Loose Autumn Moans (2003)

“Wellington, NZ composer Dave Edwards with some able assistance from duo or trio the Winter... Guitars, violin, cello, and percussion all stack up… He’s got a persona that’s all his own.”

– George Parsons, Dream Magazine #5

All acoustic, with a string section, recorded and mixed on analogue equipment, and originally released on cassette in 2003 – new 2020 remaster.

Featuring

Sam Prebble (violin)

Mike Kingston (cello)

and Simon Sweetman on percussion.

simon w newspaper

Bats Theatre, Wellington NZ 2003

Sam Prebble RIP, 2014

Loose Autumn Moans is dedicated to Sam Prebble (aka Bond Street Bridge), who died in 2014.

Further listening

Loose Autumn Moans consists of five acoustic ensemble tracks:

	1.	Summer Skin 06:20
	2.	Mouth of the Caveman 03:26
	3.	Redressing Depression Regression 06:02
	4.	The Hurricane Wrangle (Live at Bats Theatre) 07:22
	5.	The Winter – O Henry Ending (Live at Photospace Gallery) 12:46

The album is structured as a progression from summer (with a NZ pohutukawa tree in flower on the cover) through autumn – a time of harvest, preparation, shortening daylight, and the shedding of old dead layers – and finishes with an extended live version of ‘O Henry Ending’, recorded at the Winter’s first gig.

The original C60 cassette (and later online) release included solo interludes recorded in 2002. The collaboration with these guys followed on from

After the Filmshoot (2002)

By focusing on the 2003 sessions Loose Autumn Moans becomes concise, emphasising the lyrics and the jazzy acoustic instrumental interplay – a mini orchestra to bring colour.

oose Autumn Moans is dedicated to Sam Prebble (aka Bond Street Bridge), who died in 2014.

Further listening

The collaboration with these guys followed on from

The Winter: Parataxes

The Winter live at Photospace Gallery, July 2003 (photo by James Gilberd)

The Winter‘s debut: electric and acoustic trio improvisations for guitars, cello and percussion, by Dave Edwards, Mike Kingston, and Simon Sweetman (2003)

“A strange sonic brew that includes dissonant rock textures, rough outsider folk-blues mysteries, electric and acoustic improvisations and a considerable part of tasty feedback. Imagine equal parts Derek Bailey, New Zealand’s Pumice and classic ’60s blues/folk and you’re in the right ballpark.” – The Broken Face

Continue reading “Loose Autumn Moans (2003)” →

Spotify playlist – fiffdimension & friends

Here’s my first Spotify playlist… a mix of my own tracks and by other artists who I’ve had the privilege to meet and be inspired by, in several cases played gigs alongside and/or collaborated with.

Thank you all for the journey! And some great music here.

Continue reading “Spotify playlist – fiffdimension & friends” →

Other Islands: 2012-2018

fiffdimension vol3

brings us into the current decade – with further wide-ranging experimentation and exploration sonically, temporally and geographically, in New Zealand, Western Australia, Indonesia, Okinawa (Japan), and Fiji.

by Dave Black (acoustic & electric guitars, banjo, harmonica, laptop, bass, tenor saxophone, field recordings, piano, ukulele, sanshin, saron, jublag, demung, vocal), with

Mike Kingston (charango, acoustic guitar),

Simon Sweetman (percussion),

Nat da Hatt (electric guitar, keyboards, banjo),

Emit Snake-Beings (banjo, vocal, percussion, flute, electronics),

the Digitator (electric drums, keyboards & loops),

Campbell Kneale (electric guitar, analogue synthesiser),

Cylvi M (vocal, field recordings, percussion, shakuhachi),

Blair Latham (bass clarinet),

Simon O’Rorke (keyboards),

Chris Prosser (violin),

Julie Bevan (acoustic guitar),

plus Indonesian gamelan ensembles led by Sofari Hidayat, Budi Putra, and Gareth Farr,

a song by my great-great-grandfather John Collie (1856),

and field recordings from Western Australia, Indonesia, Okinawa (Japan), and Fiji.

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Featuring tracks from the albums

The Winter: Flying Visit (2012)

in the non-idiomatic idiom in Norway (1999/2014)

ネオン列車の風景 Neon Train Landscapes (2010-15)

Ngumbang (2014-15)

The Winter: Exit Points (2015)

The Electricka Zoo (2017)

and previously unheard tracks.

