fiffdimension
Alternative music from Aotearoa and beyond
The Electricka Zoo
free improvisation
The Winter
Ascension Band
Huia Vortex
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
The title 'Huia Vortex' refers to the location where the track was recorded, in Huia, a small village on the outskirts of west Auckland.
Dave Black & Emit Snake-Beings
It's not necessarily related to 'Swansong (for the Huia)' (2004), the second album by The Winter, an electro-acoustic trio improvisation in tribute to the extinct New Zealand bird the huia by Dave Edwards, Mike Kingston, and Simon Sweetman. Its 19-minute final track remains an underrated fiffdimension epic. [send us your review]
This entry was posted in 2004, 2015, 2019, Music, New Zealand, video and tagged 2000s music, 2010s music, Animation, bass, drums, electric guitar, loops, postpunk, psychedelic rock, Snake Beings, The Winter, VJ.
The Marion Flow (part 2, Wellington 2001)
"It's lo-fi, organic and about as eclectic as one could manage. Kind of reminds me of Nick Cave if he had grown up in Timaru. No pretentious American accents or catch phrase choruses, just a bunch of people making music. A little beauty!" – NZ Musician, August/September 2002
The Marion Flow was originally a longer album which spanned recordings from New Plymouth in 1999 and Wellington in 2001.
This page is for the 2001 Wellington recordings: produced by Paul Winstanley, & featuring Chris O'Connor (drums), Chris Palmer (electric guitars), Simon O'Rorke (percussion), and more. Recorded at Thistle Hall, Wellington, 2001, and mixed by Joe Callwood.
Simon O'Rorke
Dave Edwards, 2004
Chris Palmer, recording The Marion Flow (2001)
Chris O'Connor
Paul Winstanley, recording The Marion Flow (1999)
For the earlier 1999 New Plymouth sessions see The Marion Flow (part 1, Taranaki);
By the time the opportunity arose to finish recording the Marion Flow I'd been thoroughly immersed in the Wellington free jazz and avant-garde music scene, and was very fortunate to have help from some of the top players there. I'd never studied music at school or been in a conventional band, and was out of my depth technically… so working around my limitations became a spark to creativity.
"Edwards' music is often a sculpture rather than a melodic composition. Within this chosen form, amongst all the writings rantings & poetry there's much difficult pleasure to be had for the musically adventurous." – Brent Cardy, Real Groove, July 2002
In 1999, aged 20, I'd left New Plymouth, a large rural town, where I grew up, and moved to Wellington, New Zealand's capital city, where I'd been born and where my early pakeha settler ancestors had lived in the 19th century. The Marion Flow reflects this journey, geographically, sonically and spiritually.
I've now reissued the two halves of the album separately – to emphasise the sense of time and place, and stylistic evolution, and to re-present them more concisely for the short-attention-span 21st century.
This entry was posted in 2000, 2001, Music, New Zealand and tagged 2000s music, acoustic, acoustic guitar, alternative, Aotearoa, Chris O'Connor, Chris Palmer, Dave Edwards, drums, electric guitar, electroacoustic, experimental, folk, harmonica, New Zealand folk music, New Zealand music, Paul Winstanley, poetry, postpunk, rock, Simon O'Rorke, songs, spoken word, Thistle Hall, Wellington.
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.
This entry was posted in 2019, Best of, Music, New Zealand and tagged 1990s music, 2000s music, 2010s music, Campbell Kneale, Dave Black, Dave Edwards, Gamelan Padhang Moncar, Gareth Farr, Jeff Henderson, Mike Kingston, New Zealand music, playlist, Ryan Prebble, Simon Sweetman, Snake Beings, Spotify, the Digitator.
Summer Skin
Live 4th May 2019, at Wairarapa TV May Music Marathon, in Masterton NZ.
