producer, Rick Rubin, who made his name with the Beastie Boys and Public Enemy and has, more recently, put his talent behind one of the best-selling albums in history-Adele’s 21, as well as Kanye and Jay-Z’s latest offerings.

The Prince of Darkness and friends haven’t let their advanced years settle them, instead choosing to assault their loyal fans with a suitably heavy reunion record.

Ozzy’s voice is, miraculously, still there, still power-housing above the thrashing guitars and all but the original drummer have truly reformed on top form, turning in a classic Sabbath album and melting away the decades since Ozzy left them, well, was advised his services were no longer needed.  

DVD - Stoker (18)

Stoker is a bold, dark, sexual thriller, too bold for most mainstream cinemas in fact, so if you missed it earlier this year, definitely catch it now it's out on DVD.

Young India's world collapses when her beloved father dies on her 18th birthday and her promiscuous, self-involved mother (Nicole Kidman) is little help, even less so when India's infamous Uncle, Charlie, returns.

India immediately senses something sinister in Charlie but it's soon apparent the two are bound by a repulsive force.

You'll hate yourself for being drawn in by Charlie and Kidman's distant mother character is utterly vile, topping off this dangerously mixed bag of off-kilter family members.

Stoker definitely deserves its 18 certification due to the sexual nature of the violence but it's so beautifully shot we'll forgive the truly shocking nature of the story.

TV - Me & My Guide Dog

Wednesday 3rd July, 8pm

ITV

Paul O’Grady is known as much for his alter ego, Lily Savage, as for his love of man’s four-legged companions.

Here he narrates stories from people whose dogs are more than their best friend, they’re also their eyes.

Among the incredible stories is that of Mark and Claire, who were brought together by their dogs’ own love for each other and Steve Cunningham, the world’s fastest blind man who drives racing cars at high speed.

Exclusive access to The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association also sees the journey from the birth of a litter of puppies, through guide dog training and finally to being placed with people who need them most.

DVD - Hitchcock (12A)

Anthony Hopkins is a perfect Hitchcock in this film based on a super-fan’s book about the period when the svengali of horror was making his best-known work, Psycho.

Playing opposite Hopkin’s introverted genius is Dame Helen Mirren as the ballsy brains of the power couple, his wife, Alma. Scarlett Johnasson is a little stiff as Hitchcock’s flavour of the month and the starlet immortalised in that shower scene, Janet Leigh, but she’s buoyed by an otherwise faultless cast which includes Toni Collette as the long-suffering right-hand woman, Peggy.

As well as depicting the pioneer of suspense’s well-documented obsessiveness over his leading ladies, the productive, dynamic yet still warm relationship between business and life partners, Alfred and Alma, is affectionately captured.   

CD - Rod Stewart: Time

Rod has all but put his soothingly scratchy voice in semi-retirement in recent years, releasing only covers with his Great American Songbook series and a long-overdue Christmas album (all things festive sound better in Rod’s voice, you should definitely invest in ‘Merry Christmas, Baby’ before December 2013) but his return to song writing has been worth the wait, and Time is Rod’s first return to the top of the British album charts since 1976.

There’s still the same old mash-up of soulful lyrics and radio-friendly pop arrangements, but with a marked retrospective attitude seeing the eternally boyish sexagenarian mulling over lost loves and past mistakes.

Understandably, Time is much mellower than the stuff he put out in his lothario days of lycra catsuits and Faces but the bonus tracks at the end of the album offer a fleeting return to his bluesy roots.

Soft, dad-rock but, Rod’s earned the right.

DVD - Parks & Recreation Series 1 & 2

Our American cousins have finally gotten the hang of British humour with the darkly dry, ‘Parks and Rec’,

both series 1 and 2 of which are now available on DVD.

Amy Poehler (Saturday Night Live) stars as a mid-level local government official in the parks division in this mockumentary style comedy, taking heavily after our beloved The Office. Her slap-dash team’s avant garde approach to public engagement and bureaucracy is ashamedly hilarious, putting it at the forefront of the US’s comedy exports.

The show is in fact created by the guys behind the razor-edged writing on the American Office, The Simpsons and Saturday Night Live.

Despite a sticky critical reception early on, Parks and Rec has just been renewed for its sixth season, so there’s plenty more where this uncomfortably jarring comedy came from.  

CD - Johnny Marr: The Messenger

Having made his name playing behind other people in Modest Mouse, The Cribs and, tumultuously, The Smiths, the time finally seems right for NME’s Godlike Genius, Johnny Marr, to release a solo album.

