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”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
fiffdimension vol4, รกguas brilhantes: 2018โ-โ2022, sums up the last few years’ here:
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;
“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 (Oscarโs 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
รกguas brilhantes (or ‘glistening waters’ in English) is the Portuguese translation of Wairarapa, the Mฤori 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.
by Dave Edwards – guitars, bass, banjo, harmonica, vocal, lyrics
with
released December 22, 2022
Features previously unreleased recordings, and tracks from
The first proper ‘band’ recording sessions by The Troubled Times, with the addition of David Heath on drums.
Improvised psychedelic rock – inspired by the Wairarapa rural landscapes, and the main road through them – with touches of country, Brazilian jazz, and electroacoustic experiments.
Antony Milton – electric guitar, banjo (6), drums & keyboard (7)
Dave Edwards – electric guitar (1,3,5), acoustic guitar (2,6,7), bass (4), aluminium ladder (7)
David Heath – drums
released August 13, 2022
——-
Masterton, New Zealand
Recorded in Antony’s garage,
17th July + 7th August 2022
Photo by Sara Rogers
| 1. | Whatever you like (north of Wellington) 06:31 |
| 2. | Wairarapa bossa nova 03:18 |
| 3. | Passing the Tararuas 03:26 |
| 4. | Waiohine river after rain 02:50 |
| 5. | Driving inland 07:16 |
| 6. | Sanson & Woodville (acoustic) 06:34 |
| 7. | Snakes & ladder 02:08 |
| 8. | Spring nor’wester 06:35 |
| 9. | Bossanova Wairarapa (mais tempo) |
Antony and Dave also collaborated on fiffdimension.bandcamp.com/album/return-of-the-sun-2021
and
layyourburdensdown.bandcamp.com/album/-
The sophomore EP by The Troubled Times duo of Antony Milton and Dave Edwards.
Raw loud Improvised pluck and drone. Recorded on a windy rainy Sunday in Antony’s garage in Masterton, in 2021, between Covid lockdowns.
Guitar/Bass –Dave Edwards
Guitar/Keyboard/Vocs –Antony Milton.
released June 26, 2022
| 1. | Move Alongย 03:54 |
| 2. | Genes 02:17 |
| 3. | Super Lucid 13:46 |
| 4. | Woodness 04:01 |
The first full length release from this duo, which pre-dates the name ‘The Troubled Times’, was Return of the Sun (2021)
In 2022, the duo became a trio, joined by David Heath on drums, givng us a full ‘band’ sound.
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”Featherston, NZ – early 2022 – spontaneous compositions, two wet weekends in a row.
A sequel to Spastic Rhythms vol 1 (2021)
Dave Black – guitars, bass, banjo (2), clarinet (6), sanshin (10), loop pedal, e-drum
Oscar – vocal (3,9)
released February 13, 2022
| 1. | Drums on Waitangi Day 00:54 |
| 2. | Estado Novo 01:20 |
| 3. | Oscar – Oscar’s Blues 01:28 |
| 4. | fiffdimension / snakebeings – Arising (into Fragments) 03:51 |
| 5. | Black Mountain (ะฆัะฝะฐ ะะพัะฐ) 00:59 |
| 6. | Shuffling the Tarot 03:39 |
| 7. | Classical rain bucket 01:41 |
| 8. | Rebooting 02:52 |
| 9. | Oscar – At home pants ft. cannon bone 02:12 |
| 10. | Removing a bandaid 00:51 |
| 11. | Shuri Jo (็็่ซธๅณถ) 01:03 |
| 12. | Waiting for Dovi 05:24 |
A compilation of tracks from the Wairarapa in these years.
โIt 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 โ Kev Rowland, muzic.nz
Hans Landon-Lane plays accordion, ukulele and vocal on
“The sweet breath of summer blows fresh o’er each plain
The woods have resumed their lost grandeur again
The grove with the notes of the blackbirds are singing
By fountain and stream the wild flowers are springing […]”
“I sing of the land where in youth I have rambled
I sing of her heroes who long long are gone
And I sing of her steep crags where oft I have scrambled
When dull pining cares to me were unknown […]”
Continue reading “Hans Landon-Lane”Here’s a health to my cronies where e’er they reside,
whether this side or that o’ yon big rowing tide
I care na what country or kingdom they claim, be they English or Irish to me it’s the same
Gif their hearts to a glass o’ gude whisky incline, I instantly class them as cronies o’ mine […]”
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Antony Milton is a sound artist based in Masterton, New Zealand.
He has been active in the underground and experimental music scenes since the early 1990s.
Continue reading “w/ Antony Milton: Return of the Sun”The 2021 debut album by The Troubled Times!
This was our first recording session, as an electric guitar improv duo – in collaboration with antonymilton.bandcamp.com
Recorded in Masterton, New Zealand, 26 September 2021 – on the first day of daylight savings, in the southern hemisphere Spring,
Antony Milton is a sound artist based in Masterton, New Zealand.
He has been active in the underground and experimental music scenes since the early 1990s.
Continue reading “w/ Antony Milton: Return of the Sun”
fiffdimension 