Welcome all to ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐น๐น๐โ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of ๐๐๐ฌ ๐ผ๐ง๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ฅ๐ค๐ฉ๐ก๐๐๐๐ฉ playlists.
๐๐ช๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ – ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ข๐๐ฃ๐
Charles eats stars for breakfastโฆ
Alan Turing. One of the great minds of the 20th Century. I will be bold enough to claim that his brain even surpassed those of our more recent greats, Billie Eilish and Oprah Winfrey. But you’re welcome to argue that point, should you so wish. It just occurred to me that some of you might not know who Alan Turing was. Turing was a technological genius. He developed The Bombe (not the atomic kind); responsible for cracking the Nazi Enigma code used throughout WWII. It is questionable as to whether we would have won the Second World War without Turing. A vital asset, therefore! Note that we are not currently in the middle of a Third World War, while Billie Eilish and Oprah Winfrey just happen to be around. Coincidence…? Yes. A completely unrelated โcoincidenceโ. Turing is also hailed for being the forefather of the computer as we know it. But this was all in the past. Most people were not familiar with the name and he went the way of obscurity. That is, until relatively recently as he has popped back into chit-chat over the last 15-or-so years. Was this because people thought it was about time he was truly recognised for his achievements? Well, I suppose there was a bit of that. But mainly, it was because he was gay. Never mind what he actually did! The point is, he was persecuted and prosecuted for being gay in a time when it was illegal to be gay. And so we now rectify that matter by praising him to the sky for being gay. I can see a flaw hereโฆ
I don’t praise someone for being gay, just like I don’t praise Stevie Wonder for being black, or Joni Mitchell for being a woman. It’s irrelevant. I’m not interested in pigeonholing anyone’s unimportant characteristics. Someone being gay is their own personal, private matter. Someone being black or female is simply a fact. And a rather dull one at that. What excites me is brilliance. I am in awe of exceptional talent. I couldn’t give two hoots about race, colour, religion, gender or sexual orientation. It only makes sense to concentrate on what a person has achieved rather than to dwell on irrelevant nothings they have not. Otherwise we might as well award architects because the concrete they used was grey, or because it leans a little to the left. Oh wait, we do. So! I’m going to ignore the irrelevance and concentrate on the REAL reasons Alan Turing should be remembered and commemorated. His MIND!
One of the many things Turing is known for nowadays is the Turing Test. And what is the Turing Test, I hear you cry!! Well, Iโll tell you. It is the measure of a machineโs ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour equivalent to that of a human. Sounds pretty scary, no? And very modern, wouldnโt you say? Well, this was back in 1949. This was a time when rock โnโ roll was still called boulder and bun. Actually, it wasnโt called anything as it hadnโt yet been invented! Coming back to the thing at hand though, doesnโt this all make you think of our modern day HAL (what I call A.I.)? You see, while music was still very much in the era of Vera Lynn and early Sinatra, the top minds were already focussing on HAL. Only now are we seeing what it is capable of. And believe me, weโve only just begun. Can you imagine a world where human and machine are indistinguishable? Could you bear it? Well, I think youโre going to have to. The thing is, such a concept can be extremely dangerous. And it WILL be, if we donโt learn from our past. To an extent it is already too late, because it is out there for all to use, in whichever way people see fit. Think about this though, if/when you use it: youโre playing with fireโฆ
When Coca-Cola was invented, it contained 3.5g of cocaine in each bottle. We didnโt know the true dangers. The company probably did, but didnโt care. Youโre hooked! At a time when EVERYONE smoked cigarettes, we didnโt know the true dangers. The tobacco companies did, but didnโt want you to know. Youโre hooked! Do you see where Iโm headingโฆ? HAL is represented as a cool, easy creative tool able to do all those tedious creative chores like making music. Ugh, itโs such a bore; thank the lord thereโs something to do it for usโฆ! The companies know the dangers. Theyโve even admitted the dangers. Theyโve told us that HAL could ultimately mean the end of humans, or at the very least an end to the purpose of being a human. These admissions only arise when they are interviewed with blunt verbal force, however. They donโt care. And many of us are close to being hooked! Do you remember the teacherโs โanswers editionโ at school? If you managed to get hold of such gold, you were sure to get the correct answer every time. But what have you really achieved? All you have done is lie to yourself and others. Hardly fulfilling, is it. Certainly not enriching. But you were young. You were not to know better. Okay, fine. The thing is, when it comes to HAL, it is up to you. Youโre an adult now. We are currently in the earliest blind era of โanything goesโ, regardless of its potential (eventual) dangers. The same thing happened with the internet, and we didnโt learn. So much harm has come from the internet. But the internet didnโt think. It didnโt create. HAL is so much more dangerous. While HAL does have its useful uses (mainly in speeding up long, tedious processes), it should NEVER be used in a creative way. The human is here on Earth in order to create. I am talking about art. To use HAL to create art for you, is to hand it your own gun and cock the hammer; for you have swindled yourself out of purpose. In terms of music (something that means as much to us as peace and love), I cannot conceive how anyone can hand over the โjobโ to a machine. Anyone solely using HAL to make music is not an artist. And the result is not art.