Marr truly rekindles his Madchester roots with The Messenger, going as far as returning from his Oregon family home to Manchester to record this album, and the move was successful, with a highly stylised Stone Roses sound and 90’s feel.

However, as with all true musical aficionados, this record has to be experienced live to be properly appreciated.

Only with the sweat dripping like a tap from the Godlike Genius’ headstock and the swagger the Gallagher brothers learnt from him can The Messenger be truly enjoyed.  

TV - Don't Call Me Crazy

Monday 24^th June

BBC Three

More than half a million young people in the UK are being treated for mental illness and, for the first time, The McGuiness Unit in Manchester has allowed unprecedented access to one of the largest mental health units for teenagers in the country.

Filmed over the course of a year, intimate access the to the girls at boys staying at the McGuiness unit, whether voluntarily or sectioned under the Mental Health Act, shows the struggles faced by those with suicidal thoughts, eating disorders and psychosis.

Don’t Call Me Crazy launches a season of programs on the BBC, It’s A Mad World, exploring a range of mental health issues.

CD - She & Him: Volume 3

Darling of indie-cinema, Zooey Deschanel, has broken her three year musical silence (not counting 2011’s Christmas album) and come back with Volume 3 from her cutsie alternative two-piece, She & Him.

Still sounding like a slightly less soulful Dusty Springfield and still getting away with lyrics like, “I could’ve been your girl and you could’ve been my four-leaf clover”, Zooey’s rationality is not what she’s loved for, but loved she will still be, having really put her back into it (along with band-mate M. Ward) for Volume 3, with a whole 14 tracks, including a perfectly fitting (in vocal terms, NOT attitude) cover of Blondie’s Sunday Girl.

A little less breezy and a little more mournful than previous volumes but still ditsy as ever and not out of place as the soundtrack at a 1950s junior prom, if you’re into that kind of thing.

DVD - The Great Gastby (12)

You can’t officially measure how great a Gatsby Leonardo DiCaprio is in Baz Luhrmann’s remake of this 1974 classic until you’ve seen Robert Redford in the infamous role.

While the competition between the boys looks close, Mia Farrow’s original turn as the world’s first ‘It Girl’, Daisy Buchanan, looks set to remain an incomparable performance against Carey Mulligan’s.

This moody retelling of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novella was reworked for the silver screen by none other than Francis Ford Coppola and couldn’t be further from Luhrmann’s all singing all dancing extravaganza.

Film noir fans should give it a try.

CD - Daft Punk: Random Access Memories

Daft Punk are back for the first time in eight years and they’ve brought plenty of human friends along for the ride this time.

You won’t have escaped the chart dominating single, Get Lucky, featuring Pharrell Williams’ smooth, vocoder-free vocals and Nile Rodgers on a real-life guitar and you’ll be pleased to know that the rest of the album lives up to that smasher of a debut tune yet is still a classic Daft Punk creation, despite the collaborations.

The enigmatic duo have again offered a perfect split of post-disco floor-fillers and impossibly smooth grooving ballads, with each track nodding heavily to their best-loved stuff from the first two albums, Homework and Discovery.

Taking their time with this comeback has definitely paid-off creatively and rights the wrongs of their slightly less than stellar third album, Human After All.

Perfect.

DVD - Wreck It Ralph

4/5 stars

In this Oscar-nominated animation, Wreck it Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) wants to shed his villainous image and become a video game hero.

Assisted by the shrill, perky, yet sneakily smart, Vanellope (voiced by Sarah Silverman) Ralph navigates the fall-out from his ground-breaking decision to switch sides and become one of the good guys, a decision which has implications for the entire arcade.

Wreck it Ralph is, happily, one of those family films that actually entertains the whole family, borrowing its director and writers from the team behind The Simpsons and Futurama, ensuring there are plenty of subtly dropped-in adult jokes to keep the parents entertained.

All this and a truly, heart-warming , galvanising life-lesson imparted without too much cheese.

TV - Dawn O'Porter: How To Find Love Online

Tuesday 18^th June, 10.35pm

Channel 4

Adorably quirky, Dawn O’Porter, has brought us into the secret enclaves of geishas, polygamists and Russian mail order brides, but this time around she’s back with a two-part series for Channel 4 investigating one of the biggest phenomena of our generation, online dating.

Dawn follows 25 hopeful singletons as they navigate the multi-million pound business of our digital love lives, and returns to them in the second part as them embark on the most daunting part of the whole process-the actual date.

Dawn also shares results from the largest ever survey of online daters, which reveals which type gets the most success, which is the most likely to lie and whether blondes really are more dateable than brunettes.

