Tag: Hypnagoga Press

Kammarheit – Thronal – Review

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On December 3, 2020

In Reviews

Artist: Kammarheit
Album: Thronal
Release date: 21 December 2020
Label: Cyclic Law

Tracklist:
01. Iron Bloodstream
02. Before It Was Known As Sleep
03. Carving the Coordinates
04. The Two Houses
05. Now Golden, Now Dark
06. In The Dreamer’s Fields
07. Abandonment and Connection
08. The Magnetic Throne

“I took the crown and the throne acted as a magnet, drawing the attention of distant stars…”

If you are one of the few dark ambient listeners that haven’t heard of the highly regarded Kammarheit project, allow me to give you a short introduction, die-hard followers can skip ahead! Kammarheit entered being around the turn of the millennium. Beginning with a string of ‘rough demo albums’, which would become the body of Unearthed 2000-2002, Kammarheit would quickly manifest into the project we know today. The official debut, Asleep and Well Hidden would be one of the very first releases on renowned Cyclic Law label. 2005 brought its follow-up, The Starwheel, revered as one of the flagship albums of the entire genre of dark ambient. These two releases showed a more minimalist or subdued side to dark ambient. Kammarheit became our ferryboat into liminal spaces of consciousness. Following their lead, we were able to journey through our own dreamworlds, as they simultaneously became infused with deep and mysterious soundscapes. After a long pause, Kammarheit released the much anticipated follow-up The Nest in 2015, proving that the project was still as vibrant as ever.

Of course, for those that have closely followed the works of Pär Boström, the mind behind Kammarheit, there has been no lack of material to keep us satisfied over recent years. Boström started this ‘expansion’ of his musical styles with the Cities Last Broadcast debut in 2009. But, since 2016, he has been exploring various avenues with much greater fervor. Projects like his Aindulmedir, Bonini Bulga and Teahouse Radio have delivered exquisite releases, along with collaborative projects Hymnambulae (w/ his sister Åsa Boström, co-founder of their label Hypnagoga Press) and Altarmang (w/ Kenneth Hansson). We also can’t forget the masterpiece, Onyx, which was a Cryo Chamber collaboration between Kammarheit, Atrium Carceri and Apocryphos, and its follow-up Echo.

This brings us to Kammarheit in 2020! Five years after the previous Kammarheit release, Pär Boström has delivered a new Kammarheit full-length, which picks right up where we left off! For anyone concerned that Boström might have a hard time bringing this original project back to the forefront, after so many ‘side-project’ releases, I am here to put those fears to rest! From the very first seconds of the opener “Iron Bloodstream”, we return to a sound palette that will fit neatly alongside the previous three Kammarheit albums. While there are certainly fresh elements incorporated and new dreamscapes to explore, every moment of Thronal truly feels directly connected to its predecessors.

“Iron Bloodstream” gives us a subtle opening to Thronal, allowing its dreamy drone-work to slowly draw us into the experience. The following track, “Before it Was Known As Sleep”, begins to unveil the industrial-esque undertones of the project more noticeably. Another incredibly dreamy drone progression sits atop a layer of ‘gentle whirring noise’ which could as easily be a heavy wind blowing outside your window, or the rumblings of machinery deep beneath the surface. “Carving The Coordinates” continues in the vein of the previous track, but seems to have more immediacy to it, as if we are sort of ‘beginning to awaken within the dream’. Or, a more literal way of putting this might be that Kammarheit is ‘setting the coordinates’ for our journey through the rest of the album.

“The Two Houses” might be my favorite track on Thronal. I can’t help but feel a deep connection between this one and the classically lauded track “Hypnagoga”, from The Starwheel. Deep wind-gust-like rumblings build the foundation for this one, with the repeating of what sounds like a church bell echoing toward us from some just-out-of-reach place. Of course, as with all things Kammarheit for me, I don’t think the rumblings are actual wind, nor do I think the “chiming” is an actual bell. In the liminal spaces Kammarheit resides in my mind, everything and nothing is as it seems.

“Now Golden, Now Dark” is one of the more aggressive tracks on the album, if you could call any of them “aggressive”. The foundations continue to hold a deeply calming aura in their drone-work, while the surface of the track presents us with what I believe to be an electric guitar, which reminds me a bit of his Altarmang track, “Sulphur”, but significantly more subtle. If any connections to that track/project go any further than this surface level of similarity, I have not yet had a chance to formulate that connection. I doubt there is one, but I prefer to be as open-minded as possible when it comes to these possibilities.

“In The Dreamer’s Fields” follows a similar dynamic to the previous track, in that it simultaneously feels incredibly soothing, yet also harrowing. As if we are sleeping soundly in our beds, and yet we could be one second from the beginnings of our worst nightmare. “Abandonment and Connection” sort of ‘levels-off’ the dynamics of the album. Allowing the intensity to rest at its new height, upon which we ascended through the previous two tracks. Again, there feels to be equal parts of tranquility and foreboding present.

