1856 to 2026 – DIY outsider music, from Aotearoa NZ and beyond
“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
David Heath – drums
Dave Edwards – bass
Antony Milton – guitar
Recorded in Masterton, NZ
19 July 2026
released August 5, 2026
New compilation of the Wairarapa NZ underground scene, compiled by Antony Milton.
Features The Troubled Times and fiffdimension, joining the dots with Perpets, Winterwood, Campbell Kneale, Saali Marks, and other locals. From the smalltown backblocks of the Wellington region.
“Sometime in 2024 a battered old home dubbed cassette was found in a local charity shop. Hand written on the cover was ‘Graveyard show, Masterton radio, 1998’. It was 20c and I figured it was worth the punt. As the text suggested it was an after midnight radio show, mainly made up of – to my ears- mediocre (or at least very dated) grindcore and industrial techno. Not my bag at all really- but the in-between banter was GOLD. I true snapshot of the generally ‘munted’ nature of Masterton at that time. (Its only moderately improved since to be honest). I only remembered the existence of this tape when the idea struck me to do this compilation- why not swap out the music but keep the banter? I make no claims to this being anything like a reliable overview of underground music in the Wairarapa. All the towns here are ‘small town’ small towns, generally very conservative and less than likely to celebrate their ‘weirdos’. All the same I’ve gotten to know a fair few of them over the 7 years I’ve been here and had been tipped off to a couple more. There must be some I just haven’t stumbled across yet however. It was particularly exciting for me to finally hear Spectrum Is Green as David (Heath– the drummer in The Troubled Times) had always been a little elusive about this band from the 1980s that he had fronted. Finally he gave me their unreleased album from 1988 to listen to. Its gobsmackingly great and WILL be getting released shortly. David also gave me a cdr of a singer/songwriter from Masterton named Brent Grey to check out. This was recorded in 1999 and is also a true treasure. The track on here was so perfect that its title became the title of the entire compilation.
Most of the other stuff is a lot more recent. Some of the names will be familiar but I’m sure many won’t. I also made the perhaps perverse decision to go with somewhat more ‘approachable’ tracks from each artist. For the most part anyway.
I have given a full breakdown of each artist on their individual track pages which can be linked to by clicking on the respective title.” – Antony Milton
| 1. | The Troubled Times – Proxima Centauri Blues 03:01 |
| 2. | Brilliant Swords- Imaginary 03:20 |
| 3. | Brent Grey- In The Golden 03:03 |
| 4. | Fiffdimension- Assembling Disconsonant 02:32 |
| 5. | Saali Marks- Beasts Of Boredom 03:32 |
| 6. | Self Help Sound System- Greta’s Plea 03:14 |
| 7. | Perpets- Spring/Wind over Water 03:40 |
| 8. | Alex V- Live @ Featherston Bakehouse 2025 02:47 |
| 9. | Tophy- Rose 02:20 |
| 10. | The Troubled Times- No Maxim But Now 02:44 |
| 11. | Spectrum Is Green- Dead End 03:45 |
| 12. | Curtains- Scarlet Rise 01:49 |
| 13. | Winterwood- Hope 05:17 |
| 14. | Sleep Hygiene- Bev’s Quilt 04:22 |
A followup to Spastic Rhythms ’22 (2022) and Spastic Rhythms vol1 (2021) – solo instrumentals with guitar loops and homemade percussion, and interspecies collaborations with Oscar the dog (a New Zealand huntaway).
Featherston, NZ
Guitar tracks recorded late 2025; percussion tracks recorded early 2026.
Oscar celebrates his 13th birthday this month!
released March 6, 2026
Dave Edwards – guitars, bass, percussion
Oscar – vocal (1,4,11), cannon bone (10)
Campbell Kneale – painting of Oscar
Another productive year here! We released:
An acoustic solo album, made in the Yasawa islands, Fiji. Ukulele and field recordings, with acoustic bass and percussion.
A musical adaptation of my ancestor’s book, finally ‘close enough’ to finished after seven years… or 169, depending how you count it.
A new collaboration with turntablists Guy Walker and Alex V – free improv electronica for the regions.
Our live debut – more to come in 2026!
October-November, with Guy Walker and Alex V
September-October, with Guy Walker
with Antony Milton and David Heath in Masterton NZ.
As close as we’ve come to a ‘political’ album
We swapped instruments and almost formed a new band.
We appeared on this ‘various artists’ compilation from Louisville, Kentucky
Dave and Antony duo
Winter was too cold for the garage, so we played ‘lounge music’
Thanks for listening! See you in 2026...
“Nutso falling over kind of wonkiness from mid-winter” = Antony Milton
The Troubled Times are:
Smalltown NZ free improv by Featherston Free Sound Ensemble
Paetumokai / Featherston,
Aotearoa / New Zealand,
Recorded at the Bakehouse, October-November 2025
| 1. | 19-11-25 #1 orchestral overtureย 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 |
Continue reading “Experiments Under the Hills (2025)”“I was wide awake at 2.30am so listened to us on headphones in the dark in bed. Iโm probably biased, but I think we sound bloody awesome” – Guy Walker
Smalltown free improv – live at @bakehousecollectivenz
“I was wide awake at 2.30am so listened to us on headphones in the dark in bed. Iโm probably biased, but I think we sound bloody awesome” – Guy Walker
Paetumokai / Featherston,
Aotearoa / New Zealand,
29 November 2025
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”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 (Antony Milton, Dave Edwards, David Heath) feature on this new compilation by Kentucky-based label Humanhood Recordings.
Available on limited edition double cassette.
Other artists include KNURL, EMIL BEAULIEAU, COCK ESP, Aaron Rosenblum, Thaniel Ion Lee, Mike Shiflet, Joe Tunis and more…
The Troubled Times‘ first recording session of 2025.
Dave on guitar and Antony on bass this time – a role reversal from our usual instruments – resulted in a distinctly different flavoured improv… a frenetic scratchiness.
David Heath – drums (2-7), bass (8)
Dave Edwards – electric guitars, harmonica (6)
Antony Milton – bass (1-7), vocal (6), drums (8)
Recorded 20 January 2025, in Masterton, Aotearoa/NZ
Continue reading “The Troubled Times: dDA (2025)”
