The Beach Boys have just released their first album of original material in 20 years, marking both their 50th anniversary as a band and the power of commercial forces to help individuals put aside their grievances.

The fifth season of Mad Men had a troubled creation, with behind-the-scenes squabbles threatening its existence and delaying it for what felt like years, so it's perhaps not surprising that it turned out to be very dark in tone.

The first iPod was released well over a decade ago, and the new freedom to pick and choose songs more easily led to inevitable claims that albums would soon be 'dead'. One advocate of that theory was Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins, so how come they've got a new album out?