The official definition of Art: the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination. Nuff said.
The tipping point for HAL is when it grows from thinking, to feeling. One artist suggested that we as humans are human because of our connection with the cosmos. The artist likens this cosmos to a bowl of stars, which I just love. So who is this artist? Please welcome Kele Fleming with her brand new song, Turing Test. Not only is this song less than two weeks old, but as far as I can tell, it is her first original release since February 2022. Everything since then has been live versions, remixes or remasters. Fans have been clamouring for a new release from her, almost to the point of bullying! But itโs not bullying, it just shows how much people love her music. Beatlemania could have been seen by The Beatles as oppressive and maniacal. Itโs only love, and that is all. Well, except for the one who killed Lennon, but weโll ignore that. Kele, is what weโre here for. Dearest Kele Fleming (pronounced Kelly Flemming). I continue to call her Keel Fleeming, simply because it probably annoys her. Iโm annoying like that. Donโt be annoying like me. Just donโt, or Iโll set HAL on you.
Backed by Matthew Presidente (piano and keys), Scott Fletcher (bass guitar and mandolin), Jonathan Blokmanis (electric guitar) and Tony Lee (drums and percussion), Kele does the rest (vocals, acoustic and electric guitar). All words and music are written by Kele. She and her bandmates have made what I think to be her finest original song (I tend to go for her remixes over the originals – sorry, Kele!). Aside from loving the music and the lyrics, what I really go for in this entirely human endeavour, is how she plays the part of the machine. Let me explain. And no, she has not made herself sound like a robot. Besides, robots don’t sound like robots anymore; they sound like us! The lyrics are from the perspective of the machine. Itโs eye-opening. Itโs terrifying, but in a very subtle way. It takes a while to sink in; the vast scale of this subtlety. It really caught me off guard when I realised I was hearing the machine thinking and feeling. Itโs kind of horrible, but in the way that we stare at a car crash through scissor fingers. Funny how weโre so often captivated by horror. The song was evidently natural for Kele. She wrote it one Saturday night in June this year. By the end of the following day, the whole recording was complete. The way things used to be. Love it. Itโs so much more exciting when the process has such thrilling momentum. She ate a whole bowl of starsโฆ And you can TELL!!
Letโs get musical. Matthewโs simplistic piano sets the scene with a pounding repetitive thump from Scott on the bass. Tonyโs shakerโs feeling loose and sexy. Jonathanโs electric guitar resents this, but understands that sometimes the guitar has to take the place of the background shaker. Tony holds the backbeat nice and solid. Kele joins them all after just one round. Itโs like Kate Bush has morphed with Madonna in her most angelic records. I also hear something of PJ Harvey there too. But despite Kele being Canadian, there is a distinctly English sound to her voice. This to me somehow emphasises the honesty and believability. I canโt quite explain that. She manages both fragility and strength. Porcelain is strong until it hits the floor. I am also particularly impressed with her Sinatra-like phrasing at times; how she elides one slow line into the next, then breathes midway through that second line. And all the while, Jonathan creates an artful spatial atmosphere, binding all instruments as one. But itโs the chorus that shines like the brightest star. Some may liken it to R.E.Mโฆ But I hate R.E.M. I think anyone who says itโs like R.E.M. has subconsciously detected the mandolin. This instrument seems to be making the most unlikely comeback. Itโs a wonderful instrument because there is nothing quite like it! For me, this is what makes the chorus. This is what makes the stars sparkle. Great Scott!
I think the reason I am able to be awash with their music is because the mix is so good. The best mix is never noticed (by normal people). Itโs a very impressive mix because it is soft and warm, yet clear and with great strength. Itโs not too difficult to manage clarity, and itโs not too difficult to manage warmth, but it can be rather tricky to join together the best of both worlds. Itโs also quite amazing that the bassline from beginning to end is basically one note throughout the verses and the bridge, only resorting to two notes in the chorus. And yet, I wouldnโt want it to change. Quite weird, that. Itโs a kind of insistent mesmerising drone. The whole song feels hypnotic. Another thing I wouldnโt normally go for, is how the lyrics end: โSet me free, I want to be free, Iโฆโ – thatโs it. It ends on โIโ. That should really bother me. But instead, I find it rather chilling. As if it is emphasising the machine being alive. Brrwah; I just got a shudder there. Turing Test is the very Kele Fleming song for which we were waiting.
Final word on HAL. If youโre going to use it, be honest about it. Donโt lie to us all and pretend youโre an artist, especially with the knowledge that youโre surrounded by actual artists. Think how insulting that might be to us; the real artists. And also, perhaps ask yourself WHY youโre actually using HAL in the first placeโฆ
Alan Turing wasnโt into women. Or, to (mis)quote a certain iron Maggie, โThe ladyโs not for turingโ.
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