CD - Now That's What I Call 30 Years: Various Artists

We can probably all attest to owning a Now CD and in this digital age of downloads, if there’s one album worth owning in its traditional form, this is it.

As with its predecessors, Now That’s What I Call 30 Years, provides a unique audio time capsule but this time, the three disc selection spans three decades rather than just one year of singles chart appearances.

The sixty track collection kicks off with Michael Jackson’s 1983 single, Billie Jean but the next 59 tracks are a mish-mash of hits and misses selection-wise, with undeniable chart successes from Wham!, Cher and Take That, alongside songs most would happily take or leave.

That said, at least the album is as bang up to date as is possible, with the second half of the third disc featuring super-recent hits from Psy, Bastille, Bruno Mars and… PJ and Duncan.

TV - Agnetha: ABBA and After

Tuesday 11^th June, 10.35pm

BBC One

Those mourning the back of Eurovision for another year can feed their carnal desire for all things eurotrashy with this (actually fairly serious) documentary charting the incredible career of Agnetha, Sweden’s ‘girl with the golden hair’ and one quarter of one of the world’s biggest selling bands, ABBA.

Her singing career took off well before ABBA formed and she sold tens of thousands of her self-penned debut single before she had even laid eyes on future husband, Bjorn.

A very publicly painful divorce from her bandmate and a lukewarm reception to her comeback solo career, however, saw Agnetha retreat from the public eye, scarred by her meteoric fame.

Interviews with Bjorn himself, fellow ABBA star, Benny, and Gary Barlow, among others, make for an intimate and revealing portrait of this generational icon.

DVD - Parental Guidance (U)

Laid-back grandparents (Billy Crystal and Bette Midler) are ecstatic when their distant daughter (Marisa Tomei) is forced to let them babysit her cotton-wool clad, tech-obsessed children.

The camp and cuddly older couple quickly realise their parenting style has not transferred to their uptight daughter and struggle to meet her expectations while trying to out-wit three children with personalities so polarised it’s impossible to believe they’re related.

Crystal squeezes in some of his famously well-observed one-liners and Midler settles into the cutesy grandma role like a pro.

Tune in for clunkily delivered, obvious life-lessons and the most sickly sweet, family-friendly viewing experience since It’s a Wonderful Life.  

CD - Alt J: an Awesome Wave

Last week saw the home-coming performance of ex-Hills Road students and Mercury Prize winners, Alt-J, at a packed Cambridge Corn Exchange.

Their debut album, An Awesome Wave, was named BBC Radio 6’s Album of the Year and features more musical styles than most record collections, with indie-rock leading their sound along with psychedelia, folk-inflections, dub, alternative pop and rock.

The academically-minded foursome also delivers lyrically, with literary and film references dropped in alongside their personal, often confessional words.

Make sure to catch them next time they’re playing locally-you don’t want to miss out on their cover version of a Kylie vs. Dr Dre mash-up.

DVD - The Sessions (15)

A severe bought of polio debilitated the young Mark (John Hawkes) meaning he has to spend most of his time in an iron lung.

Now 38, a college graduate and very brilliant poet, Mark has overcome his disability in many ways, yet still feels he has missed out on one of life’s major experiences-losing his virginity.

He begins to see a sex therapist (Helen Hunt) who develops a fascinating relationship with Mark as she guides him through this physical journey.

This is a very raw, open story (and based on a true one) but it is handled with warmth and humour by a range of authentic, thoughtful characters. Nothing is left to the imagination either so choose your viewing partners and/or location carefully.

TV - Australia with Simon Reeve

Sunday 19^th May, 9pm

BBC Two

The BBC are putting the licence fee where their mouth is and have produced another epic, educational, informational and most definitely entertaining documentary, this time sending travel writer, Simon Reeve, across the vast expanses of Australia.

As with his successful Indian Ocean series, Simon investigates all aspects of life, from the people, wildlife and history that make up the modern way of living in Australia and the new challenges a country with such a delicately balanced eco-system faces.

Look out for a camel rounding-up operation involving road and aerial support and a real-life prospector embarking on a 21^st century gold rush.  

CD - Suede: Bloodsports

Suede fans endured radio silence from Brett and the boys for 10 years before the release of this sixth album, Bloodsports.

The group had previously recorded and performed new material in 2011, most of which was scrapped when they reunited with producer, Ed Buller, who was responsible for Suede’s first three albums.

So far so good, and to top it all, Brett himself describes Bloodsports as a cross between 1994’s Dog Man Star and 1996’s Coming Up, and he’s pretty much telling the truth, mostly.