“The Magnetic Throne” draws this liminal journey to a close for us on an energetic note. There is a sense of the Lynchian that I pick up here, though it is likely just me! I can’t help but imagine this ‘magnetic throne’ achieving some level of electrical current, which feeds into the grid, in the real-world. As if the energies and emotions created within this inner space are now able to be broadcast out to the world. Similar to the complex conception of electricity in Twin Peaks. One could almost imagine Pär Boström, himself, residing upon this discordantly regal dream-world throne, visible flickers of electrical currents bolting from the corona, making a frenzied dash for the borders of our dreamscapes, and into our greater reality.

The album is close enough to previous Kammarheit albums to scratch that itch which everyone has had for the last 5 years, since The Nest, but it is fresh and innovative in a number of ways, showing the progression of the artist, as well as the evolving story he wants to tell us about this inner world of his. We are able to re-enter the realms of Kammarheit, as if we never left. Practically speaking, in a world so quickly and constantly changing, this familiarity comes as a deeply calming sense of return to previous normalcies, which we so desperately need right now.

If you are die-hard fan of Kammarheit, or just discovering this avenue of Boström’s creative output for the first time, you may be pleased to know that Thronal has been released with an array of physical options which is almost unheard of in this day and age, and particularly within such an obscure scene as the dark ambient genre. Cyclic Law has truly given Kammarheit the flagship treatment it deserves this year, which just so happens to be the twentieth anniversary of the project’s inception. The Thronal album, itself, comes to us in three options: CD, as well as standard and special edition vinyls. These physical options are complemented by a line of apparel options, which include: t-shirt, longsleeve T, sweatshirt, hoodie, and tote bag.

If you are a collector of all things physical, then you will be as pleased as I am, to find that Cyclic Law has re-released the first three Kammarheit albums as a vinyl bundle/box-set, named Triune. So, for the first time ever, all four official Kammarheit albums are available on vinyl! If that wasn’t all enough to choose from, Cyclic Law has also released apparel for each of the first three albums as well, all in the same array of options as mentioned above for Thronal.

I really can’t recommend this album highly enough. It’s been on repeat here, awake or asleep for days since I received my promo download from Cyclic Law earlier this week. Anyone that is a fan of Kammarheit should show no hesitation in diving deeply and repeatedly into this new masterpiece. It will likely hold its quickly-revered placement, for me, indefinitely.

Written by: Michael Barnett

My Trip to Sweden – Michael’s Chronicles

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On April 5, 2020

In Articles, Uncategorized

Recommended listening during the read:

Since October of 2018, I’ve been going back and forth about whether to write this article or not. It was certainly one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. But, would it be interesting to This Is Darkness readers? Initially, I decided that it was best to just leave the experience to myself and those I visited. But, as the months (years?!?!) go by there have been various contexts in which I wanted to talk about the trip, but it would be totally puzzling without a proper explanation. So, alas, I’ve decided to share my trip to northern Sweden with our readers. A quick word on the photos included. All photos were shot by myself, unless they were one of the candid shots by Åsa or Pär. I don’t know if it was humbleness or a lack of foresight, but we didn’t take a single proper group photo while I was there, so I’ve included a few of the candids, I hope you’ll see the same friendly and comedic value in them as I have!

Vildmarksvägen running through Stekenjokk, Sweden.

When I started writing about dark ambient music in 2015 for the Terra Relicta Dark Music Webzine, I began contacting anyone and everyone within the dark ambient community that would speak with me. It wasn’t long before I began to slowly build friendships with some of these people, beyond the topic of their musical projects or labels. I have gotten life advice, meditation advice, political advice and more from people from all parts of the globe. Some whose beliefs, languages and upbringings far differ from my own. I’ve always considered myself a “worldly person” and have taken great joy in learning about the lives and cultures of those in the farthest regions of the world, past and present.

Photo taken from ParBostrom.com

But, one friendship for me has stood out ahead of the rest. I pretty rapidly learned that I had damn near everything in common with Pär Boström of Hypnagoga Press, Kammarheit, etc. And the things that we didn’t already have in common, we often recommended to the other, with positive results more often than not. Pär opened me up to a world of music, cinema, writing and photography that I didn’t have access to growing up in the U.S.A., surrounded by suburban Americans. The fact that Kammarheit was one of the first dark ambient projects I really connected with (on a musical level) made the friendship all the more meaningful.

Michael caught unawares by Åsa & Pär.

Three years later, we had spoken for probably hundreds of hours through Facebook Messenger. But had never heard each other’s voices once. In the fall of 2018, Pär Boström and his sister Åsa Boström (of Hypnagoga Press and Hymnambulae) decided to help facilitate my travel to Sweden. They knew that I was just coming out of an incredibly rough patch of my life (and as fate would have it, headed soon back into another…), and we all agreed that it would be beneficial to spend some time together, brainstorming on possible ideas for the future as well as critiquing one another on the paths we were taking with our projects.

Trappstegforsen, literally meaning stairs of waterfalls. The waterfall has several small cascades after each other with an elevation of approximately 10 meter. Trappstegsforsen is located along the road from Vilhemina to Saxnäs on the Kultsjöå River in the Jämtland region.

