written and produced by MILA CHESK
ph: elina krima

if you come with me

Den Tag lang zu viel Kaffee
des Abends voll am Rade gedreht

Das geht hier so nicht weiter
vor lauter Vielfalt regiert die Einfalt
Die Ruhe kehrt ein nachdem die Lichter ausgehn
und endlich falln die Augen einfach zu 

Wie versteinert liegt man da
dreizehn halbe Stunden

Vieles kann geschehen während dieser Zeit
der Geist dreht seine Runden und ist bald bereit
wofür? für das Abendmahl, im Vereinslokal
die Partei hat uns den Aufenthalt verwehrt
doch das ist egal, denn der Wendepunkt steht kurz bevor.

Der Forscher studiert die Situation
und fragt sich, was den Träumer bewegt

Ein Leben im Dienste von nichts und niemand
und völlig im Freiflug da gehn die Uhren anders

Und auch im Labor kann man es nachvollziehn
am Elektroenzephalogramm

Wie versteinert liegt man da
dreizehn halbe Stunden

Alles ist geschehen während dieser Zeit
flächendeckend abgedrehte Energie
und dann zünde Kerzen an, mach den Ofen warm
die Menschen sammeln sich und teilen in der Not
es gibt zwar nicht viel, doch alle sind jetzt gut versorgt

Wie versteinert liegt man da
dreizehn halbe Stunden

13 halbe Stunden

scarborough fair - Cover

sleepwalk

makeup

Night Night

Need Me More- Demo

A Waste Land Companion is, as its title implies, an addendum to Boris Rogowski‘s
album The Waste Land which was released in February 2023 on Piano and Coffee
Records. A meditation on the infamous eponymous 1922 poem by T.S. Eliot, The
Waste Land traces its psychological journey through a barren world in search of lifegiving
water as well as its physical journey through London on the zenith of
Modernism.

During the recording sessions for the album—whose sound is characterised by the
interplay between a string quartet, flute and a collection of specifically created,
deeply warped and tape-weathered samples—over 20 pieces were recorded.
Rogowski had originally intended to use all of them in chronological order, beginning
with the famous part about April being the „cruellest month“. However, it turned out
that a shorter playlist and a strictly musical order worked better for the album.
Rogowski decided to focus on the string-centred pieces to give the album a dreamlike,
hypnotic pull. However, as he valued the shorter, piano-based pieces just as
much, the idea for a companion (mini) album was born almost immediately.

It was a most sensible decision: Chamber gems like „The Hyacinth Girl“ and „A
Wicked Pack of Cards“, mixing English folklore with nods to Richard Wagner’s Tristan
and Isolde, might have gotten lost between the dark, monolithic soundscapes of the
album. Here, however, framed by works for solo piano and harmonium, they are
allowed to shine. A Waste Land Companion begins and ends with two piano pieces
only loosely connected to T.S. Eliot’s poem: „Dear Jessie (to Jessie Laidlay Weston)“ is
an ethereal miniature in reverence of the brilliant English medievalist whose book
From Ritual to Romance, a historical examination of the King Arthur legend, greatly
influenced Eliot while working on The Waste Land. „Universe on a shoestring“ is even
serener, a kind of exhalation after a long and arduous journey. It was the last piece
Rogowski composed during his concluding writing session in the mountains of the
island of La Palma. Here, close to the GTC, the world’s largest optical telescope, the
universe seemed closer than anywhere else on earth—and the grim world of The
Waste Land already a distant memory.

Universe on a Shoestring

Boris Rogowski

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