1856 to 2026 – DIY outsider music, from Aotearoa NZ and beyond
Newly discovered 2010 ‘lost recordings’ by The Winter –
An improvised music trio of Mike Kingston, Dave Edwards, and Simon Sweetman –
Includes live performances at Fred’s (the only known video of the band), and previously unheard recording sessions on 25-4-10 and 6-6-10.
releases June 6, 2023
Continue reading “The Winter: 2010”“Wellington, NZ composer Dave Edwards with some able assistance from duo or trio the Winter... Guitars, violin, cello, and percussion all stack up… He’s got a persona that’s all his own.” – George Parsons, Dream Magazine #5
All acoustic, no overdubs, and complete with a string section! Recorded and mixed on analogue equipment, and originally released on cassette in 2003 โ new 2020 remaster.
“Edwards‘ art is always an interactive experience, and the spontaneous nature of his audio output encourages descriptions such as abrasive, discordant, sombre and atmospheric. Such adjectives contribute but never tell the whole tale.” – Real Groove
The album is structured as a progression from summer. The cover image shows a NZ pohutukawa tree in flower. It continues through autumn, a time of harvest, preparation, shortening daylight, and the shedding of old dead layers.
It finishes with an extended live version of ‘O Henry Ending‘, recorded at the Winter’s first gig.
“O Henry falling leaves & branches, talk a worried sad refrain
Your eyes half tilt, your brain half mast
To tie the fond anonymous bond beyond yr aching shelter lying walls
That fall to fall, & raise the days, museum haze …”
Dave Edwards (archtop acoustic guitar, harmonica, vocal, lyrics)
Sam Prebble (violin) / Mike Kingston (cello)
Simon Sweetman (percussion)
Recorded in Wellington, NZ, 2003
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Mouth of the Caveman 03:26
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Loose Autumn Moans is dedicated to Sam Prebble (aka Bond Street Bridge), who died in 2014.
Rest easy Sam, and thank you..
Continuing the seasonal theme, Dave Edwards, Mike Kingston, and Simon Sweetman (occasionally joined by Sam Prebble) formed a regular free improvising instrumental trio , the Winter.
“A strange sonic brew that includes dissonant rock textures, rough outsider folk-blues mysteries, electric and acoustic improvisations and a considerable part of tasty feedback. Imagine equal parts Derek Bailey, New Zealand’s Pumice and classic ’60s blues/folk and you’re in the right ballpark.” – The Broken Face
The original C60 cassette release of Loose Autumn Moans included solo interludes recorded the previous year, in 2002. These have since been reissued as a separate album.
By shortening to just the 2003 ensemble sessions, Loose Autumn Moans becomes concise. It emphasises the lyrics, and the jazzy acoustic instrumental interplay.
A different take of ‘O Henry Ending‘ was recorded in Melbourne, Australia in 2005. I had just bought a banjo (which I still have), Mike Kingston played acoustic guitar this time, and Francesca Mountfort took the cello role, along with Cylvi M on percussion.
While much of the album was in a new style, incorporating electronica and field recordings, ‘O Henry Ending’ and the presence of fellow expat kiwis provided a thematic bridge from the Wellington days.
To illustrate how a song can be interpreted in multiple ways, the fiffdimension 25th anniversary 2CD features Mouth of the Caveman – and both the 2005 Melbourne version and a new (2022) a live electric arrangement of O Henry Ending
Three of the Loose Autumn Moans tracks were revived in new solo arrangements for these more recent live albums:
Tracks from Loose Autumn Moans also appear on this compilation, that gives an overview of the early years.
My great-great-grandfather (himself a young man at the time) self-published a book of poems in 19th century Scotland. It includes a piece about Autumn.
Adapting John Collie’s words to music is a current major work-in-progress, that .allows a new ‘mature’ version of my acoustic style, and shows the early works, like Loose Autumn Moans, in a new light!
2012
part of
Other Islands: 2012-2018ย – a compilation of recent highlights, recorded in New Zealand, Western Australia, Fiji, Indonesia and Okinawa
In 2012 I was home in New Zealand for a total of seven days, in July/August. Oherwise it was very much a year of two halves.
