Mdou Moctar: Ilana: The Creator
- Ilana: The Creator is the fifth album, but first true studio album, from Mdou Moctar - guitarist and singer from Niger. Mdou is of the nomadic Tuareg people of the Sahara Desert - a culture which these days, if people have heard of it, it's as likely as anything to be because of its guitar music.
Laura Imbruglia: Scared Of You
- Laura Imbruglia’s new record, Scared of You, is her first in six years. On first listen, it’s clear her delivery and structure has matured in the interim, with considerably less cowbell, crisp production and nuanced exploration of multiple genres across the ten tracks. What’s still most exciting, though, is her brash refusal to file down any of the jagged edges that are similarly embraced by many of my favourite fully-grown female musicians - Jen Cloher, Jodie Flange and Patience Hodgson all come to mind.
Various Artists: Nigeria 70: No Wahala - Highlife, Afro-Funk & Juju 1973-1987
- When you think about influential music from the West African nation Nigeria, the artist who most obviously comes to mind is the legendary Fela Kuti, whose fusion of local folk and popular music with American-influenced funk and R&B became known as Afrobeat.
Quelle Chris: Guns
- Quelle Chris is Detroit's best kept secret. An underground mainstay for the better half of two decades, Chris has painstakingly built a reputation off album after album of unique concepts, charming lyricism, and colourful production to match. His latest, simply titled Guns, follows up 2017's one-of-a-kind Being You Is Great: a top to bottom deconstruction of Quelle's psyche packing all the emotional depth of an existential crisis into its diverse track listing.
11am Zedlines
Photo Source: Flickr
Saudi women’s rights activists temporarily released from detention
Three of the eleven Saudi women’s activists detained for speaking out against the Saudi Arabian government’s treatment of women have been temporarily released from detention.
Lynn Maalouf from Amnesty International has said that while the releases should be celebrated, it should not be on a temporary basis.
Maalouf said “Amnesty International calls on the Saudi authorities to drop all charges against them and the other women’s rights defenders, who must all be released immediately and unconditionally.”
Wow Air failure: 'They gave us pizza - then cancelled our flight'
An estimated 10 thousand people were left stranded by the collapse of Iceland’s Wow Air last Thursday, with many families requiring accommodation due to cancelled flights.
Wow Air, which also operated flights from UK airports Gatwick, Stansted and Edinburgh, had been in talks this week with bondholders in an effort to raise new money.
On Thursday Wow's website said it had ceased operations and cancelled all flights. Adding that passengers needing to travel should book with other airlines.
Labor plans for changes to capital gain tax and negative gearing
Labor plans for changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing to take effect by 1 January if it is elected at the May election.
Today the shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen, announced Labor will take just seven months to consult on and pass its signature housing tax policies and added a new measure to improve tax concessions for build-to-rent schemes.
Lismore co-operative latest acquisition places them as the largest processor of macadamias
Shareholders of the Macadamia Processing Company (MPC) have voted overwhelmingly in favour of acquiring the remaining shares in Pacific Gold Macadamias (PGM).
MPC already had a 37 per cent stake in the Bundaberg processor, and it’s latest acquisition will consolidate the Lismore-based co-operative as the largest macadamia processor in the world.
Multi-million-dollar National Suicide Prevention Trial bringing hope and concerns to high-risk communities
In a week that Indigenous organisations are calling for national action on youth suicide, communities are also raising concerns about a $48 million National Suicide Prevention Trial that is happening at 12 high-risk sites.
Communities are hopeful the trial will work, but some have raised concerns about a lack of infrastructure and the uncertainty about what will happen after the four-year trial is over.