Solo guitar & harmonica version of track http://www.fiffdimension.bandcamp.com/track/summer-skin
Originally recorded in Wellington NZ, September 2003, for the album 'Loose Autumn Moans', with a mini string section of Mike Kingston on cello and Sam Prebble (RIP) on violin. It also appears on the Gleefully Unknown: 1997-2005 compilation.
This entry was posted in 2003, 2019, Music, New Zealand, video and tagged 2000s music, acoustic, acoustic guitar, Dave Edwards, early 2000s music, harmonica, Masterton, New Zealand music, singer-songwriter, Wairarapa, Wairarapa TV, Wellington.
Seafriends
4th May 2019 live solo version at the Wairarapa TV May Music Marathon.
This song was originally recorded in June 2001, at Thistle Hall, Wellington. It was the opening track of the album The Marion Flow.
This entry was posted in 2001, 2019, Music, New Zealand, video and tagged 2000s music, acoustic guitar, alternative, Dave Edwards, drums, electric guitar, May Music Marathon, New Zealand music, rock, Wairarapa, Wairarapa TV, Wellington.
The year got off to a good start, with Ascension Band: Evolution
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.
I had my first taste of success (the fame part of Fame & Oblivion 2005-2012)…
Melbourne, VIC, Australia 2005
…But by this time I was ready to see the world beyond Aotearoa. I shifted across the Tasman Sea to Melbourne – in Australia, the West Island.
For the next few months I lived in Brunswick, and worked in temp jobs around the city and in rural Victoria.
The results became After Maths & Sciences
This entry was posted in 2005, Australia, Music, New Zealand, Travel and tagged 2000s music, 2005, acoustic, acoustic guitar, alternative, Ascension Band, Australia, avant-garde, banjo, Dave Black, Dave Edwards, drums, electric, electric guitar, ethnomusicology, experimental, field recordings, Melbourne, Mike Kingston, New Zealand music, Nigel Patterson, Ryan Prebble, Wellington.
the Ballad of William Knife
Music video from the album 'South Island Sessions', set in 19th century New Zealand with an ecological theme. 'The Ballad of William Knife' was the name of the show we took to the Dunedin Fringe Festival in 2006.
See also the videos for 'Bandit Joe on a Scraded Gat' and 'BFD'
1861 revisited – Read the rest of this entry »
This entry was posted in 2006, 2016, Free mp3s, Music, New Zealand, video and tagged 19th century, 2000s music, Aotearoa, avant-garde, banjo, conservation, Dave Black, drums, ecology, electric, electric guitar, electroacoustic, electronica, experimental, fiffdimension, folk, folktronica, Frey, harmonica, Hayden Gifkins, invasive species, Kahurangi, kiwi, Marlborough, Matt Thornicroft, music, nelson, new zealand, New Zealand music, noise, saxophone, South Island, steampunk, steampunk folktronica, Suka, Tasman, Te Wai Pounamu, The Faraway Tree, video.
1856 1999 2001 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Asia Australia Best of Fiji First Time Around Free mp3s genealogy Indonesia Japan Korea Mongolia Music New Zealand Thailand the Electricka Zoo The Winter Travel video
19th century 1990s music 2000s music 2010s music acoustic acoustic guitar alternative Asia avant-garde banjo bass Cylvi M Dave Black Dave Edwards drums electric electric guitar electroacoustic electronica ethnomusicology experimental field recordings fiffdimension folk Free improv Free mp3s gamelan Gamelan Padhang Moncar harmonica improvisation Indonesia Japan kiwi Mike Kingston music nat da hatt New Plymouth new zealand New Zealand music noise Paul Winstanley percussion postpunk psychedelic rock rock saxophone Simon O'Rorke Simon Sweetman Snake Beings songs Southeast Asia spoken word Taranaki the Digitator The Winter travel video Wairarapa Wellington 日本
with Snake Beings in Fiji
Here's a Health to my Cronies (by John Collie, 1856)
11 through the viewer 7
Crossing the Japan Alps 飛騨山脈日本
The Marion Flow, March 2019
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