DIY outsider music, from Aotearoa NZ and beyond
A new archival release, of early postpunk instrumental improv by ex-Taranaki duo the Electricka Zoo
recorded in 2016, this has nothing to do with Brexit or Trump!
These informal recordings are a precursor to our 2017 debut album proper, The Electricka Zoo
Continue reading “Streaming Silver (2016)”fiffdimension vol3
(see also Gleefully Unknown: 1997-2005 and Fame & Oblivion: 2005-2012)
brings us into the current decade – with further wide-ranging experimentation and exploration sonically, temporally and geographically, in New Zealand, Western Australia, Indonesia, Okinawa (Japan), and Fiji.
by Dave Black (acoustic & electric guitars, banjo, harmonica, laptop, bass, tenor saxophone, field recordings, piano, ukulele, sanshin, saron, jublag, demung, vocal), with
Mike Kingston (charango, acoustic guitar),
Simon Sweetman (percussion),
Nat da Hatt (electric guitar, keyboards, banjo),
Emit Snake-Beings (banjo, vocal, percussion, flute, electronics),
the Digitator (electric drums, keyboards & loops),
Campbell Kneale (electric guitar, analogue synthesiser),
Cylvi M (vocal, field recordings, percussion, shakuhachi),
Blair Latham (bass clarinet),
Simon O’Rorke (keyboards),
Chris Prosser (violin),
Julie Bevan (acoustic guitar),
plus Indonesian gamelan ensembles led by Sofari Hidayat, Budi Putra, and Gareth Farr,
a song by my great-great-grandfather John Collie (1856),
and field recordings from Western Australia, Indonesia, Okinawa (Japan), and Fiji.
Featuring tracks from the albums
The Winter: Flying Visit (2012)
in the non-idiomatic idiom in Norway (1999/2014)
ネオン列車の風景 Neon Train Landscapes (2010-15)
Ngumbang (2014-15)
The Winter: Exit Points (2015)
The Electricka Zoo (2017)
and previously unheard tracks.
And hear the previous compilations
2016 has been another busy year here, with several new projects that should come to fruition in 2017.
My first visit to a Pacific island country, apart from my own (though the term is ambiguous – I’m not counting Australia, Indonesia or Japan). I’d always wanted to visit Fiji, due to family connections… I may have even been conceived there. A week’s visit to Viti Levu, the largest and most populated island, in September was all too short but still a great introductory taster.
First stop was Nadi, Continue reading “Viti Levu, Fiji”
Two audience videos at the Indonesia Festival at Te Papa national museum in Wellington, NZ:
Gamelan music, in styles from Bali by Gamelan Taniwha Jaya
and central Java by Gamelan Padhang Moncar.
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Te Marae, Level 4
Sunday 23 October 2016, 10am-5pm
This was a full day of music, dance, song, and batik fashion from Indonesia.
The Electricka Zoo performed a battery-powered guerilla gig in Wellington last Friday.
We’re taking a break for the rest of this month to travel separately overseas, but look forward to bringing you some gig announcements for the last third of 2016… as well as these tunes we’re working on coalescing into an album.
Gamelan Padhang Moncar featured on Metro TV news in Indonesia today.
Happy Indonesian Independence Day, 17th August!
The Digitator: New Zealand Producer, Songwriter, Vocalist, Drummer, Synth Driver, Live Looping Musician.
A fellow traveller from Taranaki, New Zealand, who formed The Electricka Zoo in late 2015 with Dave Black.
Continue reading “The Digitator”
St Patrick’s College Hall, Kilbirnie
A small gadon group from Gamelan Padhang Moncar will perform at this festival, which will feature a wide range of performances from many cultural groups (European and Māori, Pacific and Asian) as well food stalls and face-painting. More information here.
This event is to raise funds for the seismic strengthening of their historic building which is currently a busy building site rather than a place of worship.
Gamelan Padhang Moncar – 11:30am (followed by Indonesian dancers)
Gamelan Padhang Moncar have in the past held some very special music events at the church of St Mary of the Angels, involving their wonderful choir (Vita Brevis and Darkness to Light).
East to West will be screening this Saturday in Invercargill, as part of the Southland Arts Festival. I’ll be there in person to add some live musical accompaniment.
See www.creativesouthland.co.nz
East to West takes the audience on a journey half way around the world from New Zealand, across Australia, via a dozen countries including Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, Russia, Albania, Portugal and more.
This will be my first performance in Southland, and my first South Island project in nearly a decade – see also South Island Sessions
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