I partially didn’t want to share this trip publicly, because it was predominately some good friends finally getting to spend some real-life time together. But we did speak about This is Darkness and Hypnagoga Press matters, some in great detail. But I must emphasize that none of this was a quid pro quo sort of thing, where we were attempting to trade in coverage. We just legitimately care greatly about each other’s projects and all wanted to take some time together to see if we could come up with interesting new ideas to push our works forward in fresh ways. I also didn’t want it to appear that I was blowing through money traveling the world. That’s not the case, this was a truly unique experience and not at all the usual for me. My only previous trip outside the U.S. was to Rome in 2011, which was the other great moment of my life, and paid for almost fully in scholarships/grants.

Just beyond Gaustafallet waterfall, hidden along the Vildmarksvägen, not far from Stekenjokk.

I went from BWI (Baltimore) to Reykjavík (Iceland) to Stockholm (Sweden) and then a final one hour flight, on a much smaller plane, to Umeå in the mid-northern region of Sweden. Upon arrival, I finally actually spoke to Pär for the first time ever, in person in actual spoken words! Luckily, we didn’t immediately realize that we expected someone different of each other! That night we went to a wonderful little pub in downtown Umeå and met up with Åsa Boström, Kenneth Hansson of Altarmang and Kenneth’s girlfriend.

Altarmang promo photo from 2017

Åsa proved to be the “sage personality” I had expected. In all my interactions with her, she has always seemed to be an incredibly wise soul. In terms of business sense as well as cultural and esoteric. After meeting Pär and Åsa, any nervous feelings I had about traveling 4,000 miles to visit two people I had never “actually” spoken to before evaporated. They both made me feel at complete ease, right from the start.

Photo from AsaBostrom.com

I had a pretty good idea of what to expect from Pär and Åsa, but Kenneth Hansson was still a total mystery to me. I don’t think I’d ever spoken to him, even online. Anyone that has seen pictures of him in the Altarmang promo images must also be very curious about the man behind the “rolled-back eyes” and perfectly waxed mustache. I would really like to properly interview Kenneth in the future, since it’s clear that his input in Altarmang is a mystery to most people. I think it is appropriate, for now, to leave that mystery in place. Suffice to say, Kenneth is as mysterious and eccentric of a person as one might imagine. He didn’t disappoint!

Pär & Michael caught unawares by Åsa. Photo taken on Swedish coast, near Umeå.

Much of my 10 day trip to Sweden was centered around the city of Umeå, and mainly Pär’s apartment, which was perfectly fine with me. We had plenty of time to get to know each other better. I also had a chance to browse his impressive collection of rare music, zines, books and flyers from the first 20+ years of the post-industrial/dark -ambient scenes which I had missed out on, and which are all but unrecoverable at this point, without access to someone’s collection from that period. I was able to sit down and read through all the old CMI catalogs as well as zines like the currently-active Noise Receptor and the long-retired Spectrum zine, both by the power-house Richard Stevenson. I will likely be sharing my thoughts on the new release of the Spectrum Compendium in the future, which I consider a must-have for anyone interested in a time-capsule into the history of the dark ambient scene of the late 90s – early 2000s.

I was able to browse through the many boxes of Pär’s original artworks as well as a few handfuls of Åsa’s art (literal handfuls, Åsa’s works are often quite large and heavy!), all of which I greatly enjoyed! I found her style of art especially fascinating, how she uses bits and pieces of material from history and crafts it into something new and beautiful, yet still rustic and mystical. I am very much looking forward to the world slowly learning more about how Åsa fits into Hypnagoga Press, as more of her personal works begin coming to light.

We Didn’t Tell Each Other How Wounded We Were by Åsa Boström

Pär sent me home with quite a few original treasures of his creation, some of which are waiting in a box for a proper place to mount them, while others are proudly adorning my bedroom walls now.

A piece of Pär’s art, hanging above my bookshelf.

One unique and spectacular aspect of this visit was my witnessing of Pär’s personal studio space. He saw fit to show me a few of his “tricks of the trade”. I witnessed, up close, his unique and interesting “shipwreck device”. And I had a front row seat to the creation of a few improvised tracks. It was truly magical to be present for this, especially considering that I have been to exactly one proper dark ambient concert, in person!

The pinnacle of this trip was the journey Åsa, Pär and I took, several hundred kilometers north, to the beautifully barren realms of Stekenjokk. Being early October, we were able to visit this place one week before access was closed for the winter, as this section of the country gets so heavily bombarded with snow (which can reach up to 7m/23′ in this region) that it would be financial suicide to attempt to keep the roads cleared. Åsa drove us north along the beautiful Vildmarksvägen, or The Wilderness Road in English, at a leisurely pace. I was able to fully digest the sights, sounds and smells of the far northern reaches of Earth as we crept ever closer to the arctic circle, which was about 60-70 miles further than our northernmost destination on the trip.

Taken from the shore of the Hotel Klimpfjäll about 20 km outside Stekenjokk, in Jämtlands län.