Nat da Hatt and I recorded a track for our duo album ใใชใณๅ่ปใฎ้ขจๆฏ Neon Train Landscapes – our version of a traditional shima uta (island song)
“The 20 song album covers traditional Javanese and Balinese gamelan, Asian folk music, to free jazz, and free noise. Itโs 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
by Dave Black (acoustic & electric guitars, banjo, harmonica, laptop, bass, tenor saxophone, field recordings, piano, ukulele, sanshin, saron, jublag, demung, vocal), with
- and field recordings from Western Australia, Indonesia, Okinawa (Japan), and Fiji.
Featuring tracks from the albums
If you enjoy this, try the previous compilations
Today is the last day of winter in the southern hemisphere – so to celebrate, here’s the fifth album from The Winter – a New Zealand free improvisation trio of Mike Kingston, Simon Sweetman and Dave Edwardsโฆ with a sound that swerves from acoustic folk/blues with hints of Asian, Celtic, and Balkan influences, to electroacoustic soundscapes, abstract dissonance, and pots & pans percussion.
Mike Kingston: guitar, bass, clarinet, electronics
Dave Edwards: guitar, bass, banjo, harmonica, ukulele, sanshin, electronics
Simon Sweetman: drums and percussion, electronics
Thanks to Brent for the photos and to everyone who came along to the Pyramid Club on Thursday!
The Winter’s new album ‘Exit Points’ is now available!
Continue reading “The Winter at Pyramid Club, 2015”Acoustic instrumental music by Wellington, New Zealand, improvising trio The Winter.
Mike Kingston: charango, guitar, clarinet
Dave Edwards: ukulele, sanshin, tenor sax, piano
Simon Sweetman: xylophone, percussion
June 10, 2013 โข 10:47am
It was 10 years ago nearly to the day that I had my first jam as part of a group of musicians that would go on to take the name The Winter. The name coming from the day we first got together, 2003’s winter solstice.
I listened back to Parataxes last night for the first time in ages. I wouldn’t say I ever made a habit of listening to it, but as with other recordings I’ve made it gets trotted out from time to time. Very occasional, but I couldn’t tell you I’d never listened to it, or that I’ll never listen to it again.
The Winter has became somewhat infamous in the life ofย Blog on the Tracksย because every time a group of fans get upset with me for picking on their band, a clip from YouTube is circulated suggesting that I cannot play music at all; the band I’m working with is not in tune and not playing anything resembling a song.
I’ve felt a little sad about this only in that it compromises the two other musicians in The Winter. They don’t deserve the abuse but are presumably trialled on a guilty-by-association tip. But I’m fair game. I front up and say things about music. It’d be a bit rich if I couldn’t handle people saying things about mine.
So I figured I should share that post here – and the link to the album to stream or download (both of which I have provided links to above). Have at it. But be warned…you might instead prefer to run to the hills.
Ten years on it was strange listening to this music. It’s improvised music, avant-garde perhaps, or experimental. These are tags that others have used. It might well be the biggest load of s**t you ever hear. That’s fine. I’ve never hidden from this – nor any of the other music I’ve had a hand in. But I understand that I’m an easy target with this platform.
The music on Parataxes and the early jams with The Winter were really important for me – an extension of my appreciation for free and improvised musics – free-jazz/noise/ambient – a lot of free/improv passed me by when I first tried turning an ear to it. But I found it. I found the bits and pieces I liked. And part of appreciating it was having a go at it. My go. With The Winter.
It was the most challenging – and freeing – that a playing experience has ever been. I was so scared the first time we performed live at the Photospace Gallery. I’m sitting there with toy percussion instruments, found pieces, old drum parts scattered around me. And I have no idea what I’m going to do with them – beyond bang at them. It was so stupid of me. But it was great. I loved it.
I made good friends from playing in The Winter – we still catch up, make music now and then, or maybe to you it’s not music at all. That’s fine. We have a cup of tea and a chat and we make our pieces of music – music that makes sense to us. We use different instruments every time. And nothing is ever the same. Nothing’s repeated, nothing’s played the same way twice. But it always sounds like us. Over the past 10 years and a handful of scattered performances we found our sound. And I’m really glad we did. It helped me to appreciate the world’s great improvisers; it has put me on to some amazing music and taught me a lot about myself.
Soย here you go – The Winter: 10 Years On…
As the saying goes, I’ve suffered for my art. Now it’s your turn.
