1856 to 2026 – DIY outsider music, from Aotearoa NZ and beyond
31 July 2019
electric guitar and video by Dave Black,
Featherston, NZ.
One in a series of quickfire improvisations with video effects. Rather than finish an album before releasing anything in 2019, I’m opening a curtain on some of my demo ideas in progress.
4th May 2019 at Wairarapa TV May Music Marathon
I wrote this in 1999, after moving to Wellington. I was at an open mic night, at an upstairs bar in Cuba Mall that no longer exists, waiting for my turn to play. I had to wait a while – hence a lot of lyrics.
It was my attempt at a beat poet vibe, reflecting my move to the capital city and discovery of a local jazz scene. Continue reading “Cafes in Conversation”
This is what ‘partying like it’s 1999’ actually sounded like at the time:
“If only I could play guitar like that – bastard!” – Chris Knox
| 1. | Cafes in Conversation 03:44 |
| 2. | Banana Wizard 02:59 |
| 3. | I Don’t Need You (to Grind Me Down) 02:15 |
| 4. | Given in Clouds (a wedding) 04:05 |
| 5. | Chairs to Tie the Revolution Down 03:31 |
| 6. | Midwinter Night 03:35 |
| 7. | Locked Without March 04:02 |
| 8. | You Can’t Complain 04:48 |
| 9. | Open the Dogs 04:43 |
| 10. | Summer in Fairyland 03:28 |
| 11. | Tony Was Here (but they put him on ice) 03:19 |
| 12. | The Marion Flow 09:47 |
On this occasion I was privileged to be the opening act for Chris Knox. So this album is (obviously) dedicated to him.
Chris influenced generations of artists in NZ and abroad; his place in the pantheon is secure.
I was 20 years old, and had moved back to Wellington (my birthplace, though not my hometown). I had with me a cheap imitation Stratocaster; some notebook scribblings; a harmonica in my pocket; and an album and a half recorded.
Continue reading “Live 1999”4th May 2019 live solo version at the Wairarapa TV May Music Marathon.
This song was originally recorded in June 2001, at Thistle Hall, Wellington. It was the opening track of the album The Marion Flow.
The year got off to a good start, with Ascension Band: Evolution
The successful collaboration with Nigel Patterson, Ryan Prebble, and over a dozen other musicians, from jazz-schooled to untrained punks, won the best music award in the NZ Fringe Festival.
I had my first taste of success (the fame part of Fame & Oblivion 2005-2012)…
…But by this time I was ready to see the world beyond Aotearoa. I shifted across the Tasman Sea to Melbourne – in Australia, the West Island.
For the next few months I lived in Brunswick, and worked in temp jobs around the city and in rural Victoria.
The results became After Maths & Sciences
This rearrangement of a traditional Fijian folk song was inspired by hearing the song sung there.
In May I visited the Yasawa Islands, to the northwest of Nadi and the main Fijian island Viti Levu.
The boat ride took 3 hours, and enjoyably scenic. Each of the many small islands we passed was different in some way but all stunning
The marine life included
A Ton of Feathers is the first collaboration
by Campbell Kneale (guitar, analogue synthesiser)
& Dave Black (bass, electric toothbrush, video).
Made in Featherston, Wairarapa NZ in 2018.
New Zealand folk music, in the tradition of Birchville Cat Motel, the Dead C, and Len Lye.
This excerpt appears on the compilation Other Islands: 2012-2018, and is part of a longer piece, due for release in 2020.
“The 20 song album covers traditional Javanese and Balinese gamelan, Asian folk music, to free jazz, and free noise. It’s not for anyone with narrow preconceived ideas about what music is, but it is for everyone else.
“If you have an open inquiring mind and love hearing a variety of sound, this is excellent.” – Darryl Baser, muzic.net.nz
by Dave Black (acoustic & electric guitars, banjo, harmonica, laptop, bass, tenor saxophone, field recordings, piano, ukulele, sanshin, saron, jublag, demung, vocal), with
- and field recordings from Western Australia, Indonesia, Okinawa (Japan), and Fiji.
Featuring tracks from the albums
If you enjoy this, try the previous compilations
Postscript: thanks for coming along, keep an eye on www.fiffdimension.com/the-electricka-zoo for more!
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Friday 16 March, 8:00pm, free entry, @ Leroy’s Bar, 2 Plimmer Steps
New Zealand Fringe Festival:
fiffdimension 