We stayed at a nice little lodge just outside Stekkenjok, in the tiny town of Klimpfjäll, in a cabin which looked out over a beautiful lake, with snow-covered peaks on its far shore. I felt a peace in this place that was more potent than at any point in my life. If I hadn’t already fallen in love with Scandinavia, this place surely would have done the trick. That night we spent a few hours brainstorming on new ideas for our various projects, comparing recommendations and critiques, and generally enjoying the sublime location in which we stopped for our night’s rest. The next morning we traversed the road through Stekenjokk and followed the Wilderness Road slowly back to the south. I took TONS of photos while in Stekenjokk. Pär and Åsa also took a ton of photos themselves. They hadn’t been to this place in many years either. You will find edits of several of our photos from this trip adorning the cover art of the second TiD compilation as well as the inner panels of Aindulmedir – The Lunar Lexicon.

Stekenjokk, Photo by: Micheal Barnett

As we continued down the Wilderness Road, Åsa took a short detour across the Norwegian border, just so I could say that I had entered that country! I took the opportunity to walk down to one of the many many lakes from the road and wash my face in the cool Norwegian waters.

Aindulmedir – cassette inner panels

After dark that night, and several hours before we arrived back in Umeå, while stopping to fill the car with petrol, Åsa pointed to the sky. I was witnessing my first sighting of the Aurora Borealis! We quickly got the hell out of town and pulled over along the highway, where I could stand in the pitch dark of the night and stare up into that beautiful hyperborean sky and bask in the radiating energies that danced across the atmosphere. A place like this makes one realize why Scandinavia has such a rich religious heritage. It seemed that the gods were truly bestowing a gift on me that night, and on my journey to/through Sweden as a whole. As we continued driving back toward Umeå, I tried to never let my eyes leave those magical northern lights until they had all but disappeared. I tried capturing them with my camera once we got back to Pär’s apartment, but my night-time photography skills are shit, and most of the show was over anyway or obscured by the luminescence of Umeå.

TiD Vol.2 – cover art

I came home to my apartment in Laurel, Maryland from this journey with a renewed sense of the wonder and magic of our planet. When Åsa shared a few podcasts about the Quareia magic course with me in November or December, I had already begun to slowly decide that maybe there is a bit (or a lot) of magic in this world, which I had long since forgotten in my rebellious teenage years. Now four months into my Quareia apprentice training (update: well that’s on hold for now) and six months into my return from northern Sweden, the magic of that journey still resides in me. The renewed feelings of wonder that can be found in the nature of our planet were welcome, and have not yet evaporated, and hopefully never will.

If someone had told me 10 years ago that I would fly to northern Sweden, to meet some of my very best friends, people which I had never spoken to once with my voice or in person, and experience such a magically and emotionally enriching journey, I would have laughed in your face. My point is that some of the people who we have the greatest connections with on this planet may be very very far away, in places and speaking languages totally foreign to us. After some of the darkest experiences of my life, I came out of 2018 with a renewed interest in life and the magical energies that flow through it. Never short-change yourselves. Never think that the world has left you behind. The most important experience of your life could be patiently waiting right around the corner.

Written by: Michael Barnett

Guest Sessions: Pär Boström Legacy Mix

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On February 24, 2019

In Artist Spotlights, Mixes

This is the first of our guest sessions in which we’ll have artists with a variety of musical projects, yet all closely related to dark ambient, create a mix of their own music for us.

For this first mix, Pär Boström will be showcasing a song from each of his musical projects in a seamless mix, as per This Is Darkness usual recipe.

Pär Boström has been one of the most revered names in the dark ambient scene for almost two decades now. His emergence coincided with the birth of Cyclic Law, both artist and label owing successes to each other in those early years. While Kammarheit has been releasing albums since the early 2000s, many of Boström’s projects have cropped up over the last few years. Along with the emergence of his relatively new label Hypnagoga Press, which is run alongside his sister Åsa Boström, who is also the other half of Hymnambulae. The other project to include a second member is Altarmang, in which Pär is accompanied by Kenneth Hansson. It is also worth noting here that while Bonini Bulga and Teahouse Radio have only recently had their debut releases, these projects have been with Boström for years, awaiting a proper time to fully animate themselves.

00:00 Teahouse Radio – The Elsewhere Sleep
https://teahouseradio.bandcamp.com/album/her-quiet-garden

07:32 Hymnambulae – Bära Fram Solen
https://hymnambulae.bandcamp.com/album/orgelhuset

13:05 Kammarheit – Adrift
https://kammarheit.bandcamp.com/album/kollektionen

20:11 Bonini Bulga – Each Named
https://boninibulga.bandcamp.com/album/sealed

25:13 Aindulmedir – Wind-Bitten
https://aindulmedir.bandcamp.com/album/the-lunar-lexicon

30:00 Cities Last Broadcast – Cella
https://citieslastbroadcast.bandcamp.com/releases

39:30 Altarmang – Sulphur
https://altarmang.bandcamp.com/album/void

Aindulmedir – The Lunar Lexicon – Review

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On February 9, 2019

In Reviews, Uncategorized

Artist: Aindulmedir
Album: The Lunar Lexicon
Release date: 21 January 2019
Label: Hypnagoga Press

Tracklist:
01. Wind-Bitten
02. Book of Towers
03. The Librarian
04. Winter and Slumber
05. The Lunar Lexicon
06. Snow Above Blue Fire
07. Sleep-Form

Aindulmedir is the latest project from Pär Boström, known to most in the dark ambient community for his work as Kammarheit and Cities Last Broadcast. Following in the aesthetic the label often presents, mixtures of solitude, mysticism, northern landscapes and nostalgia draw the listener once again into the esoteric worlds presented on Hypnagoga Press.

