Pär Thörn is a Swedish, Gothenburg-based poet, writer, and sound artist. Magnus Skavhaug Nergaard is a Norwegian bassist, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and recording engineer, known for his role in Monkey Plot and with Selma French and Christian Winther.
Hur skapas en formel? (How is a formula created?) is a 51-minute sound art piece that was recorded remotely in Gothenburg and Oslo between 2020 och 2022. The album’s title is a quote from Thörn’s poem: Skylten tänds. / Skylten med texten / «Utbildning pågår» tänds / i harens ögon. / Haren som frågar: / «Hur skapas en formel som refererar till andra världar i andra celler?» // Rinnande ciggarrök stavar sig fram ur öronen. / Trafikledningen har pingstlov». (The sign lights up. / The sign with the text / «Training in progress» lights up / in the eyes of the hare. / The hare who asks: / «How is a formula created that refers to other worlds in other cells?» // Running cigarette smoke spells out from its ears. / The traffic management is on Whitsun holiday».)
Thörn and Nergaard navigate through constantly shifting sonic landscapes what question the very possibility of form and structure from different positions at once. This free-form sound art freely flows between scattered, sparse beats, chopped-up loops, spoken poetry, fragments of radio broadcasts, deep-toned double bass solos (often processed), and noisy electronics. Most of the time, the atmosphere of this intriguing sonic journey is minimalist, sparse, and laid back, following the suggestive dream-like images of the subversive, psychedelic poem and allowing enough time to reflect on them, but it often disturbs this trip with some manic, rhythmic, and distorted eruptions. The cover collage artwork is by visual artist (and vinyl freak) Marcus Ivarsson (who designed the cover of Nergaard’s Hibernacle, Motvind, 2023)
The album is released in a limited edition of 50 hand-numbered cassettes plus a download option.
Eyal Hareuveni
Pär Thörn (electronics, voice), Magnus Nergaard (double bass, electronics)