They’ve come up with a clean arrangement of grown-up indie rock pieces all working thematically together and flecked with moments of the furious hooks and crescendos Suede were known and loved for.

The only thing missing is the blasé nonchalance unique to Britpop superstars (and maintained to this day by one half of the Gallagher brothers) but this is replaced by a Suede that cares.

DVD - Pompeii: Life and Death in a Roman Town

Cambridge Professor, First Lady of Classics and newly appointed OBE, Mary Beard, has once again teamed up with the BBC to create another illuminating film about her most beloved subject, Ancient Rome.

In Pompeii: Life and Death in a Roman Town, Mary turns the usual question about how the inhabitants of the doomed city died at the hands of the infamous eruption of Vesuvius, asking instead, how did these people live?

A fascinating discovery of a haul of skeletons, who did not succumb to the sea of ash that wiped out their neighbours, found just three miles from the centre of Pompeii reveals new insights into what Pompeian’s ate, drank and even the details of their sex lives.

Mary, as engaging as ever, breathes new life into one of the most revisited areas of ancient history.

TV - The Flying Archaeologist

Wednesday 15^th May, 8.30pm

BBC Four

This four part series from BBC Four offers a unique aerial insight into some our our most revered historical sites.

This week, archaeologist, Ben Robinson, takes to the skies again in an attempt to understand the whole story of what has been described as the most important Roman monument in Britain-Hadrien's Wall.

The programme's unique perspective reveals stark differences to widely held historical opinions, and in the case of this vast Roman defensive structure, may change the long-held picture of a barren military landscape staked out on both sides by violently opposed Roman settlers and 'barbarians' from the North.

The first two episodes (available on i Player) looked at Stonehenge and the Norfolk Broads from new, aerial perspectives, leading to interesting revelations about both sites, including the reason behind the location of the henge in Wiltshire and the staggering number (945!) of previously unknown ancient sites across the Norfolk Broads.

DVD - Les Miserables (12)

If you were one of the atmosphere-ruining uber fans applauding and crying in the aisles after every ensemble cast performance when Les Miserables came out in cinemas earlier this year, you've probably been counting the empty, falsetto-less days until you can re-live the Oscar winning extravaganza in your own home.

That day is almost upon us and, come Monday 13^th May, you can relive Eponine's unrequited love for Marius (Eddie Redmayne), who lusts after Cosette (Amanda Seyfried), who is the adopted daughter of escaped convict, Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), who rescued her from con-artists (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter), but is still pursued by sycophantic official, Javert, (Russell Crowe).

The film was never going to match the magic of the world's longest running stage musical but British director, Tom Hooper, has crafted an extraordinary silver screen homage.  

CD - Michael Buble: To Be Loved

Michale Buble has redeemed his lazy, cash-cow Christmas re-release last year with, To Be Loved, his eighth album.

Not fully redeemed, however, as the record features just four original songs and ten covers, but not the Rat Pack style that suits him so well- he's paired up with Bryan Adams and actress, Reese Witherspoon, among others.

Buble seems to be veering steadily away from his niche selling point with each new release, leaving him languishing in no-hits-land between smooth lounge crooner, as we all knew and some loved him way back when, and faceless radio pop hit maker.

His fan base will surely diminish further with this new perfectly crafted pop album, leaving behind the, marginally higher brow, housewife brigade who tuned his velvety tones over civilised ladies' nights in, and also failing to capture the attention of younger audiences who like their pop stars six-packed and foul-mouthed.

CD - Nick Capaldi: A Shade of Orange

For those bored by the auto-tuned adolescents swamping the album chart…

A healthy slew of psychedelia mixed in on Eyes on the Road sees A Shade of Orange deliver what Kula Shaker managed for one hot minute ten years ago, while Bought a House could’ve been done by The Cure if Robert Smith weren’t so gloomy and had mated with Jane’s Addiction… in 1965.

The album isn’t a carbon copy of any of Capaldi’s influences though, it’s a pleasantly cacophonous mix of them all (tiny bit nu-Beach Boys, more Beatles doing country and even more Ryan Adams on happy pills), a mix only a producer like Chris Kimsey (The Rolling Stones’ go-to guy) could’ve engineered.

Counting PJ Harvey among his celebrity fans and with BBC Radio 2’s Bob Harris behind him, this Bristol-born, Dorset-bred singer-songwriter’s ducks are all in a row.  

