Kultivator ‎– Barndomens Stigar (1981)

Barndomens Stigar is the lone album by Swedish jazz-rock/Zeuhl combo Kultivator, released in October 1981 on Bauta.

Kultivator built Barndomens Stigar from guitar, Rhodes, organ, synthesizer, recorder, layered voices, bass, bass pedals, and sharply detailed drums. The album runs on hard rhythmic control, quick directional changes, and a steady exchange between airy, folk-leaning passages and darker, heavier ensemble pressure.

Keyboardist Johan Hedrén and guitarist Jonas Linge shape the harmonic movements while singer Ingemo Rylander places vocal and recorder lines across the dense sections. Bassist Stefan Carlsson with drummer Johan Svärd keep the music tense, exact, and forceful. Their material veers between compact, contrapuntal numbers and longer, spacious pieces with repeated figures, instrumental excursions, and gradual climaxes.

Stefan Carlsson — bass, chromatic harmonica, final bass-pattern synth
Johan Svärd — drums
Johan Hedrén — Fender Rhodes, organ, synths, guitar
Jonas Linge — guitar, mandolin, accordion, percussion, vocals
Ingemo Rylander — vocals, recorders, flutes, guitar

Background

Kultivator recorded the album after the group had already chosen to end its active run. The material had tightened in rehearsal and on a small number of live dates, and the band decided to preserve it in a studio setting before the lineup dissolved. Budget limits shaped both the process and the final program. Most of the album went down live with only a small amount of overdubbing, and one completed piece fell away when the material had to fit LP length. The finished tapes did not secure immediate label support, so the band held the masters until friends helped fund a release in 1981.

A1. “Höga Hästar” [High Horses] (3:32) — Carlsson

“Höga Hästar” opens the album at full pressure. Svärd drives the first stretch with hard cymbal work, forceful snare attack, and a clipped rhythmic push that locks tight with Carlsson’s fuzzed bass. Hedrén answers with a bright organ surface that keeps the track in constant forward motion. Midway through, the arrangement loosens into a lighter folk-tinged passage with flute-like recorder color before the group pushes back into a hotter section where guitar, synth, bass, and drums thicken the texture again. The track establishes the album’s core method at once: dense rhythm, fast turns, and precise ensemble force.

A2. “Vemod” [Melancholy] (2:35) — Hedrén

“Vemod” lowers the speed but keeps the tension high. Rylander’s Swedish vocal line sits over deep bass, liquid keyboard figures, and quieter rhythmic movement, which gives the song a more inward pull than the opener. The vocal sections alternate with instrumental passages where the bass remains prominent and the keys take on a more fluid shape. A flute close seals the track in a more suspended, reflective mood, but the rhythm never goes slack. The piece compresses a large amount of detail into a short span and keeps its darker tone under firm control.

A3. “Småfolket” [The Little People] (5:15) — Rylander

“Småfolket” opens from keyboards, bass, and cymbals, then grows into one of the album’s most aggressive pieces. Carlsson’s bass takes a stronger central role here, and the arrangement moves through several quick changes in pace and density without losing its internal logic. Hedrén’s keyboard work cuts through the middle of the track with sharper emphasis, while the group shifts between lighter passages and more abrasive ensemble surges. The piece captures Kultivator’s taste for tension in a concentrated form and gives the first side its hardest edge.

A4. “Kära Jord” [Dear Earth] (7:07) — Hedrén, Diktonius

“Kära Jord” begins with airy Rhodes, light vocals, and tiny percussive details that keep the opening measured and spacious. From that quiet start, the band builds toward a heavier repeated pattern where male and female voices, bass, drums, and guitar tighten into a stronger collective pull. The rhythm holds steady for long stretches, but new lines keep entering the arrangement, which lets the track gather weight without losing clarity. Later sections intensify the same material through sharper accents and thicker ensemble interplay. Near the end, Linge’s guitar breaks forward with an angular solo that cuts across the repeated pulse and gives the track its most pointed instrumental release.

