It’s wild and bouncy, an unapologetic funky Acid donk? Possibly !
A version of this track was released on SLEEPERS Records Recovered Artifacts 93 – 97 (discogs) and I really liked that, so started playing it live. And with the live performance I tweaked and changed it, added some vocal noises, and generally messed with it. As the SLEEPERS original version is now out of stock and is very different (it has that crunchy analogue feel and is certainly its own beast) that made me think about releasing this version which is closer to how I was performing it live. So, grab a copy or stream it like a modern monster!
The EP is available on all streaming and major sales platforms, so check out Steve Angstrom – Summoner (2026 version)
There are many layers to this track, when I was digging through my archives I found a primitive version of it from around 1997 and I wanted to perform it live so I rebuilt it on my live performance rig. I played that version in Berlin and several other places but it was a bit more experimental, fun but not totally danceable. Over the years I’ve added and taken away from this depending on where I was playing it, its had different names and riffs – and yet the theme of identity has stayed the same. Who are you?
The EP is available on all streaming and major sales platforms, so check out Steve Angstrom – Who Are You
It began on a plane journey, coming back from a gig in Berlin I was inspired by my experiences at the parties and gigs I’d been at, and it reflects a certain feeling I had during my time there. Hanging out with old friends and new, absorbing the changes. The title comes from the feeling I had, that my expectations could never be trusted and fate often deals cards we dont expect. For good, and for bad.
It doesn’t have a “Berlin Sound” and its not minimal hard techno ! It’s how I felt after a week in Berlin, which cant be put into words but I can make it into sounds. And here it is. New release available everywhere.
From my residency at Paradise AIR in Matsudo, Japan a mixture of modular eurorack synthesiser performances recorded in the unique decommissioned Love Hotel above a Pachinko parlour
The EP is available on all streaming and major sales platforms, so check out Steve Angstrom – Matsudo
I spent countless hours riding the trains in and around Tokyo, especially when travelling in from Matsudo which is a city in Chiba prefecture just on the outskirts of Tokyo.
These trains connect the metropolis, bringing people together in a collective solitude. Each person was absorbed in their own world—earphones in, eyes fixed on their phone, game or manga. It struck me how, from early morning until late at night, the only interruptions to this shared silence were the occasional station jingles and the clear, precise announcements: “The next station is Akihabara, the doors on the left side will open.”
As these trains journeyed out beyond Tokyo’s bustling core to the quieter cities where most workers live, I noticed something almost dreamlike about the passengers. It was as if they were no longer present, having drifted into the pages of their manga or the screens of their virtual games. The long ride through such a vast metropolis took on a trancelike quality. This piece captures that experience.
The video above is of me recording the piece, overlaid with some videos I took on those journeys.
Still in the Game [6:27]
I stayed and worked at Paradise AIR, located above a Pachinko parlour that filled the air with constant noise—roaring, tinkling, screaming—day and night. From the stairwell, I recorded the ambient sounds as they echoed through the concrete stairs. One night, as the place was closing, the noise softened more than usual. The rush of tokens and the chimes of overlapping melodies carried a melancholic tone. I grabbed my synth and recorded both the sounds of the parlour through the steel fire door and my own interpretations.
Alone Together [7:00]
We walked through the streets of Matsudo during the Obon festival, commemorating the death of my mother-in-law from the week before. After creating a small paper lantern decorated with commemorative images, we brought it to the river, where the residents released their lanterns to float downstream. At the end of Obon, people set lanterns afloat in the nearest body of water, allowing the spirits to return to the other world.
At the end of the stream, a cultural festival gave us the chance to celebrate and reflect on what has passed and what lies ahead.
Something Lost [13:27]
In Japan, I struggled with my Parkinson’s, having started new medication just before the trip and then facing the intense, humid summer heat. I had been warned, but during the first week, I found myself wondering, “Can I handle this?” The overwhelming sensations came not only from the unfamiliar Japanese psycho-geography but also from within. I no longer felt like the man I expected myself to be. Old certainties slipped away. My emotional state grew turbulent as the effects of the medication fluctuated. And in the heat of the Japanese summer, I felt like I lost something.
I hope you enjoy this small collection of work from an inspirational stay in Japan. Many doors opened (and a few closed). I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
Going back to my roots with some acid techno in 90s style, though in TimeShard we never kept things this simple – we always threw hundreds of samples and riffs at a track. Making it on Eurorack is fun, I tried to keep it to my portable system which is the case you see me twiddling.
It makes a refreshing break from my more “artistic” work, which has been occupying my brain and though I’m making great strides with it – I just enjoy having an old school acid session
During my Japanese Artist Residency I recorded this ambient performance exploring the dreamlike state created by the Tokyo area metro trains, with commuters hypnotised between stations. Lost in their singular dreams though travelling together in a communal trance.
Each night as my train carried me away from the neon metropolis and toward the satellite cities. Each person was in their own world, earbuds in, manga or phone in hand – but these commuters become dreamers in a communal dream, hypnotised, and transported to our elsewheres. literally and metaphorically.
This recording was made live in PARADISE AIR Matsudo, Japan, a city on the edge of Chiba prefecture. I recreated each sound of the train journey as I heard it in the dream, the thump of the train brakes releasing, the hiss of the pneumatics, the whine of the electric engines, the clack of the wheels changing to a new hypnotic rhythm as we leave the central area. All of it is recreated.
As for the purely technical details for those Eurorack synth people. The drone and low pulsation comes from a Dreadbox Hades into an FX aid. There’s a repetitive staccato chord noise from a Mutable Instruments Plaits clone. The little jingle tune at the start is actually a sample I recorded at the start on the 1010music Bitbox Micro, as are a couple of the white noise blasts and low thumps and the some of the metallic “squealing brakes” noises. The stuff which sounds a bit like choirs is just a pitched Dreadbox delay into a clouds clone. The clackety clack noise is white noise filtered by another Dreadbox chromatic filter/amp module. The tonal noise which goes with it is a Dreadbox Hysteria into a Rings clone. I then use an AI matrix mixer and a few other tricks to create feedback drones. The vocals are from my small Dictaphone playing back recordings from the train announcement into Morphagene.
They said it was impossible to go back in time, to recapture the past – they said I was crazy to try, but what do those voices in my head know!?
On May 29th I’ll be performing at Bearded Theory Festival with a bunch of tunes from the Archives, at least half of them will be TimeShard songs – some of which we rarely performed. So this is a crazy experiment because if we couldn’t do them with three people it’s going to be amusing to see one guy try and recreate them – live on stage with unreliable analogue synthesisers https://beardedtheory.co.uk/2022-line-up/
Here’s a track off my retrospective EP Recovered Artifacts 93′- 97′ available on Vinyl via all good record stockists, etc. Though they are sold out most places, so if you want one you might need to try a few places. Anyway…
This track is Holographic Fool, I made a video and ran it through some trickery to make it look like you dropped your spectacles in LSD.
A little while back I did a gig at Berlin’s fabulous OHM for SLEEPERS, where I performed the tracks from my EP, but also a bunch more. 16 songs.
Here’s a recording of the performance. Live recording from Recovered Artefacts ’93 – ’97 launch party, Ohm Club Berlin. You can tell it’s all very live because the synths go sliiightly out of tune halfway through! Then back in again. That’s old technology for you.
The tracks sound good, even if I say so myself. Take a listen
