A big thank you to Radio Dolby 89.6FM for this podcast interview – hopefully an interesting audio documentary, and a chance to put the music (and stories behind it) over the years into context… here’s my life story so far, or at least a lot of the music parts!
Continue reading “Radio Dolby 89.6FM interview”Category: Best of
7″ singles
2x new 7″ lathe cut singles:
Jovial Blade / Extant Body & Weight
“Some seriously scrambled dissonance. 80’s vocals hits 60’s electro/cut-up nonsense whilst smothering an ever mutating bassline […] the track contains more musical ideas in its 5 mins than some exhibit in some musical careers.” – Simon Baker, What Lies Beneath
(Dave solo – A-side is bass & electronics, B-side is clarinet & electronics)
and
The Troubled Times: Cellophane
Discs manufactured in NZ by Johnny Electric
Continue reading “7″ singles”Quietism (2024)
Early 2024 – the first new recordings made since the 25-year-spanning 2CD compilation; the start of the fiffdimension 2nd quarter-century.
Listen
Video
About
By Dave Edwards– early 2024, summertime in NZ –
Solo suite for electric guitar, bass and electric drums – one single take of each, using overdubs to create a virtual trio.
Tracks 1-3 and 12 recorded early January 2024 – the rest recorded 6th February 2024, in Featherston, Aotearoa / New Zealand
The title ‘Quietism‘ refers not so much to the sound, but to the absence of vocals – or any reference to current news or politics. Part of the fiffdimension aesthetic is a certain wilful irrelevance, and ignoring of trends.
The last track ‘Hypnopompia‘ (waking up) experiments with a possible new ambient style.
The cover art is an abstract scribble drawing – attempting to bypass conscious self-doubt and create ‘something… anything’. A theme also explored in works such as Assembling Disconsonant (2023).
Tracklist
Continue reading “Quietism (2024)”2023 roundup
December 2023 marked the 25th anniversary of fiffdimension!
– we celebrated with the double CD compilation:
Electric (yang) / Acoustic (yin)
– 2CD compilation 1998-2023
“Double disc collection of more than two decades’ worth of live and studio-recorded tunes by Dave Edwards, who you may have heard recently as part of The Troubled Times with Antony Milton. It’s quite a diverse listen!
You get some concise and catchy pop songs, some full-on rockers, banjo excursions, improv freak-out, poetry, acoustic blues, folk songs, scrambled noise… there’s something here for everybody. A good intro to Dave’s dauntingly deep discography.”
– Howard Stelzer, Noisy Bandcamp.
A collection of short tracks by Dave Edwards and collaborators.
Celebrating 25 years of fiffdimension!
2CD double album. 35 tracks spanning 25 years. Comes in gatefold card case with full colour photography by Jechtography and James Gilberd. Includes download of the digital album.
Produced by Antony Milton; and features Paul Winstanley, Chris O’Connor, Simon O’Rorke, Chris Palmer, Sam Prebble, Mike Kingston, Francesca Mountfort, Damian Stewart, Emit Snake-Beings, Nat da Hatt, Steve Duffels, and Oscar (the dog). The 2CD compilation focuses on Dave Edwards’ guitar and banjo compositions in New Zealand and Australia, their acoustic/electric duality, and boils down a quarter-century of restless creativity to two concise discs.
Live 2022-24
2023 was also notable for the return of live music to the Wairarapa.
https://fiffdimension.bandcamp.com/album/live-2022-24
Dave also collaborated with
The Troubled Times
Antony Milton – electric guitar Dave Edwards – bass David Heath – drums
| Another (****ing) Sunday | Elevate |
Limited Edition classy glassy mastered CD Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album Only 100 copies of this. Pro manufactured glass mastered CD packaged in 4 panel card wallet. | A contrasting companion piece, with all but the last track recorded the same day; a thoroughly kinetic affair bursting with energy and ecstatic passion. |
| Live in Featherston | Son Sun Sum |
Our debut live gig, at Common Ground gallery in Featherston | For the third year in a row, we recorded on the first day of daylight savings – this time with a bigger bass amp. |
& in January they released on cassette or download :
Hill Road in Winter
“a loud and noisy nocturnal romp through the hills and onto the gravel back roads of one of Aotearoa/New Zealand’s least visited regions. All recorded ‘New Zealand style’ in [my] garage.”
