The Troubled Times: Boa

With all the subtlety of a peacock in a pigeon coop The Troubled Times return with a new album, dominated by the squeals of tortured amps and seriously tormented drums.

The Troubled Times also play live this month – in Wellington, at the Pyramid Club on 28 September!

Boa features inadvertent post-rock gliding that crashes and bursts into jagged flames; some kind of illicit NZ spaghetti pizza western folds in on itself to become a fractalized polaroid of a dessicated lizard.

This tendency toward excess doesn’t preclude the odd lapse into a mumbled ad hoc song or 2 but the focus here seems to be on ‘loud’, ‘fucked’ and ‘intense’.
The poor bloody neighbours…

Tape version available at troubledtimestapes.bandcamp.com

Continue reading “The Troubled Times: Boa”

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.

“The album blends Antony Milton‘s and my styles, with Dave Edwards often occupying a pivotal midpoint. It’s an exhilarating session.” – Simon O’Rorke

Credits

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

Tracklist

Continue reading “The Margins: 21/04/24”

Quietism (2024)

Early 2024 – the first new recordings made since the 25-year-spanning 2CD compilation; the start of the fiffdimension 2nd quarter-century.

Listen

Video

About

By Dave Edwards early 2024, summertime in NZ –

Solo suite for electric guitar, bass and electric drums – one single take of each, using overdubs to create a virtual trio.


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

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.

The cover art is an abstract scribble drawing – attempting to bypass conscious self-doubt and create ‘something… anything’. A theme also explored in works such as Assembling Disconsonant (2023).

Tracklist

Continue reading “Quietism (2024)”

2CD compilation 1998​-​2023

Celebrating 25 years of fiffdimension!

Electric (yang) / Acoustic (yin)

A collection of short tracks by Dave Edwards and collaborators.

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.

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.

Review 

Electric (Yang)/Acoustic (Yin) boasts some wildly different tracks; short instrumentals (the guitar and percussion of King Street Boogie, the piano and birdsong of Tui and Grey Sky, the guitar, rain, and bucket- possibly oboe too- of Classical Rain Bucket), song-length instrumentals (the gorgeous and floaty Kalbarri Coastline, the spaced-out psychedelia of Shuffling The TarotOctober Rings sweet little guitar melody being countered by its evil twin sowing dissent and discord), spoken word over free-forming instruments (After The Filmshoot describing either a spiritual experience or very good drugs… or both, @Bomb The Space sounding like a guitar being attacked, Ornery Return Cravings spoken over sheer instrumental chaos), and occasionally, songs too (the stripped-back post-punk glory of Tony Was Here, the slithery, smoky, speakeasy feel of Cafes In ConversationInverno creeping in like a fever-dream of The Cramps, and the beautiful, emotionally-charged Paetumokai (Pua pua i te Koanga)). Dave Edwards is a thoughtful and talented writer, composer, and performer. This double album ably demonstrates that, from the soft, delightful guitar ramblings on Stromatolites, to Wealth And Riches that sounds for all the world like a battle to the death between a drumkit and a horde of toy robots.

“He doesn’t seem to so much want to push boundaries, as to act like he’s never heard of boundaries in the first place. At times soft and beautiful, at others dark and jarring, it makes for fascinating listening.” – Peter Malthus, muzic.nz

Continue reading “2CD compilation 1998​-​2023”

The Troubled Times: Son Sum Sun

For the third year in a row, we held 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!

Credits

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

released October 13, 2023

Tracklist

1.Ventures Sans Hairspray 12:54
2.Calliper Waltz 02:34
3.Ad For Rolling Down 07:48
Continue reading “The Troubled Times: Son Sum Sun”

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

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

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

Another Sunday’ CD series

This was the first chapter in Antony Milton’s acclaimed ‘Another Sunday‘ series of CDs:
anothersunday.bandcamp.com – different artists, each making an album with the same title.

Other discs in the series include Michael Morley, Greymouth, Seht, Teen Haters, Perpets, and Sunset Temples

video

credits

released August 1, 2023

David Heath- drums
Dave Edwards– bass
Antony Milton– guitar/vocals
, video, CD producer

Continue reading “The Troubled Times: Another (****ing) Sunday”

The Troubled Times: Elevate

A contrasting companion piece to theAnother Sunday‘ CD

  • all but the last track were recorded during the same session, on 28/05/23)
  • 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….)

Videos

credits

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

releases July 15, 2023

Continue reading “The Troubled Times: Elevate”

The Troubled Times: Hill Road in Winter

The first physical format release from Masterton trio The Troubled Times 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.

Whilst earlier digital releases have veered from arty drone pieces to synth pop and heavy space rock the music on ‘Hill Road In Winter’ is more like a psychedelic pub jam band gone BRILLIANTLY ‘wrong’. Woozy blues paeans slip sideways into feedback freakouts and heavy Hawkwind-like stomps attempt to transition into songs by The Fall.
All recorded ‘New Zealand style’ in my garage.