安里屋ユンタオーバードライブ Asadoya Yunta Overdrive (Okinawa), 2015

in the non-idiomatic idiom in Norway (1999/2014)

And hear the previous compilations

Gleefully Unknown: 1997-2005

Free mp3s 2014 – 2015

New free downloads 2014-2015 ! Pay koha / what you want for

Ngumbang

the first collaborative album by New Zealand artist/musician/filmmaker/ethnomusicologists Dave Black & Snake Beings – performed on guitars, bass, banjo, percussion, saxophones, clarinets, harmonicas, synthesisers, Indonesian gamelan, Okinawan sanshin, ukulele, violin, loop pedal, piano, drums and spoken word.

and

ネオン列車の風景 Neon Train Landscapes

(2014) Japanese psychedelic rock by Dave Black & Nat da Hatt – two New Zealanders living in Japan.

plus

The fifth album from New Zealand free improvisation trio of Mike Kingston, Simon Sweetman and Dave Edwards

and

Free-jazz & improv from Wellington, New Zealand 1999/2014 – in collaboration with simon.ororke.net

and a video clip of

Gamelan Taniwha Jaya

and Dave and Cylvi contributed to Postmoderncore‘s first volume of Dada Songwriting Compilation, Rejection dryrot ripple Gombage.

The Winter: Exit Points (2015)

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in the non-idiomatic idiom in Norway (1999/2014)

Dave Black & Nat da Hatt climb Mt Yakushidake, Japan, 2012

Dave Black & Snake Beings, 2014

Saturday 5th April 2014, Audio Foundation, Auckland

安里屋ユンタオーバードライブ Asadoya Yunta Overdrive (Okinawa), 2015

The Winter, 2010

ネオン列車の風景 Neon Train Landscapes (2014)

Emit Snake-Beings

Nat da Hatt

The Winter, 2015

Ngumbang (2015)

Enjoy!

We’ll take a break from more releases for the remainder of this year while some new ideas percolate – thanks for listening, see you at the New Zealand Fringe Festival in 2016!

The Winter: Exit Points

Today is the last day of winter in the southern hemisphere – so to celebrate, here’s the fifth album from The Winter – a New Zealand free improvisation trio of Mike Kingston, Simon Sweetman and Dave Edwards… with a sound that swerves from acoustic folk/blues with hints of Asian, Celtic, and Balkan influences, to electroacoustic soundscapes, abstract dissonance, and pots & pans percussion.

Mike Kingston: guitar, bass, clarinet, electronics
Dave Edwards: guitar, bass, banjo, harmonica, ukulele, sanshin, electronics
Simon Sweetman: drums and percussion, electronics

Continue reading “The Winter: Exit Points” →

The Winter at Pyramid Club, 2015

Thanks to Brent for the photos and to everyone who came along to the Pyramid Club on Thursday!

The Winter’s new album ‘Exit Points’ is now available!

Continue reading “The Winter at Pyramid Club, 2015” →

Simon Sweetman

Simon Sweetman is the drummer/percussionist for The Winter

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He writes about music at www.offthetracks.co.nz

and podcasts at https://soundcloud.com/off-the-tracks

Gleefully Unknown: 1997-2005

“Whilst shopping from fiffdimension make sure to get hold of ‘Gleefully Unknown’, a best-of compilation of Dave Edwards’ music from 1997 to 2005. Rough outsider folk-blues mysteries, dissonant rock textures, electric and acoustic improvisations…

“Edwards strikes me as one of the most overlooked musicians from the fertile lands of New Zealand and if you need a fresh start this might very well be the place.” – Mats Gustafsson, The Broken Face

Now available from Spotify, Bandcamp etc

A compilation of songs, spoken word and instrumentals from the first half of my gloriously unsuccessful career to date:

by Dave Edwards (acoustic & electric guitars, harmonica, bass, banjo, vocal)

with

Mike Kingston (cello, acoustic guitar),

Paul Winstanley (fretless bass, turntables),

Simon Sweetman (percussion),

Nigel Patterson (hammond organ),

Cylvi M (percussion),

Simon O’Rorke (percussion),

Francesca Mountfort (cello),

Jeff Henderson (clarinet),

Blair Latham (alto sax),

Sam Prebble (violin, percussion),

Chris Palmer (electric guitar),

Chris O’Connor (drums),

Antony Milton (violin, keyboards),

Frey (laptop),

Dean Brown (drums)

and more…

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Featuring tracks from the albums

Scratched Surface (1997-1998)

in the non-idiomatic idiom in Norway (1999/2014)

The Marion Flow (1999-2001)

Mantis Shaped and Worrying (2002)

The Winter: Parataxes (2003)

Loose Autumn Moans (2003)

Live 2004 (2004)

After Maths & Sciences (2005-2006)

The Winter: Swansong (for the Huia) (2004)

… if you enjoy this, try the sequels Fame & Oblivion: 2005-2012 and Other Islands: 2012-2018

The Winter: Flying Visit

Acoustic instrumental music by Wellington, New Zealand, improvising trio The Winter.

Mike Kingston: charango, guitar, clarinet

Dave Edwards: ukulele, sanshin, tenor sax, piano

Simon Sweetman: xylophone, percussion

Continue reading “The Winter: Flying Visit” →

The Winter: 2011

2011 – year of the Christchurch earthquakes, the Arab Spring, the Fukushima disaster, the shootings in Norway,the Queensland floods… and the Wellington (New Zealand) winter was colder than usual.