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.
๐ ๐ฟ๐ค๐ฃโ๐ฉ ๐พ๐๐ง๐ – ๐๐ค๐ข๐๐ก๐๐จ๐จ ๐๐๐๐๐ค
Charles can’t help but care…
Sometimes, being topical is unavoidable. This is one of those times. The world has not been a lucky place in the last couple of years. Back in 2019, everything seemed to be bumbling along oh-so averagely. #MeToo was still very much a thing. Trump was being Trump. Brexit was on people’s lips. Notre Dame was in people’s hearts. Theresa May stepped down, and Boris Johnson tripped up. Then a great big pandemic came along. George Floyd lost his life and rose to fame, as the worldโs people proudly showed their masked faces and threw their fists to the air. Prince Philip passed away at the age of 99. So did Eddie Van Halen, admittedly not nearly so old. It has been a hard and bitter time. Era, you could call it. So unique and unprecedented were the times, that the collective feeling was that of being lost.
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, and Britain and the rest of Europe had been experiencing almighty storms (Dudley, Eunice and Franklin – yes, we name them in Britainโฆ), ripping apart the โroofโ of the Millennium Dome in London. That will teach modern architects to rethink the idea of using canvas as a roofing materialโฆ But in the last week, the most catastrophic things have taken place. Things that make everything else in recent times pale in comparison. While the rest of the world was busy obsessing and spending all that it had to spend, on a virus, the largest country in the world was being quieter than usual. This does not mean it was twiddling its thumbs and mulling over the nonsense that we tend to mull over. No no no. Imagine youโre in the same room as someone with headphones on. To you, itโs silence. To them, itโs loud heavy metal. I mean this not about โRussiansโ, but about the forces of Russia. Back in the USSRโฆ And more specifically, one madman. One who does not deserve to be named, but who we all know well. The one with the plastic face and the dead little eyes. Unfortunately, he is anything BUT dead. The one who sits in his cold Soviet interior, playing soldiers. Playing God, more like. For most Russians, those โbehatedโ masks are being drawn upwards and over their eyes, for fear that they might learn the truth behind their own country. How else could this man gain so much support from his own people. They are not mad. Only he is.
And so, this past week has seen the most catastrophic carnage of their neighbouring country, Ukraine. Did we really think it would come to this? And so suddenly? Some would say, this has been building and waiting to happen for 8 years since Russiaโs takeover of Crimea. But still, it is a great shock and of great sadness, to see a completely peaceful, innocent country torn to shreds and massacred, all because of one man. It is a familiar story and oh-so reminiscent of the man with the little moustache from long ago. But not so long ago that it fades from our attention. The courage and bravery of these Ukrainians has astounded the world almost as much as the initial invasion. We have seen Ukraineโs capital, Kyiv/Kiev, being attacked from all sides. The same can be said for Kharkiv, the countryโs second largest city. Neighbouring countries are understandably very troubled and worried. Poland, for example, is less than 50 miles away from the nearest attack. My Polish girlfriend and her family are, of course, deeply uncomfortable.
But what about the rest of Europe? This evil man has already threatened The West with โconsequences greater than any you have faced in historyโ, should it choose to intervene. Well, we intervened, didnโt we. Because we care. And because we will not have our neck stood on by a thug. It was indeed a brave move to attempt to cut off Russiaโs funding. But then came threat number two: nuclear forces on โspecial alertโ. Not good. Not good at all. Is it a hoax? A bluff? Either way, this does not leave us feeling cosy in our beds. We in the West, do however have our beds, our homes and our clear skies. Let us come back to Ukraine and its people. Automatic guns are terrifying, but automatic bravery can be just as strong and powerful. The world has been deeply disturbed and shaken by Russiaโs enforcer and his doings, but what has truly moved The West, is the automatic bravery and courage that we have seen in the civilians of a country that has had a hard time over the years. This patriotism proves that all is not lost and that the power of the heart is maybe stronger than we had expected. Sometimes being repeatedly bashed will make one give up and give in. Sometimes it will only make one stronger. Thankfully, Ukraine seems to opt for the latter. The West now feels a warmth and a strong sense of pride in this big little country and its huge-hearted people.
Ukraine has seen hundreds of its people laid to rest, but so far there has been a far higher number of Russian deaths. The evil gremlin (or should I say Kremlin) didnโt see THIS one coming. However, Ukraine is far from victory. It needs our help and support. There have been countless protests and shows of solidarity throughout the world for Ukraine, but many want to do more. For most of us, there is little we can actually DO to help the situation, as much as we would like to. I personally am not brave enough to fly out there and battle on the streets of Kharkiv. The Ukrainians are doing remarkably well so far, and much like in the same way one cheers on an athlete, we can support them in this way.
One of the New Artist Spotlightโs strengths is managing to have and promote artists from all over the globe. Ukraine is no exception. In fact, we have several Ukrainian artists in the NAS, but I can only ever speak about one artist per week. Homeless Radio is a band from war-torn Kharkiv (please, make no jokes about the groupโs name – the dark irony is astounding). Homeless Radio has only one release so far, in the form of a four track EP: The Truth. If we canโt help in the form of fighting, we can certainly try to bring their spirits up by listening to their music. It is all we can do to support them. We are thinking of them as our hearts come together. I will not be going into their music this time, as it almost seems in bad taste to be talking about guitar riffs at a time like this. Just listen. That is all I ask. For their sake. It may not seem like much support, but in the words of the famous European supermarket chain, โEvery Little Helpsโ. Please raise your blue and yellow flags to Andrew Yampolskiy, Fedor Orlov, Ivan Trikoza and Ivan Orlov, who are all safe for now, but are in dire need of lifted spirits. Let us be their muscle, so their hearts can live on.
Things are changing day by day, so things could alter, get better or worse. This is how things are at the time of writing, and therefore might be different at the time of reading.
Slava Ukraini.
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