TV - Unreported World: Syria's Rebel Doctor

Friday 3^rd May, 7.30pm

Channel 4

With the the British press offering a strangely sheltered coverage of the worsening situation in Syria, Channel 4 have done what they do best and gone several steps further by diving undercover with their critically acclaimed Unreported World series to tell the story of Syria's Rebel Doctor.

NHS doctor, Rami Habib, was previously based in Leicester but has been holed up for more than two years in Salma, an ex-holiday destination in northern Syria, which has been flattened by daily shelling by government forces.

Despite constantly having to cut power so the hospital can't be seen by hostile helicopters and being a government target for treating rebel soldiers, Dr Habib sees no other option than to stay and do his part in over-throwing President Al-Assad, by helping those wounded by his regime.

DVD - Pitch Perfect (12A)

Picking up where Bridesmaids left off, Pitch Perfect is the latest all-girl cast, femme-comedy to make it big and prove you don't have to indulge in blokey toilet-humour to entertain a cinema full of adolescents (and slightly low-brow grown-ups).

A Tony award nominated director (the guy who brought us the puppet musical , Avenue Q) and a script full of musical interludes makes Pitch Perfect the happiest, clappiest viewing experience this side of TV's Glee.

The newly released DVD is perfect age appropriate viewing for under 15s sleepovers, or slightly over 15s self-indulgent trashy evenings in.

CD - Paramour: Paramour

The Tennesse-bred rock band have endured some shambolic line-up changes in recent years but their flame-haired front woman has her band back together for the release of their 4^th self titled studio album-Paramore.

Die-hard fans from the Misery Business era will be missing the self-flagellating emo influences Paramore made their name with, but these have been replaced by more structured lyrics, cleaner arrangements and clearer delivery on lead singer, Hayley Williams', part, and what a voice to have hidden behind angsty teenaged screaming for so many albums.

She's taken on a little of the cool Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs embodies while also hitting the big long notes with the cahunas of a Broadway icon.

A whole 17 tracks gives a suitable amount of bang for anyone's buck, so there's bound to be more than one on there to suit old followers and new fans alike.

DVD - 30 Rock Season 6

30 Rock is the latest impeccably cast, written and produced show to bite the dust, as their small but loyal army of fans just weren't making enough money to keep them on TV.

Their penultimate season is now available on DVD to placate mourning fans who want to revisit neurotic producer, Liz Lemon (Tina Fey), and her crack team of live comedy show writers as they scramble on a weekly basis to keep the show's wayward stars, Tracey (Tracey Morgan), and Jenna (Jane Krakowski) on an even keel.

The DVD includes a bonus section including deleted scenes and an alternative live episode.

All topped off by the inimitable Alec Baldwin as the insufferably suave, impossibly right-wing mentor and boss, Jack Donaghy.

TV - Later... with Jools Holland

Tuesday 30^th April, 10pm

BBC Two

Maestro of British New Year’s Eve celebrations, Jools Holland, is four shows in of this season’s eight week run of Later…Live, and on a major guest-booking roll.

You’ve already missed Primal Scream, Los Angeles’ hottest anti-girl group, Haim, and UK singles chart mainstays, Everything Everything, but that’s what i player was made for after all.

This week, Jools samples the best of New York’s music scene with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Vampire Weekend performing live tracks from their latest albums. Old favourite, Seasick Steve, also returns, reminding us just how many up-and-coming and underground acts the programme has broken into the mainstream over its 42 (?!) series run.

DVD - Jonathan Creek: The Clue of the Savant's Thumb (15)

The long-awaited return of the duffle-coated magician’s accomplice was marred by a weak storyline and a crackers final twist, but for those true fans who aren’t deterred by this, you’ve just one more week to wait before you can add The Clue of the Savant’s Thumb to your Creek collection.

Weaknesses aside, the BBC brought their A-game with the casting, bringing back old faces from series past, including two of the four Young Ones, Joanna Lumley and the tiny one from Smack the Pony (Sarah Alexander) as Alan Davies’ surprisingly hot wife.

Here’s hoping the Easter mini-series sees Creek back to his best, as this one-off ‘special’ was anything but.

CD - The Music of Nashville

Those of us married to our upgraded TV subscription won’t have been able to escape Nashville-the brand new big budget, star-packed series chronicling the parallel careers of a legendary but aging country music star and a promiscuous young upstart hot on her personal and professional heels.

Like Glee before it, it’s the music that makes the show, and this collection of performances from the two main stars (Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere) of covered and original songs (which credit Elvis Costello among others as writers) is just as rousing and polished as anything you’d find in the country music charts.

Never one to miss out on a money making opportunity, however, the record company have slated the release of Volume 2 in early May, so maybe hang on for a double disc set?

