Tag: bass

The Troubled Times: Sunless (2026)

The Troubled Times‘ 5th Anniversary recording session, 2026 –

continuing the band’s tradition of getting together on the 1st Sunday of Aotearoa’s daylight saving.

The weather was so abysmal this time that the drummer didn’t want to bike over in the rain, and so it was just Dave and Antony for this one (though Dave did jump on the drums for the last track).

Noisy and psychedelic.

credits

released September 30, 2026

Antony Milton – sampling keyboard/synth, guitar

Dave Edwards – bass, effects, percussion

Recorded in Masterton NZ,
27th September 2026

Further listening: The Troubled Times

The Troubled Times: a blat around the block (2026)

“Weirdly perverse all-over-the-place free-form jam recorded at a practice for a gig. Pretty much zero editing so it is what it is (…). Veers between NZ garage squall and free jazz skronk with epic relentless drumming from Mr Heath. Copied onto disk as a quickie give away for the show.”

Antony Milton

credits

David Heath – drums
Dave Edwards – bass
Antony Milton – guitar

Recorded in Masterton, NZ
19 July 2026

released August 5, 2026


Further listening: The Troubled Times

FFSE: 06-08-26

a new quartet lineup –
banging a drum,
the ensemble takes a broken-ribbed primitivist approach.

Listen

(Yes we have alpacas in south Wairarapa; no, they are not native)

credits

released August 6, 2026

Guy Walker – turntable, loops

Dave Edwards – bass

Greg
& Jeffrey Fuckit – percussion, vocal

Recorded at the Bakehouse, Paetumokai / Featherston, NZ

06 August 2026

Further listening:

Featherston Free Sound Ensemble

FFSE: 02-07-26

Smalltown avant-garde –
DIY free improvisation and homemade electronica in south Wairarapa, Aotearoa / NZ.

This one’s a duo session in southern hemisphere winter – starts noisy, spaces out, goes techno near the end.

credits

released July 2, 2026

Guy Walker – tape loops, turntable

Dave Edwards – bass, guitar, electronics

Recorded at the Bakehouse Collective, Featherston NZ, 02-07-26

Further listening: Featherston Free Sound Ensemble

Goblins (2024)

Electroacoustic, slow burn, deep in imaginary forest. Alludes to Shakespeare, Tolkien, Brothers Grimm.

Listen

credits

released February 19, 2026

Dave Edwards – bass, glockenspiel (1,3,6), electric guitar (3,5,6), e-drum (2,4), pitch-shifted gong (3.6), clarinet (7)

Previously unreleased solo instrumental recordings from 2024;
expands on the possibilities of fiffdimension.bandcamp.com/album/jovial-blade-7-2024

————-
Recorded in Featherston, NZ, 2024. Editing finished off February 2026.

Photos taken in the ‘Goblin forest’ of Mt Taranaki, NZ (on a visit back to my hometown of New Plymouth)..

Tracklist

1.Goblins 02:301.
2.Trail of Breadcrumbs 03:12
3.Oberon 07:49
4.by Jupiter 04:42
5.Hobgoblins 03:03
6.Titania 11:28
7.Extant Body & Weight Extended 10:58

Further listening: Jovial Blade 7″

FFSE: MiXtape X (2026)

Our first album release of 2026, by Featherston Free Sound Ensemble – courtesy of Antony Milton’s Troubled Times Tapes label. Available on cassette or download.

Listen

“Every few weeks the peace of a small hall in the otherwise quiet tiny town of Featherston at the very bottom of the North Island of New Zealand/Aotearoa is disrupted by a gathering of eccentric misfits with a ragtag collection of noise making electronics. Old tape decks playing home made loops, dusty turntables spinning even dustier vinyl festooned with tags of sellotape, and glitchy cheap effects pedals disrupting the signal of an array of instruments that are being force-fed into weirdly small amplifiers.
“The recordings here in are from a variety of said get togethers and performances. Noise collage meets odd techno dub butted up against distorted rock. Tapiness wins.” – Antony Milton

credits

released January 14, 2026

Guy Walker – turntable, cassette loops
Alex V – turntable, MIDI, sampler
Dave Edwards – bass, e-drum, clarinet, guitar
Recorded Oct-Nov 2025

Edited and mastered (somewhat) by A.M
Cover photos by Guy Walker

Further listening: Featherston Free Sound Ensemble

Experiments Under the Hills (2025)

Smalltown NZ free improv by Featherston Free Sound Ensemble

Paetumokai / Featherston,
Aotearoa / New Zealand,

credits

Recorded at the Bakehouse, October-November 2025

tracklist

1.19-11-25 #1 orchestral overture 08:53
2.27-11-25 #3 casino 03:39
3.12-11-25 #4a static electricity 02:34
4.12-11-25 #5c tremelo 03:48
5.30-10-25 #2 Bulgarian 11:27
6.27-11-25 #2 banjo 04:55
7.12-11-25 #3b ukulele 03:27
8.12-11-25 #5a EDM 03:51
9.30-10-25 #3 guitar 04:27
10.19-11-25 #4 towards the exit 03:25
11.12-11-25 #3a orchestral reprise 04:53

Further listening:

“I was wide awake at 2.30am so listened to us on headphones in the dark in bed. I’m probably biased, but I think we sound bloody awesome” – Guy Walker

Continue reading “Experiments Under the Hills (2025)” →

Live at the Bakehouse 29/11/25

Smalltown free improv – live at @bakehousecollectivenz

“I was wide awake at 2.30am so listened to us on headphones in the dark in bed. I’m probably biased, but I think we sound bloody awesome” – Guy Walker

Paetumokai / Featherston,
Aotearoa / New Zealand,

29 November 2025

credits

Guy Walker – turntable, cassette loops

Alex V – turntable, MIDI, sampler

Dave Edwards – bass, guitar, e-drum, harmonica

Continue reading “Live at the Bakehouse 29/11/25” →

Featherston Free Sound Ensemble: First Experiments (2025)

Guy Walker – turntables, cassettes (right channel)
Dave Edwards – bass, guitar, e-drum (left channel)

Recorded at the Bakehouse, Featherston NZ, 18/09/25

Continue reading “Featherston Free Sound Ensemble: First Experiments (2025)” →

The Troubled Times: Sparkle Tube (2025)

A return to the duo lineup of our earliest recordings (Antony Milton and Dave Edwards).

Listen

CD-R edition

Limited edition physical copies of Sparkle Tube are available from Antony’s Grey Cyphers CDR label, along with other NZ artists including Rain Sleepers, Agentsss, L$D Fundraiser, CJA, Tower of Heaven, and more.

Old school cdr label out of back blocks New Zealand/Aotearoa releasing music by Agentsss and other lo-fi mystic wannabes

Antony Milton

About

Duo outing for The Troubled Times on this disk, ostensibly this is material Dave and Antony recorded while waiting for drummer David to show up for practice. He never showed up…
More of a weird improv noise album this one- except for the ‘musical’ bits..
Kind of dreamy.

(But you know what dreams are like, cruising one minute- terror the next.)

Continue reading “The Troubled Times: Sparkle Tube (2025)” →