Mrs Rice
(Dual Plover - DP41) CD $15.00 (Out-of-stock)
Only the government of Australia would dispatch a lunatic artist known for smashing amplified glass against his face to China as a cultural ambassador. Fortunately for Lucas Abela (aka Justice Yeldham), such a profile describes him perfectly. In Beijing for less than two months, he formed the pick up band Rice Corpse (named after the Chinese character for shit, which itself is the combination of two characters for corpse and rice), and jammed with them four times (two of which appear on Mrs Rice) before heading off for a ten-city tour of China. First to be recruited for drums was Yang Yang, whose antics in his own band Mafeisan have earned him a reputation as the craziest exponent of the conservative Beijing scene. His ultra-loud, out, and proud personality starkly contrasts with the mild-mannered and brutally shy saxophonist Li Zenghui, who came to the project as pianist, because, simply put, there were no suitable pianists in the city. Together as a trio for a limited time and without a common language to interrupt, they managed to create six varied and strangely focused improvisations. This despondent attempt at musicality is by far Abela’s most accessible work to date; the Yang-and-Li rhythm section forced the seasoned glass man to take the instrument in surprising new directions. TEDIUM HOUSE BEST OF 2009