For this release we will quickly notice a new side of Pär Boström being unveiled. While he often focuses on northern and/or dream landscapes and mysticism in his works, Aindulmedir takes these concepts a little bit outside the confines of the dark ambient genre. Aindulmedir adds a healthy dose of dungeon synth vibes to the mix. But this will not be your standard dungeon synth. Comparisons to someone like Mortiis wouldn’t make much sense here. The sounds of Aindulmedir more closely align with something like Grimrik‘s debut Eisreich. The solitary northern vibes outweigh the fantasy elements here, allowing for a subtlety which is often sorely lacking in the vast majority of dungeon synth releases I hear.

Though I mention a lesser reliance on the fantasy motifs, Aindulmedir actually does bring its fair share of fantasy into the mix. However, this is more noticeable in the album art and theme than the music itself. (Though there are some great fantasy moments, like the track “Winter and Slumber” with its more jubilant vibe.) We can see, through album art and titles, that The Lunar Lexicon transports us to some lonely tower on a remote mountain pass. This tower must be filled with the slowly decomposing grimoires of centuries passed. In the middle of the tower sits the old wrinkled hermit, his white beard falling carelessly across his old robes. In his lap sits some book of knowledge and power, while blue flames dance and leap from within the stone hearth. This is a place I never want to leave…

The Lunar Lexicon is stated to have some connection to a novel Pär is currently in the process of writing. Now, we can all begin to obsessively wonder what mysteries might be in store for us within the pages of this novel. As far as I’ve seen, this is the only public mention of such a work, so we can be sure that frigid climates and magickal books (and maybe even a wizard?) will be part of this narrative. But as the album description says that the music is “crossing the borderlands of a novel Pär is writing”, we are left probably with more questions than answers. I, for one, am incredibly excited about this news.

The album is also said to be “winter music for bibliophiles and hermits”. For those of us in the northern hemisphere, that makes now the perfect time for enjoying such a work. As our world slowly shifts we’ve been seeing vast accumulations of snow across various and often random sections of the world. There is no better time to sit down with a great book, a cup of hot tea or coffee, and Aindulmedir on repeat in the background.

I continue to be surprised by the ability of Pär Boström to continue expanding his musical output into new projects, while also moving forward with the others. I get a bit of a Kammarheit vibe from “Sleep-Form” but really this album sounds nothing like any of the other releases I’ve heard from Boström (of course, not all his works are solo, some like Hymnambulae include his sister Åsa, and Altarmang includes Kenneth Hansson). It will be increasingly interesting over the years to come, as we see how these various projects will all advance and morph.

The album was released digitally as well as in 30 limited edition cassettes. The cassettes were sold-out in something like two hours, so it looks like the community is certainly keeping an eye on these limited edition releases. From their past statements, it seems we can expect to see more of these sorts of ultra-limited edition releases in the future. However, other releases like the Hymnambulae debut, Orgelhuset, were pressed in a much larger quantity, so I guess there will continue to be a bit of each.

Since I first discovered the genre of dark ambient, Kammarheit and Cities Last Broadcast have both been incredibly important to me. It’s great a few years later to see Pär Boström taking his work in new and varied directions, while still staying faithful to his original projects. The Lunar Lexicon by Aindulmedir is yet another utterly magnificent release to add to that already impressive list.

Written by: Michael Barnett

Teahouse Radio – Her Quiet Garden – Review

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On July 15, 2018

In Reviews

Artist: Teahouse Radio
Album: Her Quiet Garden
Release date: 24 April 2018
Label: Hypnagoga Press

Tracklist:
01. A low-toned meadow
02. Snow falling on black water
03. Death would find my halls and flood them
04. Unable
05. Urn
06. Dreaming splendid spaces
07. If I were a garden
08. Underwater sleep orchestra
09. Her tiny ears and paws
10. Resembling a ruin
11. The elsewhere sleep

Read our recent interview with Teahouse Radio/Hypnagoga Press.

Teahouse Radio is the latest project by Pär Boström. Boström has seen a veritable whirlwind of creativity over the last few years. As far as the quality of this burst of creativity is concerned, the music speaks for itself each and every time. We’ve seen new Kammarheit and Cities Last Broadcast since 2015, both albums well worth the considerable wait since their predecessors. But the most interesting aspect of Boström’s “reawakening” has been in the new projects he’s launched.

