Reverie (2022)
CD-R
Released by No Part Of It in 2022
Previous unreleased material from the sessions that became Dielectric Lull, recorded in 2003
Listen here
Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, in a small town so desolate that any radio station can be hard to tune into, even on an FM dial, a number of radios can easily be combined to have a theremin-like effect, with layers of static dominated by a haunting, choir-like synthesis of frequencies.
Match this approach with an already well-established tendency for people like paranormal investigators to find otherworldly sounds, or "electronic voice phenomena" between stations, and there'll be an additional promise to these easily accessible, but somewhat nebulous devices.
Then imagine a young lady in her early 20s staying up all night, alone in her bedroom, prior to any knowledge of a "noise scene", screaming into a machine that apparently has a way of broadcasting her voice through these radios, along with any number of other gadgets and effects to augment it. Walls of sound bounce in a spiraling motion, with each movement feeding into the next as a part of what she would call "entity transmissions".
In 2003, Leslie Keffer had her first release issued on Heresee Records; "Dielectric Lull". This was because she was in a rock band and did booking at a bar. According to Leslie, a "weird" band came through town, and she decided to open for them doing what she'd been doing quietly at home, without any knowledge of an audience for it. This is what landed her the first opportunity to do an experimental release, not any involvement in a pre-established genre.
In a sense, Dielectric Lull became a thesis statement on what she would do for the next several years, both as a recording artist and a performer. For Keffer, radios have an unavoidable ghostly channeling effect that has never been too far from the scope of her creative output.
One such case in point was captured and released on a split seven inch with Jason Zeh. According to the recording, Keffer couldn't figure out where a certain sound was coming from, and so she turned off her mixer as her set was just beginning. She allowed patrons and onlookers at the venue to mess with her knobs on her mixer to little effect; The sounds apparently just came out of the PA speakers on their own, somehow emanating from her radios.
Says Leslie:
"I can hear entities projecting themselves into me through it and channeling their energy into sound waves. Complete communion with the aether."
During her initial onset of productivity, Keffer later found that she had recorded hours of material straight to mini-disc, with no overdubs or edits. When it came time to send material to Heresee for her debut release, she sent more than two hours of audio. The label took what they would fit on one disc, and Leslie continued to produce constantly, leaving behind the excess of her precarious beginnings.
Then Keffer went on to tour a considerable amount, play larger experimental music fests, collaborate with key figures within the realm of noise and experimental music, and eventually join Laundry Room Squelchers. The latter is a touring act known for layers of modified radios and mobile amplifiers on wheels being thrusted by several members of the band into the audience.
"I was obsessed with radios because I could channel the energy and frequencies of the room, people's energy, the surrounding energy and radio transmissions from all over-- energy and frequency. I could really tune in to the emotions of the room, and I think that resonated with people."
"Reverie", then, is a nice little hidden gem; An historical document finally unearthed almost 20 years later, for people who may not have realized the spiritual potential of errant radio signals at night. Keffer's recordings can make the listener question whether it is her own voice they are hearing, or something else from the radios, and this particular type of strange fusion is unique to the ongoing narrative of noise artists, serialists, and avant-garde composers using radios in an experimental capacity.
“Recorded in 2002, the previously unreleased Reverie offers signal washes of distortion, rhythmic at times and insectine at others. To hear it is to be figuratively suspended in air, held aloft by melodies miniature, accidental and imagined, benevolent ("Titrate") or malign (Ingest"). At once static and exploratory, Reverie vibrates with a faint anxiety.”
-Raymond Cummings, The Wire January 2023
“The second one for this Leslie Keffer-related batch of releases is “Reverie”, which turns out to be her second album. No, she has done way more than just two albums, but these recordings were made back in 2003, right after her first album “Dielectric Lull” was released. Somehow these tracks never were released before, so they give a nice insight into how she developed as an artist. The one-hour 8-track album is created with sounds from the radio: It’s a magical thing we all know, especially when you turn the dial to frequencies that should not have any signal. The magick of the aether, waves becoming sound, a means of communication between entities at long distances or even different planes of existence.
As said, eight tracks hold the middle between drones, ambience, noise and static, with what I suspect here and there is a synthesized sound and/or the human voice. They generate a barren landscape of sounds, where it’s never silent but never really happy or cosy. This is a good thing because, for comfortable and relaxed feelings, there is enough shitty pop music being produced which also played on the radio those days – but Leslie manages to bypass all of them.
As a musician, I’ve also played with the radio as a sound source. It is quite impressive how she captures all the different tracks’ layers with radio as the basic source. Deep basses and higher-pitched layers in the drones, sudden squeaks properly placed through editing and very well-executed production. I can only imagine how people reacted to her first album, being a ‘newbie’ back then, trying to find her sound … Impressive.”
-Vital Weekly #1371
"Turning the dial has become a quintessential operation for modern civilization. A mainstay for such a long time, the physical function has finally reached the end stages and is becoming obsolete. Rotary phones replaced by push buttons and again replaced by flat screens, analog radio dials replaced by buttons for digital control and then slowly phased out in modern use. But unlike so many dials that have come and gone, the radio dial was the first to connect everyday people with a world outside of their own.
A place of music, news, stories, a modern fireplace that spoke to us as the vacuum tubes glowed with a rich orange red warmth. And in between the wavering clarity, rest the chaos of static. Benign white noise that sometimes roars with violent frequency, at times so disturbing that electronic engineers developed the noise muting FM receiver. Eliminating the hissing noise in between stations. This high pitched drone is undesirable for the radio operator, but not for Leslie Keffer.
Reverie is Leslie Keffer's exploration into the un-tuned world of radio frequencies. Leslie's aural landscape is crafted with inestimable interest and artful skill. From the notes on No Part Of It's bandcamp page, Reverie is a collection of recordings made after Leslie Keffer's first solo release in 2003 titled Dielectric Lull. The recordings on Reverie were entwined in the period of time where Leslie preformed live, using the both unknown sources and the of energy audience to channel sounds being received. The peak of her interest is the steering of sounds within the received frequencies by "conscious" external energies.
This being everything from Leslie herself, the listening audience, spirits, or even other worldly influences. At times the droning static is like rows of crops, manipulated by disembodied presences, using focused energy to form patterns and in radio sounds, voices. Also, channeling the feelings of the audience and allowing the process to move forward without her assistance. There are eight selections on Reverie. They are beautifully cultivated, far from the intensely harsh sonic storms they easily could be. "
- Lost In A Sea Of Sound