If we weren’t such raving greenies here at Small Town Electron we’d put this tape forward as the PERFECT album for a lengthy nocturnal drive. – Antony Milton

Cassette

Continue reading “The Troubled Times: Hill Road in Winter”

águas brilhantes: 2018​-​2022

“We go from bossa nova rhythms to folk to RIO to indie to, what is interesting listening if nothing else, a dog howling along to a banjo (Oscar’s Blues) […] and songs taken from Poems & Lyrics (in the Scotch dialect) (1856)where Dave paid tribute to his ancestor John Collie who wrote a book of poems more than 150 years ago.

“It is unusual to find someone playing so confidently in such diverse areas, and anyone into independent music will certainly find something on here to enjoy – Kev Rowland, muzic.nz

Listen

About

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.

This compilation includes pieces inspired by the region and my ancestors, and new and old collaborators – including a torch-passing to younger members of my family.

Credits1

by Dave Edwards – guitars, bass, banjo, harmonica, vocal, lyrics

with

released December 22, 2022

Tracklist

1.Nat da Hatt + James Robinson + Dave Black – June’s Lounge, part 2 02:08
2.The Electricka Zoo – Inverno (live at Escape Velocity, 2018) 03:47
3.Campbell Kneale + fiffdimension – Both Chords 02:07
4.Celeste Rochery – My Native Land (John Collie, 1856) 01:56
5.The Blast of a Wintry Day (John Collie, 1856 – live at Wairarapa TV, 2019) (bonus) 03:44
6.Clever Hansel – Sonnet on Summer (John Collie, 1856) 03:19
7.snakebeings + fiffdimension – Walu (Fiji) 03:02
8.snakebeings + fiffdimension – Io (Fiji) 01:31
9.Larry Irava – Isa Lei Lia (Fiji) 04:38
10.Ilhas Atlânticas (Manuel José Bernard, das Flores, 1862) 03:12
11.Here’s a Health to my Cronies (John Collie, 1856) 02:46
12.Auld Satan when ye first gae through (John Collie, 1856) 02:02
13.Logistical Torrents (lockdown 2020) 03:07
14.Guitar Ringtone 02:07
15.The Troubled Times – Blinking in Daylight (return of the sun, 2021) 03:05
16.Clever Hansel – The Land of my Youth (John Collie, 1856) 03:57
17.The Troubled Times – Wairarapa Bossa Nova 03:18
18.James Robinson + fiffdimension – Old Brain (metadada of Oceania remembering) 03:21
19.The Troubled Times – The Dying Monarch (John Collie, 1856) 03:05
20.Ilhas novos (do sul) 01:20
21.Classical Rain Bucket 01:41
22.James Robinson + The Troubled Times – The Edge (a Negentropic Diatribe) 03:25
23.Tony Was Here (live at the Miracle Room, 2022) 03:25
24.Oscar – Oscar’s Blues 01:28
25.By my faith sirs, this canna lang dee (John Collie, 1856) 04:04
26.さくらさくら / Paetumokai (Pua pua i te Kōanga) 02:10
27.O Henry Ending (live at the Miracle Room, 2022) 08:00

Features previously unreleased recordings, and tracks from

Further listening: the albums

Continue reading “águas brilhantes: 2018​-​2022”

The Troubled Times: A Second Sun

about

Loosely a sequel to The Troubled Times’ debut, Return of the Sun (2021) 

These new recordings were made exactly one year later – again on the first day of daylight savings, Spring 2022 in the southern hemisphere – now joined by David Heath on drums.

The anniversary prompted the title – then possible alternative meanings of which (binary star systems, colonising other planets) led down a science fiction wormhole…

credits

Recorded in Masterton, New Zealand, 25 September 2022

T-shirt – order here!

The Dying Monarch

The album also features a key crossover track, with the Poems & Lyrics by John Collie (1856) project:

This track links the various spoken word, electric improv, and folk strands of fiffdimension music. While the rest of Poems & Lyrics by John Collie (1856) is acoustic based, in this case, the electric arrangement seemed to add a ‘kingly’ majesty, and pathos – as the monarch discovers the limits of his worldly power.

“The monarch ceased. The courtier train shook, muttered, gazed and shook again.

They saw life’s dying embers fade, they felt the sting of horror’s blade.

Before them lay a lifeless form, which once with life had passions warmed.

The hand was stiff which oft had reigned, the warhorse and the prisoner chained.

A lifeless lump of senseless clay, the stern despotic monarch lay.” – John Collie (1834-1893)

(track also appears on fiffdimension.bandcamp.com/album/poems-lyrics-in-the-english-dialect-1856 )

Tracklist

Continue reading “The Troubled Times: A Second Sun”