the Electricka Zoo
Streaming Silver (2016)
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
Read the rest of this entry »ilhas Atlânticas
The last track on Spastic Rhythms vol 1 is a Dave Black solo rendition of a tune by the Electricka Zoo.
It originally appeared on The Electricka Zoo (2017), and on the Other Islands: 2012-2018 compilation. It’s based around a (non-diatonic) Cmaj7 – Amaj7 pattern, with a bossa nova rhythm.
The words are in (beginner) Portuguese:
Eu gosto de falar
no meus ancestrais
de as ilhas Atlânticas
Madeiras e Açores
It’s dedicated to my great-great-grandfather Manuel Bernard.
He was born in 1847 in Ponta Delgada, Flores Island, Azores, Portugal.
Portugal is the westernmost country in Europe, with its back to it geographically and culturally. It was the edge of the known world for Europeans until the Age of Discovery. The Azores islands are even further west.
As a teenager Manuel Bernard stowed away on a passing American whaling ship.
Read the rest of this entry »The Electricka Zoo – new tracks, late 2019
Here’s a pair of new (late 2019) tracks from The Electricka Zoo
Keyboards & electronica by the Digitator
& Dave Black on electric guitar
in Upper Hutt, New Zealand, November 2019
Get our album if you haven’t already!
Other Islands: 2012-2018
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.
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- The Winter: Flying Visit (2012)
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- 安里屋ユンタオーバードライブ Asadoya Yunta Overdrive (Okinawa), 2015
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- in the non-idiomatic idiom in Norway (1999/2014)
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- Ngumbang (2015)
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- The Winter: Exit Points (2015)
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- The Electricka Zoo (2017)
And hear the previous compilations
Friday 16th March @ Leroy’s
Postscript: thanks for coming along, keep an eye on www.fiffdimension.com/the-electricka-zoo for more!
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Friday 16 March, 8:00pm, free entry, @ Leroy’s Bar, 2 Plimmer Steps
New Zealand Fringe Festival:
Gigs in March 2018
Thanks everyone who came to our shows in March – the Electricka Zoo in the NZ Fringe Festival and Gamelan Padhang Moncar in Cubadupa.
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- The Electricka Zoo, 16-03-18
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- Gamelan Padhang Moncar 2018
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Friday 9th March:
The Electricka Zoo
with Vince Cabrera, Fredd the Shaman, and Muscleman
@ Pyramid Club, 272 Taranaki Street, Wellington, 8:30pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/492987794403961/
——————-
Saturday 10th March:
The Electricka Zoo
@ Esc Velocity, 74 Fox Street, Featherston, 8:30pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/1479626238798073/
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Friday 16th March:
The Electricka Zoo
with Battle For Endor, mr sterile Assembly, and Grumblewood
@ 2 Plimmer Steps, Wellington, 8:00pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/1938608686378586/
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Saturday 24th March:
Gamelan Padhang Moncar
@ Cubadupa Festival, Cuba Street, Wellington, 8:00pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/393766124402209/
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Watch this space, more details soon…
Show Me Your House Moves
Our version of a catchy groove, the first track off the Electricka Zoo album… we’re working on a music video and maybe a 7″ remix, but in the meantime…
the Electricka Zoo @ Battle of the Bands
Saturday 14 October 2017
@ Valhalla, 154 Vivian Street, Wellington NZ
Thanks everyone who came to see The Electricka Zoo in the 2017 Battle of the Bands…
The Electricka Zoo are one of Wellington’s most intriguing new live bands, a bass/guitar and live electronica duo of Dave Black and the Digitator.
We combine diverse influences from EDM to postpunk avant-garde rock, jazz, reggae, Balkan and Portuguese music into our own homegrown NZ sound.
Battle of the Bands – National Championship is New Zealand’s largest and longest running R18 Band competition; events take place nationwide, allowing bands throughout the country to take part. The event has been an annual feature of the New Zealand music scene since 1993. Read the rest of this entry »
the Electricka Zoo album
We’re happy to announce the release of the Electricka Zoo‘s first (self-titled) album.
The duo of Dave Black & the Digitator, The Electricka Zoo combine influences from EDM and post-punk avant-garde rock to jazz, reggae, Balkan and Portuguese music. Their self-titled debut album features 8 original tunes by the bass/guitar and electronica duo wrapped in colourful mandala artwork by Lucie Hannon.
Thanks everyone who came to the launch gig at the Pyramid Club !
22nd July – Tapioca Dragon, the Electricka Zoo, 1/3 Octave Band @ Pyramid Club
A night of improv, otherworld musics, and ethereal sonic crunch at Wellington’s Pyramid Club, plus an album release for The Electricka Zoo.
Saturday 22nd July 2017, 8pm
@ the Pyramid Club
272 Taranaki Street, Wellington NZ – $10 door sales
The Electricka Zoo
The duo of Dave Black & the Digitator, The Electricka Zoo combine influences from EDM and post-punk avant-garde rock to jazz, reggae, Balkan and Portuguese music. Their self-titled debut album will be released at this gig, and features 8 original tunes by the bass/guitar and electronica duo wrapped in colourful mandala artwork by Lucie Hannon.
1/3 Octave Band
Also in the line up; the 1/3 Octave Band, aka Bill Wood. A master of tones and drones, Bill an his collaborators in the group have released many CD,s LP’s over the past decade, and recently been championed by no less than former Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins in his column for LA Weekly. Don’t miss this once a year appearance from Mr Wood.
Tapioca Dragon
And let’s not forget and that merry duo of free thinkers, Tapioca Dragon, feat. Andy Wright (ex-Orchestra of Spheres) and Mark Williams (MarineVille / Cookie Brooklyn and the Crumbs). Tapioca Dragon released their debut album last year, a collection of 5 improvisations building from sparse, loops and jabs into a psychedelic spin cycle.