Postscript:ย Word Count for this post: 660
The Winter‘s 2004 sequel toย Parataxes was a tribute to extinct New Zealand bird the Huia.
After this Mike and Dave moved to Australia, and the band next played in 2009.
Excerpts from the album appear on the band’s Shortest Days: 2003-2015 compilation:
The debut album by The Winter: instrumental improvisations from Wellington, New Zealand, 2003. The band emerged fully formed on winter solstice day in June.
Builds from acoustic intimacy around the winter fireplace to the electric blizzard climax of ‘Parataxes 9‘.
“Derek Bailey on acid!” – Anthony Donaldson, Primitive Art Group
Photos by James Gilberd, from The Winter’s first gig at Photospace Gallery, Wellington NZ, August 2003.
Mike Kingston – cello, electronic composition (1,4,7), electric guitar (2), acoustic guitar and slide whistle (8)
Dave Edwards – acoustic and electric guitars, harmonica
Simon Sweetman – drums and percussion
“The Winter are a Wellington based improvising trio, and Parataxes is their 1st release. It documents both acoustic and electric live sets that drift from eastern sounding cello led pieces to fairly extreme feed-backy noise. A key member of the group is Wellington’s master of pseudo-autistic intensity, Dave Edwards, whose guitar and harmonica work definitely moves the whole into a fairly edgy sphere. Over such a duration this can make pretty harrowing listening, but sometimes such immersions are worth it.” – Antony Milton, Pseudoarcana
“A strange sonic brew that includes dissonant rock textures, rough outsider folk-blues mysteries, electric and acoustic improvisations and a considerable part of tasty feedback. Imagine equal parts Derek Bailey, New Zealand’s Pumice and classic ’60s blues/folk and you’re in the right ballpark.” – The Broken Face
“I can be pretty naive sometimes, and I often forget that it actually
gets cold in New Zealand. For many of us Americans, we think of New
Zealand as being somewhat tropical. It’s an island after all, and we
are brought up believing that islands are exotic places that exist in
the middle of the warm oceans. This is obviously a mistake. Although I
still forget that the seasons are opposite in the Southern hemisphere,
the existence of dreary weather in New Zealand is cemented in my mind.
A great deal of experimental music from New Zealand has a distinctly
desolate, overcast feeling to it.“Appropriately named, The Winter hail from Wellington, New Zealand.
Most of you probably associate Wellington with the brilliant Pseudo
Arcana label, and keeping that sound in mind, The Winter offer up over
an hour of freeform aural explorations. These loose improvisations
range from processed field recordings to gritty blues dirges to
no-wave skronk. This trio consists of Simon Sweetman on drums and
percussion, San Shimla on cello, and Dave Edwards, whose great solo
albums have been circulating for years, on guitar and harmonica. All
three artists have a firm grasp of their respective instruments and
employ their talents well throughout “Parataxes.”“One thing I enjoy most about this record is Edward’s playing. On the
second track, the highlight is when he gets into a real groove with
his guitar and harmonica. The two complement each other perfectly, and
it has this 1960s folk feel to it that somehow doesn’t seem out of
place. As Sweetman joins in using various metallic percussive
instruments, the two start playing off each other. Their interaction
is impressive, and adds a vague sense of structure to this otherwise
scattered piece. I love when long improv sessions flow like a wave. At
times, they’re completely disjointed, but during rare moments
everything seems to come together. These last few minutes of the
second piece on “Parataxes” is one of those. It’s excellent.“Most of “Parataxes” is similar to the second track. Throughout long,
meandering jams, the trio searches through musty fog, searching out
common ground. As if in queue, they find each other, transfixed in the
middle somewhere. During the times when it all comes together, this is
as choice as any freeform improvisations I’ve heard in months.
However, these tracks wouldn’t this good if it weren’t for the journey
toward a collective state of mind. It might be all about the end
result, but the means of getting there is just as important…. The
Winter leave their mark. They soundtrack the devolution of autumn into
the coldest, cruelest of months. Using sparse sounds and sometimes
harsh instrumentation, “Parataxes” is all about finding the moment and
maintaining it for as long as possible. Recommended.”– Brad E. Rose, Foxy Digitalis
Excerpts from the album appear on the band’s Shortest Days: 2003-2015 compilation:
fiffdimension 