released February 27, 2017

Originally released on 'Cabin Floor Esoterica' 13 March 2015

øjeRum is the audio project of Danish visual artist Paw Grabowski. On 'He Remembers There Were Gardens' he uses a slow moving organ to create an alternate soundtrack to Chris Marker's beautiful slideshow-like time travel film La Jetée. Those familiar with the film with have no difficulty in recalling the flashes of a destroyed world, the status of the museum, and the moment on the platform. Even if you haven't seen the film, the breathing of Grabowski's organ will conjure similar images and moments. It fluctuates between the drifts and falls and the throb and hum of a person lost in time and place.


"Angelic tones grace øjeRum’s elegant “He remembers there were gardens”. Throughout the singular serene piece the way the sound is sculpted gives it a symphonic feeling. Indeed, it is by imposing this classical structure onto glistening electronics that the work becomes quite emotionally resonant. Evolution feels naturalistic with an adherence upon a carefully built up, gradually shifting series of lovely drones. By choosing such a path the piece emerges as becoming deeply beautiful as it explores the smallest facets of sound. Without saying a single word narrative forms, that feels at times yearning, wistful, and nostalgic. Melodies are aching in terms of their careful balance.

Hushed sweeps of sound introduce the piece. For a while øjeRum chooses to simply explore the spacious of the sound. Slowly but surely øjeRum incorporates an ever-growing series of layers that help to fully flesh out the sound, at times even referencing drone music. Upon reaching something of a fevered pitch about five minutes in the piece suddenly returns to its initial quieter pastures. Around the eleven-minute mark øjeRum even touches upon the ambient bliss of early Warp Record releases, only with the ambience extended off into the infinite. Gradually øjeRum strips the sound down to the absolute essentials as the sound appears to nearly evaporate into the distance about halfway through the piece. For a moment a woozy, yearning melody emerges out of the near-silence to fill the void. Easily the best part of the piece it represents a struggle of sorts. Towards the finale all has been resolved with the song slowly melting away.

“He remembers there were gardens” shows off the impeccable pacing and arrangement work of øjeRum."
- Beach Sloth

"The music is deeply ritualistic, in the way that a tide or overlapped set of notes refracts the meaning of the preceding one. This ebb and flow in tightness like Brian Grainger (Milieu) and William Basinski tells us more of what is at stake. The love in the sound comes down to meditation, meditating (on) – soft playing, concentric regard for a “hook” or “tap out”, a marker. What the listener chooses to take from rituals are their own investment, but Paw Grabowski’s slow moving organ parts are quite succinctly lathered with portent rather than pretense. And this certainly makes them stand out.

øjeRum, the audio project of the Danish visual artist Paw, carries with it visual life-affirming qualities, too. Quite alike to the visual geometries of installation artists, including Simon Scott, Kenneth Kirschner and Marsen Jules, the transparency for an element of the nouveau vogue is set up in tantamount positioning to the releases art with the resampling technique. One that belies and carries so many loop-using musicians further afield into group albums, and ensemble playing. oJerum is not lost in loop orgy however, creating subtle shifts in tone from chord changes that manipulate the glaze like basting a turkey in the oven. At the right temperature, and the right time, the melancholy traverses the tightrope of fear into a heavenly stasis.

Indeed, much of the premise for Krysalis Sound label releases is based around heat – turning up the heat on a subject, or even bringing pure rock solid ice into focus, as on the “Untitled_TeVet” release I last reviewed for Fluid Radio. The label’s key strength has always been presenting intriguing music in lovingly packaged cases, and although their newsletters state they are trying to cut down on environmental emissions, one step at a time – for me this type of release is something essential for the drone lover in you, a half hour drift through sheer weightlessness."
- Fluid Radio

Just as the liner notes suggest, as one who was previously unfamiliar with the film [La Jetée by Chris Marker] I was drawn in solely by the rich organ tones, repetitive patterns, and plaintive melancholy of the piece which, through music alone, suggests a poignant and compelling narrative. Ponder the existential weight of the story and it becomes more poignant still. Then, of course, one may watch the film for an entirely different experience, especially as contrasted with the melodramatic approach of the original score. Given its unique inspiration, thoughtful construction and the various ways it can be experienced, Grabowski has created a truly fascinating ambient journey that is well deserving of such a beautifully presented reissue.
- Stationary Travels