Charles Connolly

Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, 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 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝙗𝙮 𝙢𝙮 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚 – 𝙀𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙅𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨

Charles looks forward…

Due to unforeseen circumstances, I have heavily edited this article before publication.

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, 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 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙙’𝙨 𝙎𝙤𝙣𝙜 (𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙩. 𝙎𝙘𝙤𝙩𝙩 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙬) – 𝙀𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙮

Charles keeps it in the family…

In a world of constant change, this time of year is one of standing still. I mean, we are probably frantically moving around like lunatics more so than any other time of year, but the time itself is pretty much unchanging. It is a time of tradition, and a time of family. A time of doing what we do, and in a way that we know how to do it. “It’s what we’ve always done”, springs to mind. Which is a far cry from every other side of life these days. Everything seems unknown now. The future looks more unknown than ever before. And so, December brings a vital grounding; a bond with our past. It truly is a festive month. Easter is a nice meal and a brief few hours of relaxation and chocolate stuffing, but Christmas is far more than just one day. December is a dark month full of light. Or full of LIGHTS, I should say. They twinkle in that fond way. The way they always used to twinkle. Even those blinding cold white LED lights of a few years ago have been replaced with a warmer hue; something that evokes the festive times we remember. Basically, as the modern world keeps getting more modern, there is kickback. We don’t all want it. And as those “good old days” seep from Technicolor into sepia, we crave it more. We want that feeling of “It’s what we’ve always done”.

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, 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 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝙃𝙤𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝘼𝙣𝙭𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙮 & 𝘿𝙚𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙎𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙚 – 𝙆𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙠𝙞

Charles is off the scale…

What is the ultimate test? A driving test? An IQ test? Joining Mensa? The Sunday Times Cryptic Crossword? That riddle you were once told by a schoolteacher whose only goal was to baffle and impress with wisdom from The Little Book of Brain? That very riddle that still haunts you throughout the months, years and decades to follow…? Well, all these could be considered the ultimate test, depending on how high/far you’re willing to go. If you think about it, we’re tested all the time. With every choice you take, with every move you make (I’ll be watching you), you are always being tested. Despite not being remotely religious, I believe the ultimate test to be life itself. There is no manual, we are all different, and there is no right or wrong way of doing it. BUT…!! There is always a feeling of what is better or what is worse (if you aren’t a complete psychopath). There is a general way of doing life, to which most of us adhere. It is tried and tested. But with every situation, each individual will act or react differently. Some love a gamble, while others fear even the idea of gambling. Some will stride into debt with the knowledge that they now have everything they want, while others will steer clear of that dreaded word, “debt”, making do with what they have. Some will think that half a second is long enough for a biscuit dunk in their beloved cup of tea, while others might not care if it’s half a second or an entire minute; they will never dunk a biscuit and will only drink coffee. These are the things we must consider in life, and judge for ourselves.

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, 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 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝙎𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙏𝙤 𝘼𝙧𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙧 – 𝘽𝙧𝙮𝙖𝙣 𝘾𝙤𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧

Charles heals from hurt…

‘Autotelic’ is not a word that comes up much in the average casual conversation. Or at least mine. Yours might very well be regularly punctuated with such a word. But with my personal simplistic conversing, the word is rarely to enter. In fact, I might say it has NEVER even popped by with so much as a “remember me?”… But I think it’s about time we started talking about it. Firstly, its meaning. ‘Autotelic’ is usually referred to from an artistic standpoint. It means to make something for one’s own satisfaction. We have Greece to thank for the word; autos meaning self, and telos meaning goal. But while one could argue that ANYthing we do is autotelic, this is not quite right. If one is doing something for money, then the money is the reason. The DOING should be the reason if it is to be autotelic. Sometimes it might be both, of course; but unfortunately this is rarely the case. This is because most don’t have the privilege of having their dream job. A dream job is when someone spends their working life doing exactly what they love doing, with the bonus of being paid for it. I say “bonus”, but of course money is an absolute necessity in order to survive, and therefore not to be frowned upon.

