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 

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 TarotOctober Rings 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 ConversationInverno 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

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Live 2023

Dave Edwards live solo at Solway Showgrounds, Masterton NZ

24th June + 19th August 2023

at ‘The Next Big Thing Wairarapa

Continue reading “Live 2023”

The Troubled Times: Son Sum Sun

For the third year in a row, we held a recording session on the first day of daylight savings – a short session of spaced out noisy psychedelic ‘rock jams’ this time.

A highlight this session was a bigger & louder bass amp!

Credits

Dave Edwards – Bass
David Heath – Drums
Antony Milton – Guitar

released October 13, 2023

Tracklist

1.Ventures Sans Hairspray 12:54
2.Calliper Waltz 02:34
3.Ad For Rolling Down 07:48
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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

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The Hurricane Wrangle (a butcher-revue)

live in Masterton NZ, 19-08-2023

A track from the Loose Autumn Moans album – originally recorded in 2003, and recently played live for the first time in 20 years!

credits

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The Troubled Times: live at Common Ground 15/07/23

Thank you everyone who came to The Troubled Times‘ live debut, in Featherston NZ

Live @Common Ground,
Featherston NZ, 15/7/23

Antony Milton – guitar David Heath – drums Dave Edwards – bass

Mānawatia a Matariki!

Thanks also to Zac and Holly Winterwood,

Continue reading “The Troubled Times: live at Common Ground 15/07/23”

Gamelan Dimensi Kelima (Indonesia, 2014)

Field recordings and gamelan from my visits to Indonesia in 2014.

As well as the tracks recorded in Indonesia, the album includes gamelan ensembles in Western Australia, and NZ between 2010-2018.

Listen


About

The album title translates to “Gamelan Fifth Dimension”.

Gamelan was introduced to New Zealand in the 1970s. It has an active scene in Wellington (my birthplace, where I first encountered it in 2010 – thanks to www.gamelan.org.nz ).

From 2012-2014 I lived in Perth, Western Australia, and played in the ensemble Gamelan Sekar Puri. From there I was able to visit Indonesia (and Malaysia) relatively affordably.

On returning home to New Zealand at the end of 2014, I spent the next few years as a member of the Wellington gamelan ensembles: Gamelan Taniwha Jaya (Balinese) and Gamelan Padhang Moncar (Javanese). In 2017 I moved to the Wairarapa, so travelling for regular rehearsals became impractical.

The field recordings were made in 2014 in Indonesia -in central Java, then Bali and Nusa Penida islands;

As well as very different scenery, cultures, cuisines and religion – the islands have strikingly different subgenres of gamelan. Stereotypically, the Javanese style is more hypnotic and meditative, while the Balinese style is faster and complex.

Yogyakarta and Surakarta, Central Java

Bali and Nusa Penida

Credits

  • Dave Edwards – saron, jublag, jegogan, field recordings, bass, electric guitar, tenor saxophone

The field recordings are mixed alongside gamelan ensembles, recorded between 2010-2018;:

Other collaborators

The album also includes other, more experimental Indonesia-inspired 2010s collaborations with fellow postpunk expat ethnomusicologists:

Tracklist

1.Gamelan Taniwha Jaya – Gareth Farr: Mummy, do monsters clean their teeth? (2010) (bonus) 01:20
2.Gamelan Sekar Puri – Ladrang (ayum jantan dari Perth?) 02:14
3.Borobudur ke Kraton ke Prambanan (Yogyakarta) 04:08
4.Gamelan Pura Mangkunegaran – Slendro dan pelog (?) 04:00
5.snakebeings + fiffdimension – Kuningan dan perunggu 02:50
6.Gamelan Taniwha Jaya – Gopala (Bali) (live at NZ School of Music, 2015) 01:15
7.Ubud scenes (Bali) 02:30
8.Nat da Hatt + fiffdimension – Lost in the Monkey Forest 03:47
9.snakebeings + fiffdimension – East to West: Indonesia (live at the Audio Foundation, 2014) 04:33
10.snakebeings + fiffdimension – Sampak Membengkak 03:41
11.Gamelan Padhang Moncar – Ladrang Slament Slendro Manyura + Ketawang Sinom Parijata 02:01
12.Gamelan Padhang Moncar – Nusantara (live at Te Papa, 2016) 02:29
13.Gamelan Padhang Moncar – Improvisasi (di musim panis Wairarapa) 01:49
14.Dimensi keempat dan kelima (2023) 08:13
15.Gamelan Taniwha Jaya – Teruna Jaya (live at Te Papa, 2016) 01:00
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Auld Satan when ye first gae through

Live version 24/6/23 – from http://www.fiffdimension.bandcamp.com/albums/poems-lyrics-in-the-scotch-dialect-1856

A ‘darker’ piece from Poems & Lyrics by John Collie (1856)

An electric arrangement also appears on Live 2022-24

Lyrics

AULD Satan , when ye first gae through Your regions dark and awful , A sma ‘ bit favour I would crave , Gif ye but think it lawful .

Gie my respects to Souter Will , The first time ye forgather ; And tell him that I’m wae to think Him lost for a ’ thegither .

For ministers and others say He straught to you was taken ; ‘ Cause he the creed o ‘ Scotland’s kirk Had mony a day forsaken .

Gif that be true , as it may be , Though faith I’m misbelieving , You ne’er met wi ‘ a slier coof , Since ye took to deceiving.

But use him well , and gif ye can , Oh gie ‘ im a bit promotion ; O ‘ a ‘ your buts and a ‘ your bens He ‘ shortly hae a notion .

But keep him aye beneath your thumb , And work him smooth and sweetly ; Or o’er your head he’ll tak your trade , And dam your luck completely .

credits

from Poems & Lyrics (in the Scotch dialect) (1856), releases August 10, 2023

The Troubled Times: Elevate

A contrasting companion piece to theAnother Sunday‘ CD

  • all but the last track were recorded during the same session, on 28/05/23)
  • Elevate is a thoroughly kinetic affair bursting with energy and ecstatic passion.

Avant jazz meets squealing rambunctious noise. A frenetic blast down to the end of the driveway and back. The set finishes with a tribute to Albert Ayler.

What more could you want? (well there’s The Troubled Times’ live debut coming up on 15 July….)

Videos

credits

Antony Milton – electric guitar Dave Edwards – bass David Heath – drums

releases July 15, 2023

Continue reading “The Troubled Times: Elevate”

Live in Masterton NZ, 24/6/23

Live in Masterton NZ, 24/6/23

Tracks from the Masterton gigs appear on

Live 2022-24

Thanks everyone !

Looking forward to returning on 15 July with The Troubled Times!

WHERE

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