Once your musical interests have strayed from the mainstream, it doesn’t take long before you feel tempted to take a deep dive into the abyss of music that isn’t quite music and yet is more than just a collection of loops and ambient samples. Leslie Keffer gifts us an example of this alternative approach with her album “Fulcrum”.
As I previously indicated, your need for three minute sugary musical snacks will not be satisfied with an album like this. That does not, however, affect its artistic validity as, while the loops may be simplified to those of the robot, the human element weaves a variety of samples over those rhythmically perfect beats to create a warm woolly sweater than proves quite capable of keeping the chill out. There isn’t much in the way of decipherable words either but, once again, Leslie Keffer was never in the business of competing with Cole Porter and, despite the paucity of melody and meaningful lyrics, she manages to both hold your attention and draw you out of your current reality to a place and time where her sounds are all that surround you.
I would suppose that Leslie Keffer’s music could be described as hypnotic and “Fulcrum” could therefore be regarded as some sort of therapeutic tool but I have no knowledge of the whys and wherefores of artistic intent. I can, however, easily accept that this album works for me.