TV - London Marathon & European Gymnastics Championships

Sunday 21^st April

BBC One & Two

It’s a formidable day for sport on the BBC this Sunday, with the 33^rd annual London Marathon and the European Gymnastics Championship airing on BBC One and Two.

The lure of the 26.2 mile course through our capital’s streets has called to all three marathon medallists from last summer’s Olympic Games, with Mo Farah tagging along for half the course as a trial for his full elite marathon debut next year.

Coverage starts at 8.30am on BBC One with John Edwards, Colin Jackson and Denise Lewis presenting at the road side throughout the day.

Over on BBC Two, the apparatus gymnastics finals in Moscow will be missing a performance from local hero, Louis Smith, but the young pommel horse champ will be making an aural appearance as an analytical commentator throughout the coverage.

DVD - The Big Reunion Live 2013

Any self-respecting child of the 90’s probably at least raised an eyebrow at the feat ITV pulled-off in persuading seven of the decade’s biggest selling pop acts to all reform and agree to share the spotlight with one another in a special reunion gig at Hammersmith Apollo.

Only the most hardcore, regressive fans made it to the actual show, but, with this DVD, you can enjoy a more private revival of B*Witched’s saccharine Irish dancing and Five’s (now four), surprisingly macho, boy-band routines.

Those two chart-dominators are joined by similarly flash-in-the-pan successes Atomic Kitten, Liberty X, Honeyz, 911 and Blue.

If your adoration is reignited and you’re desperate to re-live the matching synthetic outfits and dubious harmonising in person, Newmarket Racecourse have snagged Blue, Five and Liberty X for a special Newmarket Nights event in June.

TV - Sports Life Stories

Wednesday 13^th March, 10.35pm

ITV

Sports Life Stories is a new seven-part series from ITV focussing on our most iconic sporting figures.

The series will feature in-depth discussions about the careers and personal lives of Dame Kelly Holmes, Amir Khan, Gareth Thomas, Barry McGuigan, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Lawrence Dallaglio, with the first episode, next Wednesday, featuring Premier League footballer Fabrice Muamba.

Originally from the Congo, Fabrice opens up about the blind determination that led to his cardiac arrest and subsequent retirement from the game at just 24 years old.

The series will also discover the impact the sporting achievements of others can have on the public and even politics, with friends and admirers such as Mickey Rourke, Sir Clive Woodward and Jimmy White reflecting on the careers of the ITV’s seven chosen sports people.

CD - Andy Burrows: Company

Andy Burrows (ex-drummer of Razorlight) has, in fact, produced two albums before this, Company, but this is his first fully-fledged, post-Razorlight marketed solo-artist effort.

It’s not the sort of album you’d heap superlative praise on, the most apt adjective would be a mildly enthusiastic “lovely” and that’s just fine.

It’s a lovely collection of dreamy tracks that blend from one into the other and should be played at a medium lull during a particularly restrained dinner party or in the place of a Radio 4 play.

Company suggests Andy Burrows will forever be best-known for providing the soundtrack to last Christmas’ The Snowman and the Snowdog and again, that’s just fine, you should play to your strengths, and Burrows’ strength is calmly ethereal background music.

TV - The Mindy Project

April 2013

Channel 4 and E4

If you love New Girl, The (US) Office and the like, and are looking for your next American TV import fix, then The Mindy Project should tick all of your boxes.

Emmy-nominated writer and producer and New York Times bestselling author, Mindy Kaling, has struck out on her own (you might recognise her as bunny-boiler, Kelly Kapoor, from the American version of The Office) starring in the lead role, as well as writing, The Mindy Project.

Mindy enjoys a burgeoning career as an OB/GYN, sharing a practice with a few other doctors, all of whom add to her hectic personal life, but Mindy’s main goal is to star as the girl who gets the perfect guy in the rom-com of her life.

CD - Justin Timberlake: The 20/20 Experience

The world has waited six years for Justin to bring his sexy back, and the first single from his new album, Suit and Tie, fell flatter than Chris Brown’s appearance at this year’s Grammys.

Thankfully, his second single, Mirror, recaptured the UK’s hearts and peak chart position, giving album, The 20/20 Experience, a chance to grow on us as well.

He’s stuck with collaborator, Timbaland, all along, but Timberlake’s sound seems to detach further and further from the pure pop perfection that was 2002’s Justified, which will likely be a huge draw for potential new fans and, actually, might be more up the street of his aging original teeny-bopper followers anyway.

