The Margins: 21/04/24

“A virtual infusion of ‘ants-in-the-pants’ for the entomologically deficient.”

–Antony Milton

Recent (2024) recordings from a new combination of old collaborators – Antony Milton and Dave Edwards (The Troubled Times) with Wellington free-improv legend Simon O’Rorke.

Simon O’Rorke– falcon software synth
Dave Edwards– guitar, bass, electro-drums, harmonica
Antony Milton– guitar, drums, microphonic feedback

Recorded at Fleet Street, Masterton, NZ/Aotearoa on 21 April 2024
Cover art by Antony Milton

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Quietism (2024)

Solo improvisations for electric guitar, bass and electric drums – using single-take overdubs to create a virtual trio.

By Dave Edwards– early 2024, summertime in NZ – start of the fiffdimension 2nd quarter-century.

Tracks 1-3 and 12 recorded early January 2024 – the rest recorded 6th February 2024, in Featherston, Aotearoa / New Zealand

These are the first new recordings made since the 25-year-spanning 2CD compilation

The title ‘Quietism‘ refers not so much to the sound, but to the absence of vocals – or any reference to current news or politics. Part of the fiffdimension aesthetic is a certain wilful irrelevance, and ignoring of trends.

The last track ‘Hypnopompia’ (waking up) experiments with a possible new ambient style.

Featherston, New Zealand

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The Troubled Times: Another (****ing) Sunday

The first physical CD by The Troubled Times (Antony Milton, Dave Edwards, David Heath),

Released as part of the ‘Another Sunday‘ series of CDs:
anothersunday.bandcamp.com

Fizzy dreamy shambolic ramblings from the Wairarapa‘s dustiest garage.
Instant songs committed to disk for posterity.

credits

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The Troubled Times: Elevate

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

A contrasting companion piece to the forthcoming ‘Another Sunday‘ CD (all but the last track recorded during the same session), ‘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….)

credits

releases July 15, 2023

Tracks 1-4 recorded 28 May 2023
‘Festive Spirit’ recorded 18 December 2022

in Antony’s garage, Masterton, Aotearoa/New Zealand

Photo by Dave, at the Remutaka ranges

The Wind Always Gets Through

Music video by The Troubled Times (Antony Milton, Dave Edwards, David Heath)

from forthcoming CD ‘Another Sunday’

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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

The Troubled Times: Hill Road in Winter

Happy new year – here’s our first new music release of 2023 – available for download or limited-edition cassette, courtesy of Antony Milton‘s Smalltown Electron label:

The first physical format release from Masterton trio The Troubled Times (and the debut release for Small Town Electron as a label) 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.

(see also

The Troubled Times discography

)

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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.

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The Troubled Times: A Second Sun

credits

Antony Milton – electric guitar, keyboard (1,4), drums (4), painting

Dave Edwards – bass, electric guitar (4), vocal (6), harmonica (7)

David Heath – drums

John Collie (1834-1893) – lyrics (6) (a crossover with fiffdimension.bandcamp.com/album/poems-lyrics-in-the-english-dialect-1856 )

Recorded in Masterton, New Zealand, 25 September 2022

Loosely a sequel to Antony Milton and Dave Edwards‘ first duo collaboration fiffdimension.bandcamp.com/album/return-of-the-sun-2021 – The Troubled Times’ debut.

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w/ James Robinson – Negentropic Diatribes

James Robinson – words, voice, paintings & drawings, bell drum

Dave Black – electric guitar, bass, loop pedal

James Robinson is a mid career contemporary New Zealand mixed media artist, exhibiting widely since 1989 – www.jamesrobinson.nz

fiffdimension is music and multimedia by Dave Edwards (aka Dave Black) and collaborators, since 1998 – www.fiffdimension.com
‐‐——-

James won 2007 paramount prize in the wallace award for
” Taniwaha dragon mother ( spirit bones)”

‘… a great big flatulent belch of fresh air amongst all the tight-sphinctered, deodorised boys and girls of the accepted national art world….. off-kilter and threatening but always sumptuously, gloriously beautiful.’
– Chris Knox.

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