Antony Milton
Assembling disconsonant
(Dave Edwards solo acoustic guitar, banjo, spoken word, May 2023)
“I liked the lyrics… the the way meaning gets assembled through shattered snap shots of a picture we may never see”
Dr Emit Snake-Beings
& a work in progress (more to come in 2024):
Poems & Lyrics by John Collie (1856)
An adaptation of the book, by 19th century Scottish poet John Collie (of Boyndie) – recorded by his descendants in New Zealand: Dave Edwards, nephews Hans and Rhys Landon-Lane, and guest appearances by The Troubled Times and Dr Emit Snake-Beings.
“T’were a noble sight to see the mighty men of old, who bled that their countries might be free from the tyrants’ fatal hold – yet I’d deem it a nobler sight by far to behold the sons of the harp & lyre!
“[…] If aught can claim a spirit’s admiration, Sure it must be this beautiful creation“
John Collie (1834-1893)
2CD compilation 1998-2023
Celebrating 25 years of fiffdimension!
Electric (yang) / Acoustic (yin)
A collection of short tracks by Dave Edwards and collaborators.
“Double disc collection of more than two decades’ worth of live and studio-recorded tunes by Dave Edwards, who you may have heard recently as part of The Troubled Times with Antony Milton. It’s quite a diverse listen!
“You get some concise and catchy pop songs, some full-on rockers, banjo excursions, improv freak-out, poetry, acoustic blues, folk songs, scrambled noise… there’s something here for everybody. A good intro to Dave’s dauntingly deep discography.”
– Howard Stelzer, Noisy Bandcamp.
Produced by Antony Milton; and features Paul Winstanley, Chris O’Connor, Simon O’Rorke,Chris Palmer, Sam Prebble, Mike Kingston, Francesca Mountfort, Damian Stewart, Emit Snake-Beings, Nat da Hatt, Steve Duffels, and Oscar (the dog).
2CD double album. 35 tracks spanning 25 years. Comes in gatefold card case with full colour photography by Jechtography and James Gilberd. Includes download of the digital album.
Review
Continue reading “2CD compilation 1998-2023”“Electric (Yang)/Acoustic (Yin) boasts some wildly different tracks; short instrumentals (the guitar and percussion of King Street Boogie, the piano and birdsong of Tui and Grey Sky, the guitar, rain, and bucket- possibly oboe too- of Classical Rain Bucket), song-length instrumentals (the gorgeous and floaty Kalbarri Coastline, the spaced-out psychedelia of Shuffling The Tarot, October Ring‘s sweet little guitar melody being countered by its evil twin sowing dissent and discord), spoken word over free-forming instruments (After The Filmshoot describing either a spiritual experience or very good drugs… or both, @Bomb The Space sounding like a guitar being attacked, Ornery Return Cravings spoken over sheer instrumental chaos), and occasionally, songs too (the stripped-back post-punk glory of Tony Was Here, the slithery, smoky, speakeasy feel of Cafes In Conversation, Inverno creeping in like a fever-dream of The Cramps, and the beautiful, emotionally-charged Paetumokai (Pua pua i te Koanga)). Dave Edwards is a thoughtful and talented writer, composer, and performer. This double album ably demonstrates that, from the soft, delightful guitar ramblings on Stromatolites, to Wealth And Riches that sounds for all the world like a battle to the death between a drumkit and a horde of toy robots.
“He doesn’t seem to so much want to push boundaries, as to act like he’s never heard of boundaries in the first place. At times soft and beautiful, at others dark and jarring, it makes for fascinating listening.” – Peter Malthus, muzic.nz
The Troubled Times: Another (****ing) Sunday
The first physical CD by The Troubled Times (Antony Milton, Dave Edwards, David Heath),
Fizzy dreamy shambolic ramblings from the Wairarapa‘s dustiest garage.
Instant songs committed to disk for posterity.
‘Another Sunday’ CD series
This was the first chapter in Antony Milton’s acclaimed ‘Another Sunday‘ series of CDs:
anothersunday.bandcamp.com – different artists, each making an album with the same title.
Other discs in the series include Michael Morley, Greymouth, Seht, Teen Haters, Perpets, and Sunset Temples
video
credits
released August 1, 2023
David Heath- drums
Dave Edwards– bass
Antony Milton– guitar/vocals, video, CD producer
2022 roundup
fiffdimension vol4, águas brilhantes: 2018-2022, sums up the last few years’ here:
2022
Has been a productive year… there’s a (mostly) solo instrumental album (also ft Oscar the dog);
two albums by the Troubled Times – collaboration with Antony Milton now a trio with David Heath on drums;
recordings with my nephews Hans and Rhys Landon-Lane towards Poems & Lyrics by John Collie (1856) – with words written by our ancestor;
and a multimedia spoken word + improvised music collaboration with the award-winning painter James Robinson;
águas brilhantes: 2018-2022
“We go from bossa nova rhythms to folk to RIO to indie to, what is interesting listening if nothing else, a dog howling along to a banjo (Oscar’s Blues) […] and songs taken from Poems & Lyrics (in the Scotch dialect) (1856), where Dave paid tribute to his ancestor John Collie who wrote a book of poems more than 150 years ago.