Where 2006’s Future Sex/Love Sounds laid some heavily produced, over-sexed grooves over Justin’s shedding boy-band image, The 20/20 Experience sees some obvious Big Band influence creep in alongside a little soul and jazz, albeit in heavily watered-down radio-friendly concoctions.

DVD - Call The Midwife: Series 1, 2 + Christmas Special (12)

Fans of the BBC’s adaptation of Jennifer Worth’s memoirs of her time as a midwife in 1950’s East London are bound to be delighted by six whole discs of warm-fuzzy female empowerment and heart-breaking dramatic moments.

The box-set includes the entire first and second series as well as the Christmas special, which was widely billed as the most anticipated festive television event of 2012.

You’ll have to wait until next Christmas, however, to get your next Call the Midwife fix, but a third series is due to follow on 2014.

Until then, revisit the adventures of newly qualified midwife, Jenny, and the nursing nuns of Nonnatus House as they work tirelessly to make childbirth safe for all women in a hugely deprived community.

CD - Chvrches: Recover EP

That crashing, euphoric synth-pop sound you’ve been hearing all over the radio is the latest single, Recover, from female-fronted powerhouse, Chvrches.

The band’s debut EP of the same name was released last week (for just £1.99) and features the single, two remixes and two other tracks of similarly breathless, rollicking nature.

You’d be forgiven for thinking the perfectly tuned electro-pop trio were the product of multi-million dollar US label backing, but they actually hail from Glasgow and look set to be one of the UK’s most innovative musical exports of 2013.

You can’t get tickets to their shows for love nor money, but rest assured Chvrches will be promptly booked on an extensive tour when the Recover EP gains momentum.

DVD - Goosebumps: Series 2 (PG)

Children of the 90’s unite, the chilling after-school TV staple, Goosebumps, has been released, by some genius, on DVD.

Relive the camp-fire tales, originally aired by CBBC, that scared your 12 year old self witless and probably still haunt your adult dreams.

To refresh your memory, series 2 included some uniquely twisted tales as, Blob That Ate Everyone, Monster Blood and More Monster Blood.

Look out for a child-star performance from Hayden Christensen (Star Wars).

A perfect guilty pleasure purchase to enjoy of a Throwback Thursday with the friends from primary school you still talk to.  

TV - How to be a LAdy: An Elegant History

Thursday 28^th March, 9pm

BBC Four

In the absence of our good capital’s mayor, Boris Johnson, from regular television programming, his sister, Rachel, has taken to Channel 4 with a one-off special looking at what it means to be a ‘lady’.

Only Channel 4 would allow one of the poshest women in the country (Rachel is the editor of The Lady magazine, daughter of a Tory MP and attended no less than four private schools in her time before ending up at Oxford) in a programme that proposes she is anything BUT a lady, but still, it’s the rest of us that need lessons so don’t be deterred.

Rachel attends etiquette classes, a side-saddle riding revival group and meets with one of the last debutants in a bid to show us how we can steer away from our beloved ladette culture.

CD - Bastille: Bad Blood

Bastille are huge fans of 80’s stadium rock-style anthemic choruses, which will be great for the ego at their live shows, great for getting them radio play, but can be a little exhausting to listen to one after the other.

That said, as stand alone songs, they’re all brilliant pieces of work, but Bastille’s particular brand of ‘work’ just doesn’t sit together on a full album, and it’s disappointing that there are no hidden gems of style departures, it’s just more of Dan Smith’s perfectly quirky voice, and the band’s mature pop sound.

Amazing as the 12 album tracks are, Bastille’s best work is to be found on YouTube, with a cover of early noughties R&B smash, What Would You Do? by suitably gangster trio, City High.

The juxtaposition of Smith’s thoughtful vocal delivery and the aurally triggered memories of the (now satirical) lyrics is beyond genius.

TV - Comic Relief: Funny for Money

Friday 15^th March, 7pm

BBC One & Two

Comic Relief is going big this year with a Red Nose Day TV extravaganza to mark their 25^th anniversary.

Rowan Atkinson, David Walliams and Peter Kay are turning in original sketches and the long list of hosts putting a shift in includes Michael McIntyre, Rob Brydon, John Bishop, Jack Whitehall, Alan Carr and Russell Brand.

Popstaress, Jessie J, will also be shaving her hair live on the night?! This aside, perhaps the most anticipated event of the evening is Ricky Gervais’ reprisal of the character that made him famous, from the show that changed how we make TV forever, The Office’s insufferable boss, David Brent.

You need to switch over to BBC Two for half an hour at 10.30pm, but BBC One will be hosting the rest of the show between 7pm and 1am.

