“A few months between drinks but The Troubled Times are back with perhaps their ‘dustiest’ session yet. The whole thing was recorded onto Dave Edwards‘ phone resulting in a slightly more lo-fi sound than usual. Murky drones, percussive clatter and spasms of edgy delay soaked bliss.
A mumbled song.” – Antony Milton
Tag: 2020s music
FFSE: MiXtape X (2026)
Our first album release of 2026, by Featherston Free Sound Ensemble – courtesy of Antony Milton’s Troubled Times Tapes label. Available on cassette or download.
“Every few weeks the peace of a small hall in the otherwise quiet tiny town of Featherston at the very bottom of the North Island of New Zealand/Aotearoa is disrupted by a gathering of eccentric misfits with a ragtag collection of noise making electronics. Old tape decks playing home made loops, dusty turntables spinning even dustier vinyl festooned with tags of sellotape, and glitchy cheap effects pedals disrupting the signal of an array of instruments that are being force-fed into weirdly small amplifiers.
“The recordings here in are from a variety of said get togethers and performances. Noise collage meets odd techno dub butted up against distorted rock. Tapiness wins.” – Antony Milton
credits
released January 14, 2026
Guy Walker – turntable, cassette loops
Alex V – turntable, MIDI, sampler
Dave Edwards – bass, e-drum, clarinet, guitar
Recorded Oct-Nov 2025
Edited and mastered (somewhat) by A.M
Cover photos by Guy Walker
Further listening: Featherston Free Sound Ensemble
Live 2025
A late EP coda to the year –
Tracks 1-4 recorded live at the Bakehouse, 29-11-25 – opening act for Featherston Free Sound Ensemble /
Tracks 5-6 recorded 08 February 2025 at the Carterton Club.
includes two pieces from Poems & Lyrics in the Scotch Dialect (1856)
and the first live performance of Assembling Disconsonant
Tracklist
Further listening: live albums
2025 roundup
Another productive year here! We released:
- Ruasagavulu ka lima (Fiji)
- Poems & Lyrics by John Collie (1856)
- Live 2025
- Featherston Free Sound Ensemble
- The Troubled Times
Ruasagavulu ka lima (Fiji)
An acoustic solo album, made in the Yasawa islands, Fiji. Ukulele and field recordings, with acoustic bass and percussion.
Poems & Lyrics by John Collie (1856)
A musical adaptation of my ancestor’s book, finally ‘close enough’ to finished after seven years… or 169, depending how you count it.
in the Scotch Dialect
in the English Dialect
Live 2025
Featherston Free Sound Ensemble
A new collaboration with turntablists Guy Walker and Alex V – free improv electronica for the regions.
Live @ the Bakehouse 29-11-25
Our live debut – more to come in 2026!
Experiments Under the Hills
October-November, with Guy Walker and Alex V
First Experiments
September-October, with Guy Walker
The Troubled Times
with Antony Milton and David Heath in Masterton NZ.
Unsteady Ground
As close as we’ve come to a ‘political’ album
dDA
We swapped instruments and almost formed a new band.
Homo Homini Lupus
We appeared on this ‘various artists’ compilation from Louisville, Kentucky
Sparkle Tube
Dave and Antony duo
Smudge
Winter was too cold for the garage, so we played ‘lounge music’
Thanks for listening! See you in 2026...