We’ve now seen the quality-over-quantity ideology of his young label Hypnagoga Press, with beautifully crafted releases by Hymnambulae (with sister, Åsa), Altarmang (with Kenneth Hansson), and Bonini Bulga. But, this latest release must be the most ambitious of Pär Boström’s attempts (successful attempts I might add!) to create something that is both deeply personal as well as novel to the dark ambient community. From cover-art to acoustic instrument choices to general atmosphere, Teahouse Radio is indeed a quite interesting and unique release.

This isn’t a cinematic dark ambient release in the same sense as we would hear from Cryo Chamber, (ex. Cities Last Broadcast – The Humming Tapes). Instead, Her Quiet Garden hones in on atmospherics and emotion. There are massive amounts of cathartic and lethargic emotion flowing through every moment of Her Quiet Garden. The music itself has a sort of lazy summer afternoon vibe. It begs to be heard while reading a book beneath the shade of an old gnarled tree, or while lying in bed on a hot summer night, too close to sleep to be productive, but too far to be fully relaxed. Tracks like “Death would find my halls and flood them” and “Snow falling on black water” have an incredibly sluggish and depressive feel.

While the album is undoubtedly steeped in lethargy and a generalized sense of depression, there are absolutely beautiful moments shimmering through the haze. “Unable” is a nice combination of the two sides co-mingling. The underlying drone/atmospherics are quite dark, giving a very ominous vibe to the track. But the piano section which sort of sits atop the track is more light-hearted. The two sides combine giving us a sense of that respite from depression, those beautiful moments between memories of loss, and yet even in those moments, we still cling to the worst, even if only subconsciously.

Relaxing and positive elements show through occasionally on Her Quiet Garden. On “Dreaming splendid spaces”, Boström incorporates several light-hearted piano elements giving the track a very nice warm feeling. Boström hums along in the background, quietly and effortlessly fading into the mix. This all serves as a respite from the otherwise bleak nature of Her Quiet Garden. But this is the point. The imagined garden in Boström’s vision is a place to visit those lost loved ones which are still held so dear. Deeply negative emotions are sure to surface, but memories of happiness and contentment are also sure to help exert a balance, and maybe find a personal understanding, a path to move forward.

Her Quiet Garden is not about finding an escape from one’s sorrow, loss, depression. It is about seeing it as it is, all the hard saddening memories combined with all those wonderful days and nights spent in a youthfully ignorant contentment. The loss of any true loved one, or even a past home or acquaintances, all come with their share of good and bad. Her Quiet Garden lets all these emotions melt into one another, giving listeners a deeply moving album, which will likely make a much greater personal connection with each listener than the majority of the music coming out of the post-industrial scene. This is what has kept listeners returning to Boström’s music over the years; his ability to tap directly into the mind of the listener, playing our memories and emotions like yet another instrument in his collection.

Her Quiet Garden was release on Hypnagoga Press in a CD edition of 100 copies (only about a dozen remain). The album is also, of course, available online. You’ll find in the album’s artwork some very unique elements. Boström used a very different technique in it’s creation, which can be seen and explained in better detail through the videos he’s posted online about the process. There has been talk of Her Quiet Garden being the best release yet by Pär Boström. I would rather not make that judgment, I love far too much of his previous work to downgrade its importance in any way. But, with that said, this is one incredibly powerful release, from the technical side as well as the emotional. It also doesn’t hurt, on the technical side, that Simon Heath (Atrium Carceri, Cryo Chamber) did the final editing and mastering of the release.

I would highly recommend Her Quiet Garden to anyone that loves to hear various instruments boldly blended with dark ambient elements. But, also to anyone needing a helping hand in coping with loss. You are likely to find as much solace in these songs as Boström did. So get some headphones and take this album with you to your own quiet garden, where ever it may lie.

Written by: Michael Barnett

Teahouse Radio / Hypnagoga Press – Interview

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On May 21, 2018

In Interviews

Over the last few years we’ve seen a huge increase in the output of Pär Boström. Once known only for his oldest (main?) project, Kammarheit, Pär Boström has since created a multitude of wonderful albums, always more or less focused on dark ambient, as Cities Last Broadcast, Altarmang, Bonini Bulga, and now his latest project Teahouse Radio. Near the beginning of this recent bloom in releases, he partnered up with his sister, Åsa Boström, to start the publishing house/record label Hypnagoga Press, as well as collaborate on their first release as Hymnambulae. After my previous interview with them in 2016, not long before I started This Is Darkness, I thought it was time to catch up with the siblings and find out from Pär about the new Teahouse Radio album, and to get some general clairvoyance on the label and future releases from Åsa. Enjoy with a cup of your favorite tea and be sure to check out the new Teahouse Radio album, which you can stream in full below.

Interview with: Pär & Åsa Boström

Conducted by: Michael Barnett

You can also read our review of the Teahouse Radio debut here.

Michael: Teahouse Radio is your latest project to be released through Hypnagoga Press. Since, over the last few years you have been working on a growing number of projects, I wonder if you could tell readers what makes Teahouse Radio unique for you? How does it stand apart from your other endeavors?