DVD - Utopia (18)

Channel 4 tried to warn us that their new six part conspiracy thriller, Utopia, would be a little left of acceptable in the violence stakes, but many were still unprepared for the killing spree that took place in the first 5 minutes and counted a boy no more than 10 years old among its victims.

An enigmatic organisation known only as The Network bludgeon their way through a small group of graphic novel enthusiasts, seemingly to get their hands on an original manuscript of the legendary Utopia.

The Network has infiltrated the police, government and just about every business they come in contact with, leaving our protagonists with nowhere to turn but to each other.

One hell of a twist eventually reveals The Network’s true intentions, and it’s nothing to do with comic books.

DVD - Ripper Street (15)

Thanks to squeezed movie-making budgets, television has been enjoying a recent renaissance and the BBC’s Ripper Street sits atop the impressive pile of innovatively produced, impeccably acted and perfectly written small-screen series.

London is in the grip of a post Jack the Ripper crime epidemic and the city’s recovery is in the hands of Inspector Reid and his right hand men- the wanton but skilled surgeon, Jackson, and the quiet, loyal Sergeant Drake (played with surprising depth by Jerome Flynn, yes, of Robson and Jerome).

This grisly eight-part murder mystery series stands up against all the award-winning, big money TV imports from the US and bewitchingly captures one of the most iconic periods in our capital city’s history.

TV - Perspectives Series 3

Sundays, 10pm

ITV

The Perspectives documentary series returned to ITV last week with seven brand new unique films made by an array of public personalities, each investigating a diverse collection of people and subjects that fascinate them.

Catch up on ITV Player with David Suchet’s (TV’s Poirot) opening episode as he delves into the mystery behind the life of the crime writer who created his softly spoken, perfectly groomed alter-ego, Agatha Christie.

The rest of the series promises more animated presentations from Jonathan Ross who speaks on his adoration of master director, Alfred Hitchcock, and Paul O’Grady, who travels across the pond to lift the lid on the world’s most famous burlesque dancer, Gypsy Rose Lee.

Karl Pilkington’s sidekick, Warwick Davies, takes on a more heavy-hearted subject as he explores how a family of Jewish dwarves miraculously survived Hitler’s regime.

CD - Foals: Holy Fire

Holy Fire is the third album in four years from productive British indie-rock group, Foals, and it's a departure.

They signed up the producers behind Smashing Pumpkins, Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nail's classic albums (Flood and Allen Moulder) but they haven't suffocated the Oxford originating group with their past success, instead choosing to hole Yannis and co up in a North London studio and take whichever recording sounded best, even if the band were treating them as rough run-throughs

That's not the only difference with Foal's third album-they've stopped aching after well-respected indie radio hits and trying to fill fashionably substandard venues with vibrating youths and have instead, respectably, made the album they wanted.

That said, the band have found that elusive balance of holding onto their unique 'Foals' sound while satisfying all their creative whims with an eclectic mix of tracks.

DVD - Gambit (12A)

Why invest in Oscar winning ‘Best Picture’, Argo, which also came out on DVD this week, when you can add the truly terrible, Gambit, to your collection instead.

The basic premise is-Colin Firth conjures a, needlessly, fiddly revenge plan in which he attempts to con his boss into buying a fake Monet painting.

Hijinks ensue, however, when he’s forced to enlist the help of unpredictable rodeo queen, Cameron Diaz. If that sounds funny to you, you’re wrong.

I don’t understand why this didn’t work-the Coen brothers wrote it, two of our most beloved character actors, Stanley Tucci and Alan Rickman, star alongside fail-safe leads, Diaz and Firth-yet it still doesn’t work.

On second thought, do go ahead and buy Argo instead.

CD - Ben Howard: Every Kingdom

He’s been releasing material and building a loyal following on the live music circuit for a good five years now, but the Howard-heavy 2013 Brit Awards has sent the Devonshire singer/songwriter’s 2011 album, Every Kingdom, back up the charts.

The folk infused, whispery, Only Love and the, ever so slightly, heavier, Keep Your Head Up, have been mainstays on popular music radio stations for several months now, sitting comfortably with fans of the softly, softly, plucky, sensitively unplugged side of the indie scene.

That said, Howard’s arrangements are more pacey than his acoustic pin-up counterparts, making this record less likely to lull you into a semi-suicidal comatose state than, say, Ed Sheeran or Brits ‘Critic’s Choice’ winner, Tom Odell.

He’s also much more beautiful than them, cripplingly so, which matters if you’re going to sit through a two hour live show of his, which I imagine are quite simple, static affairs.