Five guide for the weekend

FIVE GIGS

1. The D4: Auckland rockers celebrate the release of their new single Sake Bomb tonight with the Mint Chicks and the Fanatics at the Kings Arms. Their second album is expected out in the first half of next year, so check out this gig to hear some new songs.

2. Fast Crew Album Release Party: Get down to the St James tonight for another release party. This time it's local hip-hop crew Fast Crew whose album Set The Record Straight is out on Monday. Dei Hamo, DJ SirVere and DJ CXL guest star at the all-ages show starting at 7.30pm. There's an after party for the oldies at Fu Bar.

3. World Battle of the Bands Final: The inaugural World Battle Of The Bands final takes place tomorrow night at Studio on K Rd in Auckland. Four bands, Audiotraffic (Hong Kong), Chuganaut (New Zealand), Jaggedy Ann (United States), and Lump (Australia), compete for the title after nearly six months of heats.

4. Maroon 5: Your mum's, and probably your aunty's, favourite new band Maroon 5 play the St James in Auckland tomorrow. Riding high in the charts with the album, Songs About Jane, the all-American lads look set to woo the crowds.

5. Misfits of Science: The brats of NZ hip-hop play Blend in Auckland tonight in support of their just released album, MOS presents ...

FIVE ALBUMS

1. Neil Young, Greatest Hits (Reprise): All of Young's campfire singalongs from his California singer-songwriter beginnings and some banner-waving rockers from later on including the still insane Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black).

2. Korn, The Greatest Hits Vol 1 (Epic): Proof that writing Korn off as nu-metal is wrong but here's 10 years of evidence they were pioneers in melding metal to hip-hop.

3. Kings of Leon, Aha Shake Heartbreak (BMG): Southern "family" band goes to town - New York mostly - on sophomore album of scrappy, wiry rock'n'roll.

4. Pitch Black, Ape to Angel (Kog): The third album from New Zealand electro-dub masters is a pleasant deep echo of past efforts.

5. Courtney Pine, Devotion (Telarc/Elite): Brit jazz saxophonist swerves from the centre-line for another satisfying collection of the unpredictable.

FIVE VIDEOS/DVDs

1. Dirty Pretty Things: British director Stephen Frears returns to the blistering form of his 80s pictures with an engrossing movie set in the London underworld of illegal immigrants.

2. Shaolin Soccer: A bunch of down-at-heel Hong Kong soccer players call on the spirit of Oriental mysticism, and a little bit of kung fu, to overcome their arch-rivals.

3. Elf: Yuletide silliness with Will Ferrell as a human mistakenly raised as an elf named Buddy in Santa's grotto.

4. Mean Girls: Rising star Lindsay Lohan fronts this teen comedy as a home-educated student who must navigate the cliques of her first high school.

5. Laws of Attraction: Julianne Moore and Pierce Brosnan together in an old-fashioned romantic comedy, in which they play two divorce lawyers going from court to courtship.

FIVE GALLERIES

1. Gow Langsford Gallery, cnr Kitchener-Wellesley St: The Pumpkin Is a Red Herring by Dick Frizzell. A nod to McCahon from the Hawkes Bay artist in a show based entirely on the rough-brushed lettering of rural fruit and veg signs.

2. Milford Galleries, 26 Kitchener St: Homelands, by Jon Tootil. Typical New Zealand houses in flat, bright colours given life with the swoop of the composition.

3. Judith Anderson Gallery, 28 Lorne St: Reflections, by Nancy Synnestvedt. Poised, highly accomplished abstractions with bands of colour reflecting moods.

4. Artspace, 300 K Rd: The National Drawing Award. The second half of an excellent show - with artists M-Z, including winner Andrew McLeod - opens tonight at 6pm, and continues until Dec 18.

5. John Leech Gallery Gallery, Khartoum Place: Brown Eyes Blue, by Sofia Tekela-Smith. Four large, powerful photos of Pacific Island women wearing mother-of-pearl breastplates, plus a collection of the breastplates themselves.