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.

Live 2022-24

2023 was also notable for the return of live music to the Wairarapa.

https://fiffdimension.bandcamp.com/album/live-2022-24

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)

Live 2023

Dave Edwards live solo at Solway Showgrounds, Masterton NZ

24th June + 19th August 2023

Masterton District, New Zealand

at ‘The Next Big Thing Wairarapa‘

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The Troubled Times: live at Common Ground 15/07/23

Thank you everyone who came to The Troubled Times‘ live debut, in Featherston NZ

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

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

Mānawatia a Matariki!

Thanks also to Zac and Holly Winterwood,

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Assembling disconsonant

This was chronologically the last piece recorded on the Acoustic yin / Electric yang 2CD, released to celebrate the 25th anniversary of fiffdimension in 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

Live versions

w/ Guy Walker (turntable):

Solo, just the words:

Method

Continue reading →

2022 roundup

fiffdimension vol4, águas brilhantes: 2018-2022, sums up the last few years’ here:

2022

Has been a productive year… there’s a (mostly) solo instrumental album (also ft Oscar the dog);

two albums by the Troubled Times – collaboration with Antony Milton now a trio with David Heath on drums;

recordings with my nephews Hans and Rhys Landon-Lane towards Poems & Lyrics by John Collie (1856) – with words written by our ancestor;

and a multimedia spoken word + improvised music collaboration with the award-winning painter James Robinson;

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

fiffdimension compilation vol 4 (a followup to Gleefully Unknown: 1997-2005, Fame & Oblivion: 2005-2012, and Other Islands: 2012-2018)

Made in Featherston, Masterton and Port Chalmers (NZ), Paris (France), and Suva (Fiji)
Includes tracks by The Troubled Times, Campbell Kneale & Dave Black , James Robinson & fiffdimension, Oscar (the dog), and poems & lyrics by John Collie (1834-1893)

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

Antony Milton – keyboard, electric guitar (The Troubled Times)
David Heath – drums (The Troubled Times)
Campbell Kneale – electric guitar & analogue synthesiser on ‘both chords’
Hans Landon-Lane – ukulele, accordion, vocal (Clever Hansel)
Celeste Rochery – guitar & vocal on ‘My Native Land’
James Robinson – bell drum on ‘June’s Lounge‘, lyrics & vocal on ‘the edge‘ and ‘old brain‘
John Collie (1834-1893) – Poems & Lyrics (in the English and Scotch Dialects, 1856)
Dr Emit Snake-Beings – keyboards & percussion (in Fiji)
Elario Irava – acoustic guitar & vocal (from Fiji)
Nat da Hatt – electric guitar & thumb piano on ‘June’s Lounge‘
The Digitator – keyboards & vocal on ‘Inverno‘
Oscar – vocal on ‘Oscar’s blues‘
Rhys Landon-Lane – classical guitar & vocal on ‘by my faith sirs this canna lang dee‘

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

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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

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)

Recorded in Masterton, New Zealand, 25 September 2022

T-shirt – order here!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dave Edwards (@fiffdimension)

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

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w/ James Robinson – Negentropic Diatribes (2022)

Multimedia spoken word and music collaboration between two unique NZ artists:

Listen

About

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

We met in the early 2000s, and finally collaborated 20 years on. Negentropic Diatribes was recorded in Otago in 2022, as James used spoken word recordings to discuss his creative process and innermost thoughts.

The musical settings were created by Dave in Featherston – plus contributions from other collaborators.

credits

James Robinson – words, voice, paintings & drawings, bell drum
Dave Edwards – electric guitar, bass, loops (2,6,9), midi (9,13), ukulele (11), harmonica (14)

with

Antony Milton – electric guitar (4)
David Heath – drums (4)
Dr Emit Snake-Beings – percussion (5), keyboard (11)
Jody Lloyd – beats and mixing (12)
Nathan Palmer – electric guitar, thumb piano, jaw harp, banjo, and synth (14)
‐‐——-

Tracklist

1.	Telescopic Misanthropy (take 1) 02:10
2.	Tendrils of Glowing Memory Filaments 04:31
3.	Nothing Can be Threatened by Nothing 04:19
4.	James Robinson + The Troubled Times – The Edge 03:25
5.	James Robinson + snakebeings + fiffdimension – Dialogue with the Divine 05:30
6.	Well Done Son! 00:54
7.	Old Brain (metadada of Oceania remembering) 06:19
8.	James Robinson – Is Not Art 03:29
9.	Existential Threat 01:02
10.	Got Razed 07:34
11.	James Robinson + snakebeings + fiffdimension – That which is itself nature 05:00
12.	James Robinson + Trillion – Bath poem 10:31
13.	Psychocultural Glossalalia 01:39
14.	James Robinson + Nat da Hatt + fiffdimension – Ake Ake Amene 18:20

James Robinson

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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Spastic Rhythms ’22 (2022)

Featherston, NZ – early 2022 – spontaneous compositions, two wet weekends in a row.

Listen

A sequel to Spastic Rhythms vol 1 (2021)

second in a series of ‘quickfire’ DIY solo albums, created in a couple of days each.
This one features interspecies guest collaboration with Oscar the huntaway.

credits

Dave Black – guitars, bass, banjo (2), clarinet (6), sanshin (10), loop pedal, e-drum

Oscar – vocal (3,9)

released February 13, 2022

Featherston, New Zealand

Tracklist

1.	Drums on Waitangi Day 00:54
2.	Estado Novo 01:20
3.	Oscar – Oscar’s Blues 01:28
4.	fiffdimension / snakebeings – Arising (into Fragments) 03:51
5.	Black Mountain (Црна Гора) 00:59
6.	Shuffling the Tarot 03:39
7.	Classical rain bucket 01:41
8.	Rebooting 02:52
9.	Oscar – At home pants ft. cannon bone 02:12
10.	Removing a bandaid 00:51
11.	Shuri Jo (琉球諸島) 01:03
12.	Waiting for Dovi 05:24

Further listening

águas brilhantes: 2018-2022

A compilation of tracks from the Wairarapa in these years.

“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