2025 roundup

Another productive year here! We released:

Ruasagavulu ka lima (Fiji)

An acoustic solo album, made in the Yasawa islands, Fiji. Ukulele and field recordings, with acoustic bass and percussion.

Poems & Lyrics by John Collie (1856)

A musical adaptation of my ancestor’s book, finally ‘close enough’ to finished after seven years… or 169, depending how you count it.

Featherston Free Sound Ensemble

A new collaboration with turntablists Guy Walker and Alex V – free improv electronica for the regions.

Experiments Under the Hills

October-November, with Guy Walker and Alex V

The Troubled Times

with Antony Milton and David Heath in Masterton NZ.

Unsteady Ground

As close as we’ve come to a ‘political’ album

dDA

We swapped instruments and almost formed a new band.

Homo Homini Lupus

We appeared on this ‘various artists’ compilation from Louisville, Kentucky

Smudge

Winter was too cold for the garage, so we played ‘lounge music’

Thanks for listening! See you in 2026...

Ruasagavulu ka lima (Fiji, 2025)

A suite of short acoustic instrumentals and Pacific islands tropical ambience – recorded in the Yasawa islands of Fiji.

Listen

About

Main tracks improvised outdoors on ukulele and lali (log drum), on Tavewa island, early April 2025. Acoustic bass and hand drum overdubbed after returning home.

Tracklist

1.	Arrival / Bula Maleya 01:12
2.	Lali kei Basa : iMatai ni Wase 01:58
3.	Tawakilai 02:45
4.	Ono walu: mataqali dua 03:07
5.	Lali kei Basa: iKarua ni Wase 01:04
6.	iMatai ni iVolatukutuku 03:39
7.	Idabedabe me vesu 02:15
8.	Na ikalawa ni yava 02:10
9.	Ono walu: mataqali rua 02:45
10.	Mai Ifrika 02:23
11.	Vakaciri ena buca 01:03
12.	Siga malumu 02:42
13.	Vakacava 01:02
14.	Koro ni uciwai 03:26
15.	Vakadidike 01:07
16.	Buli soro 01:15
17.	Lali kei Basa: vakalevu 01:13
18.	Qito ni bola 01:33
19.	Bokola ni manu 04:25
20.	Na vula 03:23
21.	Mali 01:23
22.	Na blue i Dua 02:28
23.	Konei mai 02:17
24.	Sau ni lesu 04:46
25.	Elario Irava – Isa Lei Lia 04:38

Background

The title ‘Ruasagavulu ka lima‘ is the number 25 in Fijian;
this is a followup to the first Fijian album Ruasagavulu (2020), recorded in Suva w/ Emit Snake-Beings)

credits

releases June 21, 2025

‘Tevita’ Edwards – ukulele, lali, djembe, acoustic bass, field recordings
——————-

Recorded on Tavewa island, Yasawas, Fiji, early April 2025
Bass & drum overdubs recorded in Featherston NZ, April/May 2025

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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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Ruasagavulu

Out now – the new album

by Dave Black & Dr Emit Snake-Beings

Made in Fiji

“So easy to get totally lost in this music, recommend for helping with your inner peace” – Andi Verse

Indo-Fijian inspired tropical devotional avant-garde instrumentals for keyboards, ukulele, dholak, duduk, harmonicas, DIY kitchen gamelan, and video.

Snake Beings & Dave Black in Fiji

This was one of the last in-person international collaborations from before the world ended… it’s got nothing to do with the pandemic.

It was recorded in Suva, Fiji, 2nd and 4th of November 2019.

The title ‘ruasagavulu’ means ‘twenty’ in Fijian, to kick off the new decade optimistically.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dave Edwards (@fiffdimension)

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Further listening

Our first duo recording was ‘Ngumbang‘ (2015) –

a fusion of several genres and a DIY manifesto – “Pick up the pieces and make them into something new, it’s what we do…”

Continue reading “Ruasagavulu” →

Gar mar par da nee sa

the opening track from Ruasagavulu

by Dave Black & Snake-Beings

recorded in Suva, Fiji, 2nd November 2019

This short warmup improv is based on an Indian scale, inspired by Dr Emit Snake-Beings‘ travels to Kerala in India, and harmonium lessons in Suva.

There’s an Indian influence throughout the album, as several sections are based on drones and modal improv (rather than the chord changes)… though this is not a traditional Indian album, we’ve borrowed ideas to inform our own experiments.

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The temple in the photo is Sri Siva Subramaniya in Nadi. It’s built in the Dravidian style from southern India, which is also found in Singapore and Malaysia.

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In contrast to other Pacific Island countries, Fiji has a large – almost half – population of Indian descent. Indians came to Fiji in the 19th century, as indentured labourers to work the sugar cane plantations.

The following videos are made in India, courtesy of www.snakebeings.co.nz

Continue reading “Gar mar par da nee sa” →

Fiji 1976, by Alastair Edwards

Film footage by my father, Alastair Edwards (1936-2010), in Nadi and around Viti Levu in 1976.

It’s from my parents’ honeymoon, a couple of years before I was born.

There was no sound, so I’ve added a soundtrack from Ruasagavulu, which Dr Emit Snake-Beings and I recorded in Suva decades later.

My Dad’s interest in film (then video) and photography was one of the key influences on my own travel and videomaking. He was doing this long before youtube or instagram!

I miss you Dad…

Ruasagavulu – with Snake Beings in Fiji

Made in Suva, Fiji – the new album by Dave Black & Dr Emit Snake-Beings

“So easy to get totally lost in this music, recommend for helping with your inner peace” – Andi Verse

Indo-Fijian inspired tropical devotional avant-garde instrumentals for keyboards, ukulele, dholak, duduk, harmonicas, DIY kitchen gamelan, and video.

This was one of the last in-person international collaborations from before the world ended.

The title ‘ruasagavulu’ means ‘twenty’ in Fijian, to kick off the new decade.

recorded in Suva, Fiji, 2nd November 2019