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.



Sunday 14 April 2013

From the Top Drawer XLIX - Earthnicht


Earthnicht was a short-lived side-project centred around musicians from bands who regularly played at Club Dog at the Sir George Robey in Finsbury Park, North London, and who would also play at various squat/free/benefit gigs in London and further afield. Earthnicht live consisted of (when available) five full kit drummers (Sean, Jonee, Nick, Tanya and Generator John), a sax player (the ubiquitous Danny) and a synth/keyboard player (Paul).


Kicking off the opening night of the 1989 autumn season at Club Dog...

With this line-up, naturally the music focused on driving syncopated rhythms topped with improvised sound. When the drummers gelled and synchronised, the audience was in for a thunderous, danceable treat.




This tape (Earth Heartbeat) was compiled from live shows in London and Milton Keynes
 - tracks as above.
Ripped @320kbps as two side-long tracks
Get it HERE