Chat From 3 March 2016

DG 111: The Conductors gathers all the great conductors on Deutsche Grammophon from the 1930s to the 2000s in one essential box set. A 40CD original-jacket collection with iconic recordings alongside rarer gems, several of the recordings found herein are new to CD or are experiencing their first international CD release.

MOTÖRHEAD the iconic Godfathers of heavy metal, released their 23rd (and final) studio album Bad Magic in 2015. Instantly hailed as one of the best the beloved trio had recorded in many years, Bad Magic: SERIOUSLY Bad Magic enjoys a bonus-packed refresh, adding two previously unreleased tracks from those furious sessions: “Bullet in Your Brain” and “Greedy Bastards” as well as a snarling, fangs-out live performance from that subsequent tour at the giant Fuji Rock Festival in Japan in 2015. Fans will also get “War, Love, Death and Injustice”, an audio interview with Lemmy conducted by Motörhead expert Robert Kiewik during the tour, and should the desire to have a chat with Lem or anyone beyond this mortal coil arise, the box-set will exclusively contain a MURDER ONE ouija board (complete with the Ace of Spades planchette to spell out the conversation). As the title says, that is some SERIOUS BAD MAGIC!

I Trawl the Megahertz, Paddy McAloon's first solo album, is as likely to perplex and infuriate as it is likely to stun and spellbind. Grand, heavily orchestrated, predominantly instrumental, and not the type of thing you put on prior to going out or when you're in the mood for cleaning the house, the record is incredibly powerful – almost too powerful – even when held up against everything from Prefab Sprout's past. The most significant song is the opener; 22 minutes in length, it's nearly elegiac in it its mournful tones played out by a swaying string arrangement and a weeping trumpet. Throughout its duration, Yvonne Connors speaks matter-of-factly – yet dramatically enough to be poignant – as she rifles through fragments of her memory, the most disarming of which reads like this: "I said, 'Your daddy loves you very much; he just doesn't want to live with us anymore.'"

The blues didn’t stop with the end of the 50s – as soul ruled the charts, the grittier end of black music was well represented by the artists on this compilation. Great guitar playing to the fore.

Eye of the Storm is the ninth studio album by Japanese rock band One Ok Rock. It was released on February 13, 2019 in Japan through A-Sketch, and on February 15, 2019 in other countries through Fueled by Ramen. The album marked a shift in their sound from the alternative rock and emo sounds of their previous albums to pop and electronic music. Three singles, "Change", "Stand Out Fit In", and "Wasted Nights" have been released in support of the album.