The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has uprooted Natalie Chee from Germany to be its next Concertmaster.
Natalie presently leads the distinguished Gürzenich Orchestra in Cologne.
“It wasn’t really in my plan to come back to Australia as I was quite settled in Europe,” Chee shared. “But the MSO kept the conversation going, and each time I played with them, something clicked. Suddenly, I could imagine doing this.”
Her musical journey began in characteristically Australian fashion. Her mum simply looked up Yamaha in the phone book when young Chee started picking out melodies on the piano at age three. The Yamaha Music School’s group-based approach, emphasising rhythm, singing and joy before individual technique, laid a foundation that still influences her approach to music-making today.
Lamb of God have announced a new album, Into Oblivion, which follows 2022’s Omens and arrives on March 13 via Epic. We’ve got an exclusive green smoke vinyl variant, and you can pre-order that and pick up lots of other LOG records and merch in the BV shop.
Randy Blythe says the album is called Into Oblivion “because that’s where we’re heading. In general, the album is about the ongoing and rapid breakdown of the social contract, particularly here in America. Things are acceptable now that would’ve horrified people just 20 years ago.”
Into Oblivion includes Lamb of God’s 2025 singles “Parasocial Christ” and “Sepsis,” as well as the just-released, album-opening title track, which is as much of a gut-punch as you’d hope for from LOG. Check out the new song and its video (directed by Tom Flynn and Mike Watts), along with the two previous, singles below.
Lamb of God are also gearing up for their previously announced North American tour, which has the stacked support lineup of Sanguisugabogg, Kublai Khan TX, and Fit for an Autopsy, and that’ll be followed by their Headbangers Boat cruise that has another stacked lineup, with The Dillinger Escape Plan, Kylesa, In Flames, GWAR, Death Angel, D.R.I., Harms Way, 200 Stab Wounds, and more.
Pick up our green smoke vinyl variant here and check out a mock-up below.
Tracklist Into Oblivion Parasocial Christ Sepsis The Killing Floor El Vacío St. Catherine’s Wheel Blunt Force Blues Bully A Thousand Years Devise / Destroy
Lamb of God — 2026 Tour Dates with Sanguisgabogg, Kublai Khan TX, Fit For An Autopsy: March 17 National Harbor, MD The Theater MGM National Harbor March 19 Montreal, QC Bell Centre March 20 Toronto, ON GCT Theatre March 22 Detroit, MI Fox Theatre March 24 Minneapolis, MN Armory March 25 Chicago, IL Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom March 27 Denver, CO Fillmore Auditorium March 28 Salt Lake City, UT The Union Event Center March 30 Portland, OR Theater of the Clouds March 31 Seattle, WA WAMU Theater April 1 Vancouver, BC PNE Forum April 3 San Francisco, CA The Masonic April 4 Inglewood, CA YouTube Theater April 5 Phoenix, AZ Arizona Financial Theatre April 7 Albuquerque, NM Revel Entertainment Center April 10 Austin, TX Moody Amphitheater April 11 Irving, TX The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory April 12 Houston, TX 713 Music Hall April 14 Nashville, TN War Memorial Auditorium April 15 Atlanta, GA Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre April 16 Raleigh, NC Red Hat Amphitheater April 18 Reading, PA Santander Arena April 19 Virginia Beach, VA The Dome April 21 Buffalo, NY Buffalo RiverWorks April 23 Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Paramount April 25 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena April 26 Boston, MA MGM Music Hall at Fenway
May 14 – 17 Columbus, OH Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival July 24 – 27 Plovdiv, BG Hills of Rock July 27 – 31 Râşnov, RO Rockstadt Extreme Fest August 1 Wacken, DE Wacken Open Air August 5 – 9 Lisbon, PT Vagos Open Air August 6 – 9 Kortrijk, BE Alcatraz Open Air August 7 Walton-on-Trent, UK Bloodstock Open Air August 12 – 16 Dinkelsbühl, DE Summer Breeze August 13 – 15 Sulingen, DE Reload Festival August 14 – 16 Eindhoven, NL Dynamo Metalfest October 30 – November 3 Miami, FL Headbangers Boat
pastel.., a new artist, has officially found his unique sound with his new song “Window.” This song marks a big change in his musical life. This is where his experimentation…
Natalie Reigo (@nataliereigo) is a 19-year-old artist and songwriter from Stockholm, Sweden, making waves with her soulful blend of pop, R&B, and contemporary soul. Not too long ago, she released her latest single, “Til The Moment’s Gone.” FYI: Using these links supports Bong Mines Entertainment at no extra cost to you. Natalie Reigo – “Til The Moment’s Gone” Single “Till the Moment’s Gone” blends modern pop with soulful R&B undertones and warm, polished production. The song dives into FOMO, the pressure […]
We are counting down until tonight’s concert in NCPA Mumbai with which we will officially open the 90th world celebration. birthday of great Zubin Mehta.
