Best of

Other Islands: 2012-2018

Posted on 29/04/2018 Updated on 14/12/2018

fiffdimension vol3

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), Cylvi M (vocal, field recordings, percussion, shakuhachi), Emit Snake-Beings (vocal, percussion, flute, electronics), Blair Latham (bass clarinet), Simon O’Rorke (synthesiser), Chris Prosser (violin), Julie Bevan (acoustic guitar), the Digitator (electric drums, keyboards & loops), Campbell Kneale (electric guitar, analogue synthesiser),

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.

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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 (2010-2015)

Ngumbang (2014-2015)

The Winter: Exit Points (2010/2015)

The Electricka Zoo (2017)

and previously unheard tracks,

and hear the previous compilations

Gleefully Unknown: 1997-2005

and Fame & Oblivion: 2005-2012

New releases coming in 2017

Posted on 24/04/2017 Updated on 21/12/2017

Coming soon in 2017… new projects on the go, available to pre-order.

The Electricka Zoo

The debut album from the Hutt Valley guitar/bass and live electronica duo – full of eclectic electric sonic surprises.

and

Other Islands: 2012-2017

Our third overview compilation* of album tracks and previously unreleased recordings – made in Okinawa, Indonesia, Western Australia, Fiji, and New Zealand.

Pre-order now and you’ll be automatically sent the download link to the full albums once these are released, along with bonus material not available for streaming.

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Also coming in the near future, two new field-recording based albums made of sounds from Western Australia and Indonesia. We didn’t release an album in 2016, but that wasn’t for lack of ideas!

This entry was posted in 2017, Best of, Music, New Zealand, the Electricka Zoo and tagged alternative, Dave Black, Dave Edwards, electric guitar, electroacoustic, ethnomusicology, field recordings, fiffdimension, Free improv, New Zealand music, The Winter, travel.

Fame & Oblivion: 2005-2012

Posted on 22/12/2013 Updated on 16/11/2018

“This is something that he has to do, that he will do, come fame or oblivion” –Chris Knox

Now available on Spotify, iTunes, Bandcamp, Deezer etc

The second volume of fiffdimension’s best-of compilations (a sequel to Gleefully Unknown: 1997-2005) sees increasingly wide-ranging experimentation and exploration both sonically and geographically, from New Zealand and beyond to Australia and East Asia, and a reinvention as Dave Black.

Whereas the first volume Gleefully Unknown: 1997-2005 showed a youthful kiwi fusion of songs with more avant-garde spoken word and instrumental pieces, Fame & Oblivion: 2005-2012 documents me in my late 20s and early 30s moving beyond these parameters.

My approach became less introspective and more journalistic – thanks to new influences from years spent living abroad in Australia, South Korea and Japan. New elements include the banjo, electronica, field recordings, multimedia performances, and touches of traditional Asian music. I also adopted the moniker Dave Black, to differentiate from my earlier works.

A third volume, Other Islands: 2012-2018 documents my return to NZ and more recent works.

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Featuring tracks from the albums

Ascension Band: Evolution (2005)

After Maths & Sciences (2005-2006)

South Island Sessions (2006)

First Time Around: East Asia (2008)

The Winter: 2011 (2011)

The Winter: Exit Points (2010/2015)

ネオン列車の風景 Neon Train Landscapes (2010-2015)

and previously unheard tracks

by Dave Black (acoustic & electric guitars, banjo, harmonica, laptop, bass, tenor saxophone, field recordings, piano, gayageum, vocal), with

Mike Kingston (acoustic guitar), Simon Sweetman (percussion), Nat da Hatt (electric guitar, keyboards), Hayden Gifkins (electric guitar), Nigel Patterson (hammond organ), Ryan Prebble (tone generator), Matthew Thornicroft (electric guitar), Cylvi M (vocal, field recordings, percussion, shakuhachi), Jeff Henderson (drums), Noel Meek (vocal), Clever Hansel (ukulele)

and field recordings from Australia, South Korea, Thailand, Mongolia, and Japan.

If you enjoy this, try the first volume Gleefully Unknown: 1997-2005 and the third, Other Islands: 2012-2018

This entry was posted in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, Asia, Australia, Best of, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Music, New Zealand, Thailand and tagged acoustic, acoustic guitar, Asia, Australia, avant-garde, banjo, clarinet, Cylvi M, Dave Black, Dave Edwards, electric, electric guitar, electroacoustic, ethnomusicology, experimental, field recordings, fiffdimension, folk, harmonica, improvisation, kiwi, korea, nat da hatt, New Nealand, New Zealand music, piano, rock, saxophone, songs, spoken word, Wellington, world.

Gleefully Unknown: 1997-2005

Posted on 16/12/2013 Updated on 01/05/2018

A compilation of songs, spoken word and instrumentals from the first half of my gloriously unsuccessful career to date:

Now available from Spotify, Bandcamp etc

“Whilst shopping from fiffdimension make sure to get hold of ‘Gleefully Unknown’, a best-of compilation of Dave Edwards’ music from 1997 to 2005. Rough outsider folk-blues mysteries, dissonant rock textures, electric and acoustic improvisations… Edwards strikes me as one of the most overlooked musicians from the fertile lands of New Zealand and if you need a fresh start this might very well be the place.” – Mats Gustafsson, The Broken Face