Pär: One intention we have with Hypnagoga Press, is creating a house encompassing all our projects. Even the ones that have been or are still brewing in the background. For one and a half decades, Teahouse Radio has served as a counter-point during a difficult psychiatric evaluation and treatment. It took me this long to decide to finally share the music. What makes it unique, for me, is how it managed to keep its roots in the children’s books I read, as a kid. A sort of honesty and naïveté that resonates well with me. Things like Narnia, Winnie the Pooh and the Moomin books have been a big inspiration for this project. There is something in those books that connects to my own early encounters with melancholia and existential questions. I don’t really have the words for it, only the music. Some would say it’s not as dark sounding as my other projects, but I would say it has some of that as well. But more than anything, it has a different form of melancholia and dreaminess.

Michael: How long have you had the idea to work on a Teahouse Radio album?

Pär: The oldest songs on this album are from 2004, maybe a bit earlier than that. But, I can’t recall exactly when and how it started. One day it was there. A new friend you feel like you’ve known forever. I don’t know if I had the intention, initially, to publish an album. All my projects start this way. Something personal, a place to visit for as long as I need. Somewhere along the way, I invite people to take part in it. Then, the music sets out on an adventure of its own, becoming a part of other peoples lives, as well.

Michael: Can you tell us a bit about the process behind creating the Teahouse Radio debut, Her Quiet Garden?

Pär: In 2016, I stayed in my sister Åsa’s old summer house and guest studio. My intention was to make an album, using a semi-acoustic guitar and a few effect pedals. I often do this, bring equipment with me somewhere secluded. It was supposed to be a singer-songwriter thing. Early on, I noticed that what I was making was similar to what I had already been recording as Teahouse Radio, years before. I had a notebook with me to jot down technical details about chord progression, lyrics, etc. Instead, immediately it turned into a studio diary, with reflections on what I was making. I wrote about my cat Kosmos who had passed away three years earlier, picturing her in this peaceful, dreamy garden. As I was sitting in the rocking chair listening to the new recordings, I wrote about the weather, the bumblebees and about loss, in general. About mental illness. Somewhere in those notes, the album began to emerge. Half of the songs had been recorded sporadically since 2004. The rest were created during a few days late that summer, in that idyllic countryside setting.

Michael: Hypnagoga Press, the label run by Åsa and yourself, has focused on releasing music by your various projects. Of course, some of these projects are your solo efforts, but others have been collaborations, for example: the Hymnambulae or Altarmang debuts are collaborations with Åsa Boström and Kenneth Hansson, respectively. The new Teahouse Radio album looks to be more of a solo project, in line with Bonini Bulga or Kammarheit. Was this, in fact, a solo project, or did you collaborate with any other artists on this one?

Pär: Teahouse Radio is initially a solo project, but I would like to select a few collaborators further down the road. The songs on Her Quiet Garden were sent to Simon Heath, who added a few extra touches on some of the songs and mastered the whole album. I am very grateful for the way he made the old and new material blend together.

Michael: Is there any specific importance behind the names Teahouse Radio and Her Quiet Garden?

Pär: There was a tiny wooden house, an elk tower, in a field outside the city where I lived during high school. Due to my insomnia at the time, I sometimes bicycled there, and had a cup of tea while trying to find radio stations on a small radio I insisted on carrying with me. When deciding on names for this project, that memory came back and Teahouse Radio felt like a suitable name. As the first album is centered around loss, my deceased cat Kosmos became the main symbol. To imagine a garden for her. A calm, quiet garden.

Michael: You’ve given followers some hints about this release, over the last year or so. Was the process behind its creation similar to other albums? Meaning, do you usually use journals in this way, capturing your ideas for later translation into music?

Pär: I don’t think I’ve shared anything from my journal entries before. Not translated and shared almost in full like we did in The Solar Zine Vol.3. I often write about my music, looking closely for clues on how to best proceed with what I’m working on. Most studio notes are about changes I want to make and title ideas. But, this notebook went further. I will experiment with this on future albums, as well. To my defense I want to add, that when combining a rocking chair, a loop pedal and a summer house with a beautiful lake and garden view, there will be some thoughts running through your head. Dramatic weather only further added to the mood.

Michael: The album art for this release has an incredibly unique and surreal feel. What is the importance of this image and how was it created to have such a unique look?

Pär: I am constantly drawing. Strange animals, trees, figures interacting with each other or dealing with sleep in different ways. It has been like this for almost two decades. I decided early on, that Teahouse Radio should try to fill a gap between my music and these drawings. So, for Her Quiet Garden I made a lot of different paper landscapes with trees and a pond. I tried all kinds of papers to make it look like water and other transparent papers to get a fog like effect. Not many of the photos I took were used for the final artwork, but I will continue with these kinds of images in the future.

Michael: Will Teahouse Radio remain an active project after this release?

Pär: That’s my intention. The illness, the need to take a break from the world, to dream and drift, will likely never change. And there will always be the need to make music for weather and cats. Aural tales.

