THE WORLD'S BEST BROKEN GLASS PLAYER Lucas Abela has always been a hard man to ignore. Even before adopting broken glass and the Justice Yeldham moniker, he was destroying records with power tools, attaching effects pedals to trampolines, and 'banging on metal' as a self-described Gold Coast teenage goth. I sat down with Lucas and his 2 year old son Ernie (a budding noise artist) to snack on carob and chat all things glass biting, instrument building, free improvising, and expectation subverting. The musical snippets bookending each section are taken from Justice Yeldham's forthcoming release on Feeding Tube Records . Justice Yeldham is playing a FREE show at The Foundry this Thursday May 9th, supported by Barbry Allen, Wrong Man, and Lilith. Check out the Facebook event for more details. Early Years Lucas spent his high school days bouncing between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, channeling teenage angst into primitive sonic explorations. These year

LISTEN Lo-fi Jazz Funk Beats 24/7 I always find it interesting when a jazz musician steps into the spotlight for their own project. At just twenty-one years of age, guitarist Mansur Brown has already made a name for himself within London's bustling jazz revival. Fans of the scene will recognise his aggressive yet dynamic playing from Yussef Kamaal ’s seminal Black Focus album. On that project, Mansur showcased incredible technical range, moving from Hendrix -like soloing to laying down ghostly ambience without breaking a sweat. His ability to balance fiery aggression with a delicate sense of melody helped establish a unique voice for Brown within an over-saturated landscape of guitar players. (dont get me started) It's this duality which defines Shiroi , Mansur's debut released on Black Focus Records. However, unlike the funk jams we've heard Brown on before, Shiroi is as much an instrumental hip-hop album as it is a jazz one. Most tracks stru

LISTEN I DON'T SNORT CAINE, I BUMP WAYNE SHORTER Hip-hop at the moment is just plain weird. Since trampling rock music a few years back, the genre has become an unstoppable boulder of cultural relevance backed by three decades of momentum. It's a level of saturation near impossible to comprehend, where just keeping up with trends can feel like a spectator sport. Similarly electric is the idea that stars can come from anywhere. Though this is laughably optimistic, as finding creative rappers on platforms like Soundcloud can feel like looking for a needle in an autotuned haystack. In other words, I'm glad I found this album. Bullies is the self-titled debut from a newly named trio of producer Azarias with MCs Denmark Vessey and DrxQuinnx . While I'm unfamiliar with the latter, Vessey and Azarias caught my attention in 2017 after casually releasing one of the decade's most wildly creative hip-hop albums under Buy Muy Drugs . Their debut unrave

LISTEN MY GOALS IS LIMITED, JUST WANNA BE THE BEST With Hiding Places , Billy Woods cements himself as one of the greatest lyricists hip-hop has ever seen. I rarely front-load my reviews with such bold claims but Billy's not one to sing his own praises. A shadowy stalwart of New York's underground whose prolific 2000s group output went largely unnoticed, Woods returned his focus to solo albums with 2012's phenomenal History Will Absolve Me . In the years that followed, fans have been treated to an entire novel's worth of cryptic yet confrontational street poetry, suggesting a grand narrative that's almost intangible. Billy's verses read like scattered fragments of a diary, recurring esoteric references and a pitch black sense of humour helping to connect the dots. But let's first talk about how he raps. Woods' vocal style is best compared to the impassioned sermons of a street preacher. Each line is effortlessly quotable, shouted

LISTEN NINE/FOUR Shamin is the cleverly titled collaboration between percussionist Benjamin SHAnnon and pianist Sophie MIN (get it?). The duo began playing together in Martin Kay 's wonky third-stream jazz ensemble Forage , splintering off last year to focus on personal composition. I've since caught a few of Shamin's shows and they were totally unhinged, in the best way possible. The group's templates covered everything from glacial chord suspensions to syncopated rhythmic thunderstorms and lopsided melodic funk. After watching Ben and Sophie workshop these pieces for recording, I wondered how their fiery live performance would translate to a digital format. Nine odd tunes make up debut fine gnaw , refining Forage's off-kilter chaos into something more focused and direct. Shannon's tumbling grooves scatter and form beneath Min's erratic swathes of tonal colour. I mentioned compositions earlier on but sparse, improvised soundsc

LISTEN PRETTY BOYS DONT SURVIVE UP NORTH HATE is a sort of underground electronic super-group, connecting the dub techno talents of Andy Stott with forward-thinking contemporaries Miles Whittaker and Greg Howell . Instead of stylistic compromise, the trio find common ground through a shared love of classic UK jungle.  Bad History effectively tributes this scene with a sound that's modern and complex. Where similar albums have fallen prey to revisionist critiques, HATE find strength in diversity. Tracks are rapidly distilled and reshaped around their raw elements, carefully dissecting jungle's core. The trio lace innovation into an established style that acknowledges tradition whilst constantly subverting it. Although surprisingly cohesive, HATE's constant experimentation offers glimpses of individual thought. Ideas converge within the larger whole to occasionally highlight specific members. Synth-heavy moments throughout Side A strongly recall Sto