Angel Olsen: All Mirrors
- On her fourth album, her third signed to Jagjaguwar, American rock auteur Angel Olsen delivers her grandest work yet. All Mirrors is a chilling and captivating take on orchestral rock. Here Angel Olsen has reinvented herself, with no similarities to any of her former works. The only indication of this being a project by her at all is that raw howl of a voice, one that she unleashed previously in Burn Your Fire For No Witness's High Five and MY WOMAN’s Shut Up Kiss Me.
Demon Days: Taking It Slow This Time
- As a neo-soul group with a female lead vocalist in 2019 it’s hard to escape the influence of two huge records from the past few years. First is The Internet’s Ego Death, a gritty and spacey album from the LA-based, Odd Future-related group, jam-packed with machismo and smoothness led by, Syd The Kyd. Second is Melbourne’s Hiatus Kaiyote with Choose Your Weapon, part neo-soul choose-your-own-adventure, part beat-tape, also lead by a fearsome female, Nai Palm.
Indonesian human rights lawyer will not be silenced
Indonesian human rights lawyer, Veronica Koman, who is one of Indonesia’s most wanted people, says she won’t be silenced, despite daily death threats.
Ms Koman said, “they’re trying to kill the messenger. They cannot refute my data, all the footage they cannot refute that so they’re trying to destroy my credibility.”
Ms Koman is unable to return to her home country due to fears of persecution.
Police officer filmed throwing rocks at a wombat
South Australia Police are currently investigating a video that depicts an off-duty officer abusing a wombat by throwing rocks at it, posted on the Wombat Awareness Organisation Facebook page.
Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said he viewed the footage this morning and confirmed the man in the video was a police officer.
An Aboriginal elder has defended the ‘cultural practice’ as a traditional way of killing wombats.
Three drug smugglers arrested in Colombia
According to the Colombian navy, three suspected drug smugglers survive hours in shark-infested waters by clinging to their floating bales of cocaine.
Captain of Colombia’s Task Force Against Drug Trafficking, Jorge Maldonado said, “the three men were allegedly smuggling 1.2 tonnes of cocaine out of Tumaco in Colombia when their boat was hit by a wave and capsized.”
The men are in good health and will face drug trafficking charges.
400km of dead mangroves have been found in Gulf of Carpentaria
After a recent scientific monitoring trip, scientists have found 400km of dead and badly damaged mangroves in Gulf of Carpentaria.
The remote area suffered what is believed to be the worst mass dieback of mangroves ever recorded in 2015.
Professor Norman Duke of James Cook University said "the mangroves hit in the 2015 dieback are already vulnerable because they are just recovering. All this dead wood that becomes like projectiles."
Australia's best young musicians gather at the Queensland Conservatorium
More than a thousand young musicians will attend the biggest State Honours Ensemble Program in history at the Queensland Conservatorium this weekend.
Professor Gemma Carey, Acting Director of the Queensland Conservatorium, said "this is the largest ever cohort with many more nominations received from schools than they were able to accommodate."
High school students from around the country will travel to Brisbane for four days of intensive rehearsals, tutorials and concerts as part of the program.
CityCats will become dog-friendly before Christmas
Dogs will be allowed on Brisbane’s CityCats and ferries before Christmas after 86 per cent of people supported the idea in a TransLink survey.
Mark Bailey, Transport Minister, said TransLink was surprised the idea was also supported by people who did not own dogs.
However, dogs will not be allowed to travel during the peak times of 6am to 8:30am or between 3:30pm and 7pm Monday to Friday.
Carla Dal Forno: Look Up Sharp
- It feels as though Carla Dal Forno should almost be a household name by now, at least by Australian independent music standards. The London via Melbourne diy-pop luminary has been a constant presence since the release of her debut album You Know What It’s Like in 2016. Her dreamy blend of Eno style ambient/pop studioship and dub-wise post-punk meandering has proven to have a uniquely enduring appeal as she’s toured extensively throughout Europe and America and garnered lavish praise for both her debut album and the follow up EP The Garden.
Wilco: Ode To Joy
- In recent years, Wilco have taken to puerility when titling their albums. This is evidenced in their last two records, humorously titled, Star Wars and Schmilco. However, they've gone in the opposite direction with their latest, Ode to Joy, which shares the name of Beethoven’s well-known classic. Perhaps unfitting of the aforementioned releases, Ode to Joy’s grandiose title, in a perverse way, is more apt to the work at hand.