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)

The Troubled Times: Son Sum Sun

released October 13, 2023

For the third year in a row, we had a recording session on the first day of daylight savings – a short session of spaced out noisy psychedelic ‘rock jams’ this time.

A highlight this session was a bigger & louder bass amp.

Dave Edwards – Bass
David Heath – Drums
Antony Milton – Guitar

The third part in a trilogy (NZers are good at these),

Continue reading →

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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15/7/23, live in Featherston

Live @Common Ground,
Featherston NZ, 15/7/23

Mānawatia a Matariki!

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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 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

)

Continue reading →

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.