2023 roundup

December 2023 marked the 25th anniversary of fiffdimension!

– we celebrated with the double CD compilation:

Electric (yang) / Acoustic (yin)

– 2CD compilation 1998-2023

“Double disc collection of more than two decades’ worth of live and studio-recorded tunes by Dave Edwards, who you may have heard recently as part of The Troubled Times with Antony Milton. It’s quite a diverse listen!

You get some concise and catchy pop songs, some full-on rockers, banjo excursions, improv freak-out, poetry, acoustic blues, folk songs, scrambled noise… there’s something here for everybody. A good intro to Dave’s dauntingly deep discography.”
– Howard Stelzer, Noisy Bandcamp.

A collection of short tracks by Dave Edwards and collaborators.

Celebrating 25 years of fiffdimension!

2CD double album. 35 tracks spanning 25 years. Comes in gatefold card case with full colour photography by Jechtography and James Gilberd. Includes download of the digital album.

Produced by Antony Milton; and features Paul Winstanley, Chris O’Connor, Simon O’Rorke, Chris Palmer, Sam Prebble, Mike Kingston, Francesca Mountfort, Damian Stewart, Emit Snake-Beings, Nat da Hatt, Steve Duffels, and Oscar (the dog). The 2CD compilation focuses on Dave Edwards’ guitar and banjo compositions in New Zealand and Australia, their acoustic/electric duality, and boils down a quarter-century of restless creativity to two concise discs.

2023 was also notable for the return of live music to the Wairarapa.

Dave also collaborated with

The Troubled Times

Antony Milton – electric guitar Dave Edwards – bass David Heath – drums

Another (ing) Sunday	Elevate
Limited Edition classy glassy mastered CD Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album Only 100 copies of this. Pro manufactured glass mastered CD packaged in 4 panel card wallet.	A contrasting companion piece, with all but the last track recorded the same day; a thoroughly kinetic affair bursting with energy and ecstatic passion.
Live in Featherston	Son Sun Sum
Our debut live gig, at Common Ground gallery in Featherston	For the third year in a row, we recorded on the first day of daylight savings – this time with a bigger bass amp.

& in January they released on cassette or download :

Hill Road in Winter

“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. All recorded ‘New Zealand style’ in [my] garage.”
Antony Milton

Assembling disconsonant

(Dave Edwards solo acoustic guitar, banjo, spoken word, May 2023)

“I liked the lyrics… the the way meaning gets assembled through shattered snap shots of a picture we may never see”
Dr Emit Snake-Beings

& a work in progress (more to come in 2024):

Poems & Lyrics by John Collie (1856)

An adaptation of the book, by 19th century Scottish poet John Collie (of Boyndie) – recorded by his descendants in New Zealand: Dave Edwards, nephews Hans and Rhys Landon-Lane, and guest appearances by The Troubled Times and Dr Emit Snake-Beings.

“T’were a noble sight to see the mighty men of old, who bled that their countries might be free from the tyrants’ fatal hold – yet I’d deem it a nobler sight by far to behold the sons of the harp & lyre!

“[…] If aught can claim a spirit’s admiration, Sure it must be this beautiful creation“
John Collie (1834-1893)

2CD compilation 1998-2023

Celebrating 25 years of fiffdimension!

Electric (yang) / Acoustic (yin)

“Double disc collection of more than two decades’ worth of live and studio-recorded tunes by Dave Edwards, who you may have heard recently as part of The Troubled Times with Antony Milton. It’s quite a diverse listen!

“You get some concise and catchy pop songs, some full-on rockers, banjo excursions, improv freak-out, poetry, acoustic blues, folk songs, scrambled noise… there’s something here for everybody. A good intro to Dave’s dauntingly deep discography.”
– Howard Stelzer, Noisy Bandcamp.

A collection of short tracks by Dave Edwards and collaborators.

Produced by Antony Milton; and features Paul Winstanley, Chris O’Connor, Simon O’Rorke,Chris Palmer, Sam Prebble, Mike Kingston, Francesca Mountfort, Damian Stewart, Emit Snake-Beings, Nat da Hatt, Steve Duffels, and Oscar (the dog).

2CD double album. 35 tracks spanning 25 years. Comes in gatefold card case with full colour photography by Jechtography and James Gilberd. Includes download of the digital album.

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The Hurricane Wrangle

live in Masterton NZ, 19-08-2023

A track from the Loose Autumn Moans album – originally recorded in 2003, and recently played live for the first time in 20 years!