“It is unusual to find someone playing so confidently in such diverse areas, and anyone into independent music will certainly find something on here to enjoy – Kev Rowland, muzic.nz
Listen
About
- fiffdimension compilation vol 4 (a followup to Gleefully Unknown: 1997-2005, Fame & Oblivion: 2005-2012, and Other Islands: 2012-2018)
- Made in Featherston, Masterton and Port Chalmers (NZ), Paris (France), and Suva (Fiji)
- Includes tracks by The Troubled Times, Campbell Kneale & Dave Black, James Robinson & fiffdimension, Oscar (the dog), and poems & lyrics by John Collie (1834-1893)
águas brilhantes (or ‘glistening waters’ in English) is the Portuguese translation of Wairarapa, the Māori name of the region where I’ve lived the last few years.
My ancestors arrived here in the 19th century – one was a Scottish poet, another a stowaway from the Azores islands.
This compilation includes pieces inspired by the region and my ancestors, and new and old collaborators – including a torch-passing to younger members of my family.
Credits1
by Dave Edwards – guitars, bass, banjo, harmonica, vocal, lyrics
with
- Antony Milton – keyboard, electric guitar (The Troubled Times)
- David Heath – drums (The Troubled Times)
- Campbell Kneale – electric guitar & analogue synthesiser on ‘both chords’
- Hans Landon-Lane – ukulele, accordion, vocal (Clever Hansel)
- Celeste Rochery – guitar & vocal on ‘My Native Land’
- James Robinson – bell drum on ‘June’s Lounge‘, lyrics & vocal on ‘the edge‘ and ‘old brain‘
- John Collie (1834-1893) – Poems & Lyrics (in the English and Scotch Dialects, 1856)
- Dr Emit Snake-Beings – keyboards & percussion (in Fiji)
- Elario Irava – acoustic guitar & vocal (from Fiji)
- Nat da Hatt – electric guitar & thumb piano on ‘June’s Lounge‘
- The Digitator – keyboards & vocal on ‘Inverno‘
- Oscar – vocal on ‘Oscar’s blues‘
- Rhys Landon-Lane – classical guitar & vocal on ‘by my faith sirs this canna lang dee‘
released December 22, 2022
Tracklist
Features previously unreleased recordings, and tracks from
Further listening: the albums












The Winter: Shortest Days 2003-2015
A compilation by Wellington NZ free improv trio The Winter
Simon Sweetman – drums, percussion
Mike Kingston – guitars, cello (2-5), clarinet (7,11,14), charango (7,10)
Dave Edwards – guitars, vocal (3), harmonica (4,7,9), banjo (7), ukulele (7,9,11), saxophone (10,14), piano (10), bass (12,13), electronics (6,8,13)
Wellington, New Zealand,
free improv music trio, formed on winter solstice day June 2003.
An archive compilation,
Continue reading “The Winter: Shortest Days 2003-2015”Other Islands: 2012-2018
“The 20 song album covers traditional Javanese and Balinese gamelan, Asian folk music, to free jazz, and free noise. It’s not for anyone with narrow preconceived ideas about what music is, but it is for everyone else.
“If you have an open inquiring mind and love hearing a variety of sound, this is excellent.” – Darryl Baser, muzic.net.nz
- fiffdimension compilation vol3 – (see also Gleefully Unknown: 1997-2005, Fame & Oblivion: 2005-2012, and águas Brilhantes: 2018-2022)
- Made in New Zealand, Okinawa (Japan), Western Australia, Indonesia, and Fiji.
- Includes tracks by The Winter, Dave Black & Nat da Hatt, Confluence Quintet, Gamelan Sekar Puri, Gamelan Padhang Moncar, Gamelan Taniwha Jaya, The Electricka Zoo, Dave Black & Snake Beings, Dave Black & Campbell Kneale.
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,
- 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.









If you enjoy this, try the previous compilations








































































































