1856 to 2024 – DIY outsider music, from Aotearoa NZ and beyond
Newly discovered 2010 ‘lost recordings’ by The Winter
An improvised music trio of Mike Kingston, Dave Edwards, and Simon Sweetman –
Includes live performances at Fred’s, and previously unheard recording sessions on 25-4-10 and 6-6-10.
releases June 6, 2023
Continue reading “The Winter: 2010”
Simon Sweetman – drums, percussion
Mike Kingston – guitars, cello (2-5), clarinet (7,11,14), charango (7,10)
Dave Edwards – guitars, vocal (3), harmonica (4,7,9), banjo (7), ukulele (7,9,11), saxophone (10,14), piano (10), bass (12,13), electronics (6,8,13)
Wellington, New Zealand,
free improv music trio, formed on winter solstice day June 2003.
An archive compilation,
Continue reading “The Winter: 2003-2015”
“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
Featuring
Sam Prebble (violin)
Mike Kingston (cello)
and Simon Sweetman on percussion.
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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.
Loose Autumn Moans consists of five acoustic ensemble tracks:
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Summer Skin 06:20 |
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Mouth of the Caveman 03:26 |
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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
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.
The collaboration with these guys followed on from
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
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”
fiffdimension vol3
(see also Gleefully Unknown: 1997-2005 and Fame & Oblivion: 2005-2012)
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.
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.
And hear the previous compilations
New free downloads 2014-2015 ! Pay koha / what you want for
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
(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
and Dave and Cylvi contributed to Postmoderncore‘s first volume of Dada Songwriting Compilation, Rejection dryrot ripple Gombage.
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!
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
Thanks to Brent for the photos and to everyone who came along to the Pyramid Club on Thursday!
Simon Sweetman is a Wellington NZ author and musician.
He is best known for his music criticism and poetry, and for his distinctive homemade ‘pots & pans’ percussion for The Winter (trio with Mike Kingston and Dave Edwards) and (more recently) Dirty Spoons, Yo (with Sam Walters);
Simon blogs at https://simonsweetman.substack.com/ ;
and records spoken-word albums as Second Storey Teller;
his books include The Death of Music Journalism (2020),
and he has a new book coming out later in 2024…
“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…
Featuring tracks from the albums
… if you enjoy this, try the sequels Fame & Oblivion: 2005-2012 and Other Islands: 2012-2018
fiffdimension 