Media picks of the week: Doctor Who, Dr. John, Captain America and more!

August 26, 2014

Every week Apple adds tons of new media content on iTunes — music, books, movies and more. It's impossible to keep up with all of it, but it's not impossible to pick out the very best. Here they are! This week we've got the latest season (or series, if you're British) of Doctor Who, a new tribute to the great Louis Armstrong from Dr. John, the second Captain America movie and much more!

Simple Science EP - Zero 7

If you're a fan of Morcheeba and Air, you're probably familiar with Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker's collaboration as Zero 7. Their first three studio albums produced some downtempo electronica classics like In the Waiting Line, Destiny and Passing By. 2009's Yeah Ghost saw them take a different, more soul-tinged tack. Now they're back with a four-track EP. Simple Science is another evolution for the duo, offering a more club-friendly vibe with elements of trance and house all wrapped up in a sound that's unmistakably Zero 7.

$3.99 - Download now

Ske-Dat-De-Dat...The Spirit of Satch - Dr. John

Who better to cover the immortal Louis Armstrong than by another native son of New Orleans? Dr. John leads a star-packed tribute to the great Satchmo: Appearances include the Blind Boys of Alabama, Arturo Sandoval, Bonnie Rate, The McCrary Sisters and many others. The 13 tracks include Louis Armstrong standards like What a Wonderful World and I've Got the World On a String, but these just aren't saccharine covers of Louis Armstrong songs. Dr. John and his collaborators truly make the music their own.

$9.99 - Download now

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The second Captain America movie is in some ways even better than the first. Steve Rogers is a man out of time, a supersoldier created to battle the Nazi menace in World War II, now finding himself in a modern world that he doesn't quite understand. Captain America joins forces with Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) to expose a conspiracy that threatens S.H.I.E.L.D. and all of humanity, as Cap must go up against a new enemy that harbors a dark secret known only to Cap himself. Available on iTunes as an early release, with iTunes Extras too.

$14.99 - Download now

The Zero Theorem

Christophe Waltz (Django Unchained, Inglorious Basterds) collaborates with famed director Terry Gilliam (12 Monkeys, Brazil) to tell the story of a computer hacker tasked with a seemingly impossible goal by a shadowy corporation. Will he discover the meaning of life, the meaning of our very existence? Gilliam considers this to be the third part of a dystopian satiric trilogy he started with Brazil and continued with Twelve Monkeys.

$14.99 - Download now

Doctor Who Season 8

Peter Capaldi (The Thick of It, The Musketeers) takes over as the 12th incarnation of The Doctor, and in doing so carries the mantle of the longest running sci-fi show in television history. Deep Breath, the premier of Season 8, debuted on BBC America on Saturday night. You can pre-order a season pass for the complete season now, plus download plenty of free content including trailers, interviews with executive producer and writer Stephen Moffat, and more.

$39.99 - Download now

Hack Attack: The Inside Story of How the Truth Caught Up with Rupert Murdoch

One of the biggest media scandals of recent memory involves British tabloid newspaper News of the World was caught not only illegally listening to voicemail messages of celebrities, politicians and crime victims, bribing police officers and using other various "dark arts" to get the salacious details they wanted for their stories. Nick Davies, special correspondent for The Guardian, was instrumental in exposing the plot and taking down News of the World, its staff and besmirching owner Rupert Murdoch in the process.