Michael: What does the future hold for Teahouse Radio? Do you intend to do any live performances as this project, or will it remain a studio entity.

Pär: For now, I wish to remain in my studio for quite some time, before doing live performances again, with any project. I’m happy to be able to create now. I’ve had long periods of inactivity before, or have felt a big need for distance and avoidance, so I want to make sure I’m making the most of this moment. As I said earlier, I hope to collaborate with different musicians in the future. Hopefully animators and paper landscape artists, as well. Her Quiet Garden is merely the introduction.

Michael: Is there any interesting news happening with any of your other projects, currently? I’m sure you have a lot going on, but anything you are willing to share?

Pär: A new Kammarheit album is completed, but it might still be some time before it can be released, as it is a soundtrack and must be synchronised with a product that isn’t finished yet. I have yet another unknown project I will share soon, and then it is hopefully time for new material from Altarmang, Hymnambulae, Cities Last Broadcast and Bonini Bulga. It moves in cycles. Even with Hypnagoga Press, I feel like we’ve barely started yet.

We Didn’t Tell Each Other How Wounded We Were by Åsa Boström

 

Michael: Transitioning to label matters, Åsa, would you like to tell us what has been happening lately around Hypnagoga Press? Any new plans, projects or developments that you would like to speak about?

Åsa Boström: We’ll open the publishing house part of Hypnagoga Press soon, and to begin with, publish some of my books. Going forward, the music label and publishing house will overlap. Literary texts, voice, spoken word will be embedded in our music publications, and our literary publications will include music components.

Onward, we’ll also be focusing more on collaborations. Recently, we made a remix for Carl Abrahamsson, featuring on an album set for release at the end of May. It also contains both music and spoken word, with Carl’s and my voice overlapping.

Michael: Hypnagoga Press has already done releases in several formats: CD, Cassette, Zine, will you continue expanding into different forms of media?

Åsa: Yes, we’ll continue expanding into different media formats. Explore multimedia products – music, literature, art – as well as various packaging formats. Boxes. Hybrid products. Possibly include objects as a part of the packaging. In my art-making, one medium I work with are sculptural objects, a form of ritual objects, made from materials collected on travels. Some of this might also turn up in our packaging. We’ll also introduce vinyl and more types of fine art prints. We intend to keep the physical editions very limited.

I Had Words Left, You Found Them by Åsa Boström

Michael: So far, Hypnagoga Press has been a conduit for you and Pär’s creative output. Will there be plans to search out talent from other individuals, or are you happy to keep this a close-knit sort of personal operation?

Åsa: Hypnagoga Press is mainly a space for realising our own projects. But we’re planning an outlet for collaborations with others, an imprint or a series of publications, in the future.

Michael: Hypnagoga Press is still quite a new label, with your first release being Orgelhuset in 2016, by yourself and Pär as Hymnambulae. What has the startup been like? Are you happy with the current position of things, or have there been any setbacks?

Åsa: I’m very pleased with our first music releases – the debut albums by Hymnambule, Altarmang, Bonini Bulga, and now Teahouse Radio. Projects with narrative depth, supported by interesting creative processes, and I look forward to their progression.

Hypnagoga Press will be built long-term. It’s intended as a life’s work, with our creative and spiritual practices interwoven with creating experiences in which others may take part. Our publications serve as a form of tools, also for others to utilise, forming their own path and journey. To step in closer, reach further, manifest more.

Life also interfered in our startup. I got ill, due to mold in the countryside house where I was living, in the woods in northern Sweden. A house we’d made our Hypnagoga Press headquarter, where I had also set up my own studio space and a guest studio. All of that had to be taken apart and some of our publications got delayed. Now I live in Umeå, where Pär also lives, which makes running Hypnagoga Press together easier. Forces more joined and space freed up for what’s ahead.

Prayer Book by Åsa Boström

Michael: Are there any topics you would like to tell readers about, which I haven’t mentioned?

Åsa: I’d like to add a few words about our new release by Teahouse Radio. I’ve followed the development of the project for almost 15 years now. It’s a good example of how our individual projects often influence each other. I’ve been listening a lot to Teahouse Radio while writing my novel The Seafarer, which we’ll be publishing soon. And Pär has read The Seafarer while working on Teahouse Radio. Initially, we had planned to release them simultaneously.

Michael: Thank you so much for your time, it is always a pleasure!

Pär/Åsa Boström: Thank you Michael, likewise!

Links:
Hypnagoga Press: Website, Facebook, Bandcamp, Youtube
Teahouse Radio: Website, Facebook, Bandcamp
Hymnambulae: Facebook, Bandcamp

Pär’s projects reviewed on This Is Darkness:
Altarmang – Void (2017)
Atrium Carceri & Cities Last Broadcast – Black Corner Den (2017)
Atrium Carceri, Cities Last Broadcast & God Body Disconnect – Miles To Midnight (2018)
Bonini Bulga – Sealed (2017)
Kammarheit – The Starwheel (2005)

 

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