B1. “Barndomens Stigar” [Paths of Childhood] (5:13) — Carlsson

The title track starts with recorder and a folk-shaped line that places the piece in a lighter register before the full band enters. Once the rhythm section arrives, the arrangement shifts into a firmer, more exotic pulse where bass, drums, and keyboards carry a clear contoured theme. The recorder returns inside the fuller texture, and the ensemble expands the opening material without losing its directness. The piece joins pastoral detail to a harder central drive and gives the album one of its clearest statements of balance between folk color and rhythmic weight.

B2. “Grottekvarnen” [The Grotte Mill] (7:05) — Hedrén

“Grottekvarnen” runs on speed, precision, and repeated vocal figures. Crisp female lines ride over bright keys, fast snare rolls, and tightly controlled hi-hat work, which gives the opening section a taut, forward-moving surface. As the track develops, the mood darkens and the texture thickens. A more atmospheric middle stretch opens around the drum pattern before the group pushes back into a denser section where Linge’s guitar turns fuzzier and more forceful. The whole piece holds to a more direct plan than some of the album’s shorter cuts, but the execution keeps it vivid from start to finish.

B3. “Vårföl” [Spring Foal] (2:52) — Hedrén

“Vårföl” condenses several of the album’s traits into under three minutes. The opening sets light drums, bass, guitar, and keys into a playful but slightly furtive motion, with Rylander’s vocal line helping keep the surface nimble. Midway through, the rhythm loosens and the arrangement opens just enough for rolling keyboard figures, active bass, and a short guitar lead. The track feels lighter on its face, but the internal movement stays restless, and the quick shifts in balance give it more depth than its length suggests.

B4. “Novarest” (6:14) — Hedrén

“Novarest” closes the original LP with the album’s darkest sustained mood. Male and female voices trade the title phrase in a chant-like pattern over a repeated rhythmic figure, and the insistence of that exchange drives the song’s first half. Soft Rhodes chords sit against a brighter guitar tone, which keeps the texture from turning blunt even as the pattern repeats. The later instrumental section opens wider for guitar and ensemble development, but the track never abandons its grim, circular pull. As a finale, it leaves the album in a more shadowed and repetitive state than anything that precedes it.

Production

Kultivator recorded and mixed Barndomens Stigar in September 1980 at AVO Studio in Linköping with technicians Curt Wallberg and Peter Färnlöf. The sessions relied heavily on live performance, with only limited additional overdubs. The band produced and arranged the album themselves. Hädan Sväv appears on the record as a boys’ choir.

Release and Packaging

Bauta issued Barndomens Stigar in October 1981 as BAR 8101. The original LP carried eight tracks and appeared in a pressing of 503 copies. Leif Elggren supplied the front-cover drypoint engraving. In 1992, Ad Perpetuam Memoriam reissued the album on CD with “Häxdans,” a 1992 studio recording, and “Tunnelbanan Medley,” a live recording from Grottan in Linköping on June 9, 1979.

Legacy

Barndomens Stigar gained its reputation gradually. The original LP moved in small numbers at first, then developed a stronger afterlife as collectors and listeners outside Sweden began to seek it out. That renewed interest led to the 1992 CD edition and later reissues, which expanded access to the album and preserved additional material from the same period. The record now stands as Kultivator’s sole completed statement and the central document of the band’s brief run.

Tracklist:
A1. “Höga Hästar” (3:32)
A2. “Vemod” (2:35)
A3. “Småfolket” (5:15)
A4. “Kära Jord” (7:07)
B1. “Barndomens Stigar” (5:13)
B2. “Grottekvarnen” (7:05)
B3. “Vårföl” (2:52)
B4. “Novarest” (6:14)

Credits:
Cover Art – Ingemo Rylander
Boys’ Choir – Hädan Sväv
Front Cover Dry-Point Engraving: Trädgårdsmästarnas Väntan (The Garderner’s Waiting) – Leif Elggren
Layout – Ossie
Paintings In Booklet – Stefan Carlsson
Cover Photo – Jonas Linge
Produced, Mixed By – Kultivator
Recorded By – Anton le Clercq, Lach’n Jonsson

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