Animated visuals, with electric guitar loops, one-stringed bass, and drums – the opening track from the ‘Ngumbang‘ album (get the free download) – w/ Emit Snake-beings & Nat da Hatt
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.
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.
“Worth searching out coz this lo-fi singer/songwriter oddball has a unique take on the genre. He’s pissed off, a tad fucked up (as usual), but not full of lugubrious self-pity (as unusual) and is happy to get raucous & obnoxious in just the right kinda way.” – Chris Knox
In December 1998 I self-released my debut album . Scratched Surface was a teenage no-budget lo-fi postpunk pakeha singer-songwriter album from the Taranaki, Aotearoa underground, recorded on analogue reel-to-reel tape.
I burned it on CDR and sent out copies to anyone who would listen. It was the opening salvo in a recording career that’s gone on for over 20 years now, occasionally dismissed, largely ignored, gloriously unsuccessful. A career nonetheless; I’ve made an album most years since.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
20 years on I’m still creating – here’s some of what I’ve done more recently:
by Dave Black (acoustic & electric guitars, banjo, harmonica, laptop, bass, tenor saxophone, field recordings, piano, ukulele, sanshin, saron, jublag, demung, vocal), with
Our main news of 2017 was The Electricka Zoo‘s debut album. music.net.nz called it “a totally original, mind-warping album”.
It’s not too late for your best-album-of-2017 lists, so get your copy today (just click the ‘buy’ button above… yes we’re still more interested in ‘the album’, as a unified artform, with a theme and structure, rather than streaming playlists).
Meanwhile this year we made some progress on social media, reaching the modest milestones of 200 likes for fiffdimension and 100 likes for the Electricka Zoo on Facebook.
We’re happy to announce the release of the Electricka Zoo‘s first (self-titled) album.
the Electricka Zoo, 2017
the Electricka Zoo, 2017
Tapioca Dragon / The Electrica Zoo / 1/3 Octave Band poster
The Electricka Zoo, 2017
The Digitator’s gear
the Electricka Zoo, 2017
The Electricka Zoo, 2017
The duo of Dave Black & the Digitator, The Electricka Zoo combine influences from EDM and post-punk avant-garde rock to jazz, reggae, Balkan and Portuguese music. Their self-titled debut album features 8 original tunes by the bass/guitar and electronica duo wrapped in colourful mandala artwork by Lucie Hannon.