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Auld Satan when ye first gae through

Live version 24/6/23 – from http://www.fiffdimension.bandcamp.com/albums/poems-lyrics-in-the-scotch-dialect-1856

A ‘darker’ piece from Poems & Lyrics by John Collie (1856)

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 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, and previously unheard recording sessions on 25-4-10 and 6-6-10.

http://www.fiffdimension.bandcamp.com/album/2010

credits

releases June 6, 2023

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Assembling disconsonant

New improvisational raw material post-composed & aleatory generative texts added, in a kiwi accent:

I did the bass improvisation first, then played along with it on guitar and banjo, then improvised vocals with nonsensical words (Paul McCartney conjuring ‘get back’ in the documentary), transcribed, rewrote into English words (if not grammar), and fed that into Google search and read out cutups (Burroughs) of the search results to supplement it… I’ve had hangups for years about writing, so was looking for ways to short circuit my conscious doubt.
the title ‘assembling disconsonant’ describes the method?

meaning is optional

chance methods are supplementary

but starting with the bass part ensures the whole thing is built on a (human) groove

& stylistically a middle aged update of (early 2000s) solo pieces like https://fiffdimension.bandcamp.com/track/in-a-who-gets-to-who-who-does-him
“I liked the lyrics… the the way meaning gets assembled through shattered snap shots of a picture we may never see”
– Dr Emit Snake-Beings

Poems & Lyrics by John Collie, 1856

In 1856, my great-great-grandfather John Collie (1834-1893), of Boyndie, Scotland, published a book : Poems and Lyrics

(in the English

and Scotch Dialects).

I‘ve been setting some of it to music over the past few years – along with some of his other descendants: my nephews Hans and Rhys Landon-Lane, my niece Celeste Rochery, and my sister Megan Edwards-Rochery .

The Troubled Times (trio with Antony Milton and David Heath) also do an epic electric blues guest arrangement of The Dying Monarch (a key crossover track that ties together the different strands of my music).

For me this is a major work-in-progress; an acknowledgement of my pākeha whakapapa (European ancestry); an inspiration for new music (a mostly folk style seemed fitting); a window into the culture of the time period and a vicarious travel experience (plans to visit Scotland in 2020 were ruined by the pandemic); a family precedent for DIY outsider art that puts fiffdimension in a deeper context; and gives me renewed appreciation for the beauty and musicality of the English (and Scots) language.

“T’were a noble sight to see the mighty men of old, who bled that their countries might be free from the tyrants’ fatal hold – yet I’d deem it a nobler sight by far to behold the sons of the harp & lyre!

“[…] If aught can claim a spirit’s admiration, Sure it must be this beautiful creation“
John Collie (1834-1893)

In 1858 John Collie emigrated to New Zealand.

His book is available free online.

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Autumn

It’s the first day of autumn (2023) here in the southern hemisphere (good riddance to Cyclone Gabrielle, which caused devastation in other parts of the North Island), so here’s a track from Poems & Lyrics (in the English Dialect) (1856):

AGAIN old Autumn murmurs from the hill , His annual toils already are begun ; His angry blast howls down the fertile vale , Gust after gust with melancholy moan .

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in a wildflower state (Western Australia, 2013)

In late 2012, after leaving Japan, I moved to Australia for the second time – this time to Western Australia for a couple of years…

in a wildflower state is a lost album – recorded in Perth WA, 2012-2014 – unreleased at the time.

The music here is rustic, reflecting the vast ancient arid landscape, overlaid with touches of Nyoongar and bogan sounds. It also includes appearances by Nat da Hatt, Cylvi M, and Renato Salvador.

Known as the Wildflower State, Western Australia covers an enormous area – the size of India, but with a population of under three million. Metaphorically, to be a ‘wildflower’ can also mean a wandering spirit or traveller (such as a kiwi expat on an OE).

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águas brilhantes: 2018-2022

fiffdimension vol 4

made in Featherston, Masterton, and Suva – ft Antony Milton, James Robinson, Dr Emit Snake-Beings, Campbell Kneale, and lyrics by John Collie (1834-1893) – the title is ‘Wairarapa’ in Portuguese.

Collaborations with my ancestors and younger relatives, friends in Fiji, a painter in Otago, the curator of PseudoArcana, and the family dog.

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.

a followup to
fiffdimension.bandcamp.com/album/gleefully-unknown-1997-2005
fiffdimension.bandcamp.com/album/fame-oblivion-2005-2012
fiffdimension.bandcamp.com/album/other-islands-2012-2018

with videos at www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtbrBpNjlOHOhGouOChNl3jVUif1AZIl6 )

águas brilhantes (or ‘glistening waters’ in English) is the Portuguese translation of Wairarapa, the Māori name of the region where I live. Several of my pākeha ancestors arrived here in the 19th century.

Much of the music is inspired by two of my great-great-grandfathers – John Collie (1834-1893), a Scottish poet, who helped build the Remutaka incline railway; and Manuel Bernard (1847-1928), who left the Azores islands, as a teenaged stowaway on a whaling ship and ended up in Masterton. It’s also a torch-passing to the next generation – recorded with nephews Hans and Rhys, and niece Celeste.