A track from the Loose Autumn Moans album – originally recorded in 2003, and recently played live for the first time in 20 years!
Category: New Zealand
The Troubled Times: live at Common Ground 15/07/23
Thank you everyone who came to The Troubled Times‘ live debut, in Featherston NZ
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”Auld Satan when ye first gae through
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 the ‘Another 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
Tracks from the Masterton gigs appear on
Live 2022-24
Thanks everyone !
Looking forward to returning on 15 July with The Troubled Times!
WHERE
Continue reading “Live in Masterton NZ, 24/6/23”The Wind Always Gets Through
The Winter: 2010
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.
credits
releases June 6, 2023
Continue reading “The Winter: 2010”The Troubled Times: Hill Road in Winter
The first physical format release from Masterton trio The Troubled Times is 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.
Whilst earlier digital releases have veered from arty drone pieces to synth pop and heavy space rock the music on ‘Hill Road In Winter’ is more like a psychedelic pub jam band gone BRILLIANTLY ‘wrong’. Woozy blues paeans slip sideways into feedback freakouts and heavy Hawkwind-like stomps attempt to transition into songs by The Fall.
All recorded ‘New Zealand style’ in my garage.If we weren’t such raving greenies here at Small Town Electron we’d put this tape forward as the PERFECT album for a lengthy nocturnal drive. – Antony Milton
Cassette
2022 roundup
fiffdimension vol4, águas brilhantes: 2018-2022, sums up the last few years’ here:
2022‘s been a particularly 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
fiffdimension 