Electric

For an introduction to Dave Edwards‘ electric music, start with the “yang“¹ half of the 2CD compilation:

“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.

“Electric (Yang) boasts some wildly different tracks: short instrumentals (the guitar and percussion of King Street Boogie, the spaced-out psychedelia of Shuffling The Tarot, October Ring‘s sweet little guitar melody being countered by its evil twin sowing dissent and discord), spoken word over free-forming instruments (After The Filmshoot describing either a spiritual experience or very good drugs… or both, @Bomb The Space sounding like a guitar being attacked), and occasionally, songs too (the stripped-back post-punk glory of Tony Was Here, the slithery, smoky, speakeasy feel of Cafes In Conversation, Inverno creeping in like a fever-dream of The Cramps), the soft, delightful guitar ramblings on Stromatolites, to Wealth And Riches that sounds for all the world like a battle to the death between a drumkit and a horde of toy robots.

“He doesn’t seem to so much want to push boundaries, as to act like he’s never heard of boundaries in the first place. At times soft and beautiful, at others dark and jarring, it makes for fascinating listening.” – Peter Malthus, muzic.nz

To dive deeper, more albums, tracks, and collaborations that are largely electric-based include:

The Troubled Times

Psychedelic garage rock trio of Antony Milton, Dave Edwards, and David Heath – with its own extensive catalogue.

The Troubled Times’ first recording session of 2025 produced an atypical album, dDA – which features Dave on guitar and Antony on bass (most of the others are vice versa):

Live 2022-24

Solo electric performances live in Featherston and Masterton NZ, and Sydney AU.

Jovial Blade 7″ (2024)

“Some seriously scrambled dissonance. 80’s vocals hits 60’s electro/cut-up nonsense whilst smothering an ever mutating bassline […] the track contains more musical ideas in its 5 mins than some exhibit in some musical careers.” – Simon Baker, What Lies Beneath

Quietism (2024)

E-drum, bass and electric guitar – layered solo suite for virtual trio.

The Margins: 21/04/24

A noisy free improvised electronic trio, by a new combination of old collaborators: Dave Edwards, Antony Milton and Simon O’Rorke

“A virtual infusion of ‘ants-in-the-pants’ for the entomologically deficient” – Antony Milton

“The Dying Monarch“ (2022)

The sole electric track from the otherwise-acoustic Poems & Lyrics by John Collie (1856) project; performed in a suitably magisterial swamp-blues arrangement by The Troubled Times (Antony Milton, Dave Edwards, David Heath) . Also appears on their album A Second Sun.

w/ James Robinson: Negentropic Diatribes (2022)

Multimedia collaboration, with spoken word and artwork by award-winning painter James Robinson and musical settings by Dave Edwards and guests

Spastic Rhythms ’22 (2022)

Spastic Rhythms vol1 (2021)

Glimpses of Utopia (2020)

w/ Campbell Kneale: A Ton of Feathers (2018)

Full-on noise duo with the undisputed master of the genre

The Electricka Zoo (2017)

“A totally original, mind warping album that smacks you across the face with big sound…. I salute anyone that makes a whole album out of EDM post-punk avant-garde rock / jazz, reggae, Balkan, [and] Portuguese music” – muzic.nz

w/ Dr Emit Snake-Beings: Ngumbang (2015)

Our first collaboration with the even more legendary & underground artist Snake Beings (2015)

The Winter (2003-2015)

This Wellington-based trio of Dave Edwards, Simon Sweetman and Mike Kingston played both acoustic and electric improvisations; the Shortest Days 2003-2015 compilation includes examples of both:

w/ Nat da Hatt: ネオン列車の風景 Neon Train Landscapes (Japan, 2012)

Made in Japan with fellow kiwi expat Nat da Hatt – psychelic rock and channel-surfing samples meet ethnomusicological field recordings.

South Island Sessions (2006)

Steampunk folktronica from an alternate 19th century – made in Nelson, NZ by Dave Black with Cylvi M, Hayden Gifkins, Matthew Thornicroft and Frey (2006)

Ascension Band: Evolution (2005)

Award-winning electric symphony for post-punk big-band – by organist/conductor/arranger Nigel Patterson (The Black Seeds, The Manta Rays, Fly My Pretties), guitarist & organiser Dave Edwards (fiffdimension, The Winter), and over a dozen musicians including Ryan Prebble, Bell Campanita, Warwick Donald and more on guitars, basses, drums, electronics, keyboards, trumpets and vocals (2005)

Live 2004

The first video release by fiffdimension – predating smartphones and Youtube – was a DVD of the Ascension Band,

and also contained the earliest known surviving gig footage of Dave solo – playing guitar with an electric razor:

After the Filmshoot (2002)

Mantis Shaped & Worrying (2002)

The notorious ‘difficult third album’, which divided the critics

“spoken word and instrumental colour, with the latter lurching from acoustic strums to occasional cacophony. On the final track, ‘Revenge of the Smur‘ Edwards uses a primarily percussive accompaniment whose impact is as dramatic as his wordplay” – Real Groove

The Marion Flow (1999-2001)

Electric and acoustic songs, spoken word and instrumentals – an almost-recognised New Zealand classic, featuring Chris O’Connor, Paul Winstanley, Simon O’Rorke, Chris Palmer, Joe Callwood, the Digitator, Steve Duffels, Dean Brown, and Brian Wafer.

Made in New Plymouth

and Wellington

“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

Live 1999

Solo postpunk by a 20-year-old Dave Edwards, opening for NZ legend Chris Knox

“If only I could play guitar like that… bastard!” – Chris Knox

Scratched Surface (1998)

The debut album – a genuine lo-fi postpunk teenage singer/songwriter artifact from the ’90s Taranaki underground, by Dave Edwards with Tim McVicar (1997-1998)

“Worth searching out coz this lo-fi singer/songwriter oddball has a unique take on the genre – he’s happy to get raucous & obnoxious in just the right kinda way – Chris Knox

Gleefully Unknown: 1997-2005

A compilation of tracks from the early phase of my gloriously unsuccessful career.

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

1. The title “Acoustic Yin, Electric Yang 1998-2023” reflects the duality and balance inherent in this musical journey. In Asian philosophy, Yin and Yang represent complementary forces that interact to form a dynamic system. Applying this to fiffdimension:
   Acoustic (Yin): Symbolizes the more introspective folk-influenced sides of the music, highlighting the organic and natural elements.
   Electric (Yang): Represents the dynamic, energetic, and expressionistic aspects, emphasizing the electrified and amplified components. ↩︎