The Troubled Times: Smudge (2025)
“Nutso falling over kind of wonkiness from mid-winter” = Antony Milton
Listen
credits
The Troubled Times are:
- Antony Milton – guitar, synths
- Dave Edwards – guitar
- David Heath – drums & percussion
- Tracks 1-9 recorded July 2025; tracks 10-12 recorded August 2022
- in Masterton, Aotearoa/NZ
about
Continue reading “The Troubled Times: Smudge (2025)”Experiments Under the Hills (2025)
Smalltown NZ free improv by Featherston Free Sound Ensemble
Paetumokai / Featherston,
Aotearoa / New Zealand,
credits
- Guy Walker – turntable, cassette loops
- Alex V – turntable, MIDI, sampler
- Dave Edwards – bass, guitar, e-drum, harmonica
Recorded at the Bakehouse, October-November 2025
tracklist
| 1. | 19-11-25 #1 orchestral overture 08:53 |
| 2. | 27-11-25 #3 casino 03:39 |
| 3. | 12-11-25 #4a static electricity 02:34 |
| 4. | 12-11-25 #5c tremelo 03:48 |
| 5. | 30-10-25 #2 Bulgarian 11:27 |
| 6. | 27-11-25 #2 banjo 04:55 |
| 7. | 12-11-25 #3b ukulele 03:27 |
| 8. | 12-11-25 #5a EDM 03:51 |
| 9. | 30-10-25 #3 guitar 04:27 |
| 10. | 19-11-25 #4 towards the exit 03:25 |
| 11. | 12-11-25 #3a orchestral reprise 04:53 |
Further listening:
Continue reading “Experiments Under the Hills (2025)”“I was wide awake at 2.30am so listened to us on headphones in the dark in bed. I’m probably biased, but I think we sound bloody awesome” – Guy Walker
Live at the Bakehouse 29/11/25
Smalltown free improv – live at @bakehousecollectivenz
“I was wide awake at 2.30am so listened to us on headphones in the dark in bed. I’m probably biased, but I think we sound bloody awesome” – Guy Walker
Paetumokai / Featherston,
Aotearoa / New Zealand,
29 November 2025
credits
Guy Walker – turntable, cassette loops
Alex V – turntable, MIDI, sampler
Dave Edwards – bass, guitar, e-drum, harmonica
Continue reading “Live at the Bakehouse 29/11/25”Featherston Free Sound Ensemble: First Experiments (2025)
Guy Walker – turntables, cassettes (right channel)
Dave Edwards – bass, guitar, e-drum (left channel)
Recorded at the Bakehouse, Featherston NZ, 18/09/25
Continue reading “Featherston Free Sound Ensemble: First Experiments (2025)”Poems & Lyrics (in the English dialect) (1856)
Songs of the seasons, the forest and the sea, home and exile, mortality and immortality:
an adaptation of the book, “Poems and Lyrics (in the English and Scotch dialects)“ by John Collie, of Boyndie (1834-1893), with music by his descendants in New Zealand, between 2020-2025
Listen
“Songs from the harp and lyre – a fantastic flow back from the ancient days” – Dr Emit Snake-Beings
The album includes collaborations with my nephew Hans Landon-Lane, plus guest appearances by Antony Milton and Dr Emit Snake-Beings.
“I have been lucky enough to hear some of Dave Edwards work on this at a couple of shows – very cool concept project and worth a listen” – James Trotman
Background
My great-great-grandfather published his book in 1856, before emigrating to New Zealand for the rest of his life.
Discovering this family outsider art precedent in 2018 cast fiffdimension in a whole new light! It sparked a seven-year project to record musical arrangements of his poems for a new century’s audience.
“And with a trembling hand I launch my tiny vessel into the troubled ocean of literature , where many a noble craft has been shattered to pieces…”
Like his better-known countryman (and influence) Robert Burns, John Collie wrote in both English and Scots. The other half of the album is Poems & Lyrics in the Scotch Dialect
Continue reading “Poems & Lyrics (in the English dialect) (1856)”Poems & Lyrics (in the Scotch dialect) (1856)
Songs of alcohol, death, the devil, rebellion, kinship, and love gone awry, from 19th century Scotland:
an adaptation of the book, “Poems and Lyrics (in the English and Scotch dialects)“ by John Collie, of Boyndie (1834-1893),
with music by his descendants, between 2018-2025 in New Zealand and France.
Listen
“Songs from the harp and lyre – a fantastic flow back from the ancient days” – Dr Emit Snake-Beings
“I have been lucky enough to hear some of Dave Edwards work on this at a couple of shows – very cool concept project and worth a listen” – James Trotman
Background
Continue reading “Poems & Lyrics (in the Scotch dialect) (1856)”“And with a trembling hand I launch my tiny vessel into the troubled ocean of literature , where many a noble craft has been shattered to pieces…”
fiffdimension 