Album: Nels Andrews - Pigeon and The Crow

California dreamin' - but not as you know it

This is the perfect album for these dark and dislocating times, a delicious slice of folk-Americana, 10 beautifully crafted songs (plus a bonus online) that envelop you in the gentle winds and fogs of California’s Monterey peninsula, and the waves on its flotsam-dotted sands.

Ozark, Series 3 review, Netflix - money-laundering saga hits new heights

A superb cast and powerful writing are making this show a classic

While not the most headline-catching show on Netflix, Ozark has been steadily accruing critical accolades (including a couple of Emmys) and a devoted audience. Perhaps this superb third series will mark the tipping point where Ozark crosses over from cliqueishness to mass adulation.

Album: Pokey LaFarge - Rock Bottom Rhapsody

★★★★ POKEY LAFARGE - ROCK BOTTOM RHAPSODY The rocky road to redemption

The rocky road to redemption

Talk about a great big melting pot! The eighth studio album by the man born 36 ago as Andrew Heissler in Bloomington, Indiana, and known to the world as Pokey LaFarge digs deep into the bubbling cauldron of Americana, in its very broadest sense.

Pen15, Sky Comedy review - the horror of adolescent schooldays revisited

★★★★ PEN15, SKY COMEDY The horror of adolescent schooldays revisited

Thirty-somethings Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle revisit their Y2K pubescence

The cringe-making horror of adolescent schooldays is vividly re-lived in this US import (on Sky Comedy), but with a cunning twist. Its supposedly confused and hormonal leads are played by 30-somethings Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle, who blend themselves in with a cast of actual 13-year-olds with uncanny skill.

Elton John’s iHeart Living Room Concert for America, YouTube review - the real star was a Mayo Clinic doctor named Elvis

★★ ELTON JOHN'S LIVING ROOM CONCERT FOR AMERICA, YOUTUBE The real star was a doctor

Sir Elton John: this time we can't stand by

Available in Britain now on YouTube for only a couple of days, Elton John’s iHeart Living Room Concert for America was put together in less than a week and was broadcast in the US on Sunday evening. In normal circumstances, the slot would have been occupied by the iHeart Radio Music Awards, which were to have been carried live from the Shrine Auditorium in LA.

Batwoman, E4 review - can Bruce Wayne's female cousin fill his bat-costume?

★★★ BATWOMAN, E4 Can Bruce Wayne's female cousin fill his bat-costume?

Ruby Rose plays Batwoman, Gotham City's newest saviour

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been saturating the globe with its multi-format superheroes, leaving its DC rival looking clumsy and disorganised by comparison. However, DC’s “Arrowverse” – a roster of TV shows including Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl – is part of its fight-back effort, and now joining its ranks is this new take on the Batwoman character (E4).

Sam Bourne: To Kill a Man review – the woman who fought back

★★★★ SAM BOURNE: TO KILL A MAN The woman who fought back

A highly improbably but immensely addictive thriller on the #MeToo fallout

Assassinate the President! Obliterate history by torching libraries and murdering historians! Crazy leaders and fake news are just a few of the subjects tackled by political journalist and thriller writer, Jonathan Freedland (aka Sam Bourne), in this, his fifth novel featuring the inventive, imaginative, intelligent trouble-shooter Maggie Costelloe. 

Single: Bob Dylan - Murder Most Foul

★★★★★ BOB DYLAN - MURDER MOST FOUL A taste of the apocalypse

A taste of the apocalypse

A combination of chopped-up newsreel and fever dream, “Murder Most Foul” is Bob Dylan’s most striking piece of work in years. This is the author of “Desolation Row” populating a 17-minute song with a lifetime of remembered cultural fragments, zooming out and panning back and forth from the single pivotal event of the Kennedy assassination, plucking references out of the heavy air.

ReMastered: Devil at the Crossroads, Netflix review - a story well told but marred by clichéd style

Robert Johnson: a pact with the devil? A myth de-constructed, yet enhanced

Mississippi bluesman Robert Johnson’s reputation was much enhanced by the story – never substantiated – that he’d met with the devil one night at a crossroads, and was miraculously taught exquisite guitar licks that astounded his juke-joint audiences and later the world. A pact that – as it goes with such shady deals – led to him succumbing, a few years later, to a violent death.