Blood Rhythms & Leslie Keffer - Good Grief (2023)
Following their Horror Pilation series of 6 LPs, Arvo Zylo and Leslie Keffer did finish one more drone release in 2022, if only as a matter of chance. Keffer was grieving the loss of a loved one, and Zylo sent her a drone, as a "gift". The audio was made from several different elements, but especially including purported "healing frequencies", for symbolic value at the very least. This track also based itself off of a one minute long track called "Grief" that Keffer had recently contributed to a compilation. In its original form, the initial 40 minute piece is yet to be released.
However, Keffer and Zylo did create three finished pieces from the base materials, almost out of force of habit, since they were in such a zone from creating over six hours of material for the Horror Pilation series. With Good Grief, there has already been a body of work established, and this is an additional look into that process, as well as a finished product in itself.
-Original album description from No Part Of It
Spill over drone.... or work that was not captured on Horror Pilation. How ever the description reads, Arvo Zylo and Leslie Keffer bring a beautiful heavy into the conscious stream. Over seventy minutes from three tracks, Good Grief sinks into the frontal lobe causing acute paralysis for daily functions. Tilted just a tiny bit on the darker side of the middle, this composition opens the porthole for cultivated tranquility. A brilliant hum from perplexing machinery and deep tones from the organic evolution of all things. Good Grief levels thoughts and causes the body to descend within.
Repeat play for Good Grief is easy and turning the volume up just a little is amazing. A fully realized and skillfully developed balance on this composition reflects tremendously on the experienced creative strengths of both Arvo and Leslie. For how these selections play out, be ready for the essence of meditative foundations. Sublime work from both artists.
-Lost In A Sea Of Sound
“Arvo Zylo and Leslie Keffer – as a duo – have been quite busy in 2022. First, they did their own stuff, which you can read about in the Vital quite often, and then there was a project we haven’t discussed yet because it’s massive. After that, they did a six vinyl series, ‘Horror Pilation’, and right after those sessions, they still had the energy to record more. “Good Grief” started with a recording by Arvo, which was sent to Leslie in dire times. This track was called “Grief” (and is still unreleased) and formed the base for this one. The three tracks cover over 70 minutes of deep droning with lots of stuff happening, yet always in a stable setting.
‘Griefspeak’ and ‘For Goodness Sake’ are both around the twenty-minute mark and quite similar in their approach or ‘charge’. At least, it sounds like that a bit. Even though in the subtle layering, a lot of different things are happening, the massiveness of the ground note is comparable. In between these two tracks, there is ‘Goodness Gracious’, a 40 minute with a slow change of the ground notes several times, as well as beautiful interpolation patterns in those changes, and a complete change of its ’emotional charge’ as I tend to call it sometimes in the last 10 minutes. And yes, *still* stuff is happening in those other layers. This track could have been a release on its own, but the sandwich between the different tracks makes it extra powerful and gives the other two tracks extra meaning.”
-Vital Weekly #1375