Long-lasting friendship with the famous maestro, we will celebrate together with Pinchas Zukerman one of Mehta’s multi-decades associates and colleagues whose relationship dates back to the sixties of the last century. We will perform Mozart’s Fifth violin concerto with the famous violinist, and then under Mehta’s baton follows Betoven’s unique “Eroica”.
It is a special honor to be in the company of these great artists, with whom every rehearsal is equally full of lessons – and pure children’s play.
The Hauts-de-Seine Choir School has been in limbo for the past six months since its former director, Gaël Darchen, was accused by five women of past acts of sexual and psychological harassment.
The school provides the official children’s choir of the Paris Opera.
Gaël Darchen, who was ousted from the choir after 25 years but faced no charges, is now working as cultural affairs officer for the town of Puteaux, in the Hauts-de-Seine department.
This week, the Hauts-de-Seine department reversed its previous decision to take control of the choir, leaving its future in question.
Among a plethora of pointless musical events, the Carinthian resort of Pörtschach am Wörthersee in the the process of preparing a Brahms Competition. The great composer summered in the village from 1877 to 1879, composing his second symphony with lakeskide views.
Now, the village has reorganised its Brahms Society and its Brahms Competition in September, where the public vote is what counts.
The double-album Hooker ’N Heat, which was released on January 15, 1971, is a fascinating meeting of mentor and protégés. Canned Heathad long admired John Lee Hooker and were delighted to find out that the revered blues guitarist-singer also enjoyed the band’s music. “I sure like the way you boys boogie,” Hooker told harmonica player Alan Wilson at a chance meeting in Los Angeles.
Canned Heat floated the idea of recording together and, in April 1970, Hooker’s record company gave him permission to do just that. Just one month later they met up at Liberty Records in LA to record the album that was titled Hooker ’N Heat.
That real Hooker sound
In deference to Hooker’s genius, the boogie-rock band, who had a global hit with “On The Road Again” in 1967, gave the first half of the album to him alone, and Hooker laid down compelling versions of five of his own compositions: “Messin’ With The Hook,” “The Feelin’ Is Gone,” “Send Me Your Pillow,” “Sittin’ Here Thinkin’,” and “Meet Me In The Bottom.”
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Hooker arrived for the recording session wearing a plaid cap, leather jacket, black satin shirt, and some old dress slacks. He was carrying his favorite old Epiphone guitar. Producers Skip Taylor and Robert Hite were keen to capture the authentic Hooker blues sound. They tried out eight amplifiers before finding an old Silvertone amp that had that real “Hooker sound.” The engineers built a plywood platform for Hooker to sit on while he played, with one microphone on the amp, one to capture his vocals and a third to pick up his distinctive stomping. Nearby was a large bottle of Chivas Regal Scotch and a pitcher of water to keep him well refreshed.
The second half of Hooker ‘N Heat
For the second half of Hooker ’N Heat, Wilson joined in on piano, harmonica, and guitar. “Blind Owl” Wilson, as he was known, died four months after the record was cut – at just 27 – from a barbiturates overdose. He had suffered from depression and his death robbed the world of “the most gifted harmonica player I’ve ever heard,” as Hooker described him. Hooker ’N Heat captures his wonderful talent for music, including his piano playing on “Bottle Up And Go” (written by the Delta blues musician Tommy McClennan) and “The World Today,” and his guitar work on “I Got My Eyes On You.”
