Friday 26 April 2013

From the Top Drawer L - Timeshard


Timeshard was formed in Liverpool in 1988 by Gobber, Sim and Angstrom.
'As the very first acid house hit the streets our three intrepid chrononauts hit the stages of the UK with their bizarre technoid collision of sound. To give you some idea of the early 'Shard - they were compared to Vangelis, Motorhead, Brian Eno, Throbbing Gristle, the Radiophonic Workshop and Kraftwerk, among others. 

Live @Club Dog

The live set looked like the centre console of Doctor Who's tardis, hand made synth equipment vied with some pretty nifty, but out of fashion 'analogue' synths, with with the band members running around the circular set-up frantically re-locating cables from one module to another mid 'song' . 

 Our chrononaut heroes encounter the Time Tunnel

The whole performance seemed more like a chaotic sci-fi experiment than a traditional 'band' performance. There were hardly any other bands creating live electronic music like this, so the audience danced with a weird guilty look on their faces, like "I'm enjoying this but probably shouldn't be" the media consensus was - electronic music isn't real music kids!


The extended sound collages mutated across the hour long sets, these were interwoven woven with the themes which became early songs such as 'Atlantis' and '25th Century''.

(text adapted from their own blurb on their website http://www.timeshard.com/)


Called 'Hypoborean Dome Temples Of Apollo', this tape was issued in 1992 and has been ripped @320kbps as two side-long tracks, tracklisting as above. (Click on pic for bigger version)

 Get a copy HERE

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One of my favourite electronic/organic acts from this era - able to deliver a kaleidoscopic horizontal home-listening experience for mind-wandering on album and EP and a formidable live act if you like an uber-squelchy experience on the dancefloor. Shame they're not still performing these days...but it seems they're not ruling it out completely either...

You can order Timeshard CDs and get links for iTunes from the Planet Dog Records website HERE
Well worth shelling out for.



10 comments:

  1. another BOSS post mate//i've vague memories of seeing them at club dog & really loved the first album but sorta lost sight of them after that//not heard this one... so i'm well looking forward!! big hugs//xx

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    1. Good to hear from you dh, and I hope you enjoy the tape - got a couple more from the 'Shards to post in due course.

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  2. I have a couple of their early tape recordings knocking about somewhere...nice to hear after all this time.

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    1. Hi anon, hope you enjoy the sounds of the 'Shard as much as the first time.

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  3. Thank you very much.. excellent cassette

    Tai73

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    1. I agree...pretty good stuff, eh?
      Cheers for dropping by.

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  4. Thanks for yet another cassette I've lent or lost somewhere along the journey!

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    1. No worries Dan - stick around for a some more 'Shard tapes in the future.

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  5. Greetings from Russia! :)

    I already wrote to you about Active Loop Zone (agree - this is a very rare cassette).
    But early releases of TIMESHARD is more affordable now!
    Can you put two cassette releases - Who Pilots The Flying Saurces? (1992) and Live (1996, Limited edition) http://www.discogs.com/Timeshard-Live/release/1035567

    Official member of the group (SimShard) posted rip WPTFS on the SoundCloud, but quality not best ;(
    https://soundcloud.com/timeshard

    Big ThanX you!!!

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  6. A pretty trippy affair at a Timeshard gig at the George Robey if I vaguely remember. Great days, fantastical colourful memories. Fruit Salad lighting company on the stage lighting arrangements and all that. Cheers!

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