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After more Hooker solo songs, including “Alimonia Blues,” “Drifter,” “You Talk Too Much,” and “Burning Hell,” the whole band chimed in for the final songs, with Hooker and Wilson joined by lead guitarist Henry Vestine, bass player Antonio De La Parra, and drummer Adolfo De La Parra on exuberant versions of “Just You And Me,” “Let’s Make It,” and “Peavine.” It all soars and moves, even though it seems like the band are sometimes frantically trying to keep up with Hooker’s vocals.
Hooker ’N Heat ended on a high, with a rambling and powerful 11-minute version of Hooker’s first record, the classic “Boogie Chillen’.” The song showed just how much fun Canned Heat were having recording with their musical hero.
After the album came out, Hooker and Canned Heat – who hired guitarist-vocalist Joel Scott Hill to replace Wilson – played some live shows together, including one at New York’s Carnegie Hall. The memorable studio collaboration Hooker ’N Heat captured a natural fusion of empathetic musicians – and Hooker, who was 53 at the time, reveling in the occasion.
At the turn of the 2010s, dance music in America went from being an underground club secret to the mainstream’s go-to formula. From pop stars like Britney Spears and Rihanna to R&B heavyweights like Usher and Ne-Yo, DJs were called upon to inject their pulsating four-on-the-four beats into radio-dominating singles. Parisian-born DJ/producer David Guetta was among the leading players in this movement — thanks to his 2011 collaboration with Sia, “Titanium.”
Prior to its release, Guetta already had a few hits. His fourth album, 2009’s One Love, included Billboard dance chart-toppers “When Love Takes Over” featuring Kelly Rowland, “Gettin’ Over You” with Fergie and LMFAO, and “Sexy Bitch” with Akon. He continued this collaborative approach on 2011 follow-up Nothing But the Beat. Like its predecessor, there were Top 20 singles like “Where Them Girls At” with Flo Rida and Nicki Minaj, “Turn Me On” with Minaj, and “Without You” with Usher. But it was the Sia-assisted “Titanium” that became the most consequential of the hits, as it near-immediately changed the course of the singer’s career and pop music itself.
Before “Titanium,” the Australian-born Sia was more known in the underground scene. Perhaps the most notable moment in her career to that point was her song, “Breathe Me” soundtracking the final scene to the HBO series Six Feet Under. After decades in the music industry, Sia was content to focus on writing for other artists.
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That’s how “Titanium” began. Sia wrote and performed a demo of the song for Guetta, with the intention of having Alicia Keys sing the final version. Keys turned the song down, and the demo then ended up in the hands of Mary J. Blige and later Katy Perry. The latter singer passed because she didn’t want to duplicate the sound of 2010’s “Firework.” “I remember specifically listening to [‘Titanium’] on the plane, I was like, ‘Oh my god, this song is so good. Who is the person on the record?’” Perry recalled during a 2020 Tommorowland conference with Guetta. “‘They should stay on the freakin’ record. This is a hit.’’”
Guetta felt similarly and ultimately used her demo as the official version. Sia agreed under one condition: She didn’t want to do any promotion for the song (including a music video). The song didn’t need any help: Everything about “Titanium” is BIG, from Sia’s massive roars, the motivational lyrics (“I’m bulletproof, nothing to lose/Fire away, fire away”), and the blood-pumping production from Guetta, Giorgio Tuinfort, and a then-unknown Afrojack. Audiences around the world agreed. The single went multi-platinum in Australia, the U.S., and the UK. It also entered the Top 10 singles charts in numerous countries and peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 100.
“Titanium” played a key role in launching dance music back into the pop music mainstream. It also cemented Guetta as a go-to producer for pop stars, and catapulted Sia into exactly the sort of position she wanted. She became one of pop music’s most celebrated songwriters (her credits include Rihanna’s “Diamonds”, Beyoncé’s “Pretty Hurts”, Britney Spears’ “Perfume,” and Katy Perry’s “Chained to the Rhythm”) as well as becoming a mega-artist in her own right thanks to singles like “Chandelier” and “Cheap Thrills.” She’s since called “Titanium” the best thing to happen to her career.
“Titanium” appeared on NOW That’s What I Call Music 43, alongside other dance hits like Calvin Harris and Ne-Yo’s smash “Let’s Go.” Looking for more stories behind music’s biggest hits? Check out the Now! That’s What I Call Music page.
The Dublin rapper will release a new mixtape made in collaboration with producer owin called Get A Life!…