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, 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 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝙍𝙪𝙣𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 – 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙢

Charles loves to love love…

Let’s face it, I can’t hide the fact that I’ve been a tad down in the dumps lately. And because of this, it might have brought down the mood these articles over the past few weeks. I can’t help that, and I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it shows how honest and genuine these things are. But… You (the reader) might be more in the mood for something to bring you out of a similar slump, rather than have something to agree with and nod to. And so, here it is. Love. Love is the solver of all. Love is the only drug worth bothering with. Love changes everything. Love is what changes your mind. Love is what keeps you going. Love is… Ach, I just thought… This is really going to bring down the mood for those of you who haven’t found “the one”… But not to worry. Firstly, it’ll give you something to look forward to. Secondly, there is more to love than your significant other. Or as some of you might say: INsignificant other. There is the love of a parent or two. There is the love of one’s child. There is the love of a grandparent. A sister, perhaps? There is the love of a pet. There is the love of your work and your passions. There is the love of life itself… I feel very sorry for those of you who might have none of those. Those who just bled tears on your lap, please don’t; the label says dry-clean only. Besides, I can’t make everybody happy with my writing…

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, 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 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝙋𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙞𝙙 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙩 – 𝘼𝙢𝙖𝙪𝙧𝙮 𝙇𝙖𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝘽𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙚𝙧

Charles snaps the best…

Those of you who never read my articles (which is fine) but for some reason pretend you do (which is not fine), make this one the one you actually read. But then again, those who don’t read them won’t read this, so that was pointless even to write. Moving on! Okay. So this review probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise to many of you. But I have a LOT to say. Before we get into the month of Christmas, it seems like a good time to look at the year that has little more than a twelfth left. Dwelling on gloom isn’t the best idea. Worldly speaking, it has certainly been an eventful year, what with one thing and another. There has of course been the usual tranche of celebrity deaths and ones closer to home too – but we said we wouldn’t be dwelling on the negative side of things. Let us look at the best of what has happened this year. Umm… Er… Okay, let’s change that thought. Let’s turn our attention to music. Yeah, that might be more uplifting. How’s about we look at the best albums of the year…? Yes!! What a glorious feast of fun that will be! Ah, I’m already drooling over the prospect of such a musing.

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, 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 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝙒𝙊𝙍𝙆 – 𝙏𝙤𝙙𝙙 & 𝙆𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣

Charles toils…

I’ve been listening to quite a lot of Motown records lately. That is, in between yet more plays of Amaury Laurent Bernier’s masterpiece (I hope you have all been enjoying it too – air-guitaring to ‘Innit ?’). All this Motown, though, and it always brings me back to the same song. ‘Work’. “What is it good for? Absolutely NOTHING!!”… Ah sorry, my mistake. That song’s called ‘War’, not ‘Work’. Oh, and while we’re on the subject of getting the words wrong, that fabulous early Motown record, ‘My Girl’ (you all know it); my girlfriend always sang that chorus as ‘Maggots’. “Talkin’ ‘bout maah-ggots. MAGGOTS! Ooh-ew-ew-ew!”… It’s enough to bring more than a smile to my face. But back to ‘Work’. Sorry: ‘War’. The thing is, having been involved in few wars in my time, the switcheroo of war into work makes it more potent in a way. Because we all work. We all slave away at whatever it is that we do. And there’s that feeling of “What are we DOING??” – thank you, Lois from Malcolm in the Middle. What IS it good for? Absolutely nothing? Well, I believe it is good for two things (mainly). One (you guessed it): money. Two: a sense of purpose. It keeps us busy and gives us something to do. But more importantly it makes us feel like we’ve earnt the good times. And I like that. There is however one vital flaw in this system… In doing all this work all the time, we barely have any time for those “good times”. It is indeed the law of the sod. But at least all that spondulicks is piling up in the account, right? Nah; the taxman will see to that. And so we go back to that sense of purpose. And that roof over our head. It pays the bills, and is therefore necessary.

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, 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 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘽𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙨 – 𝙊𝙜𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙩, 𝘼𝙡𝙮𝙨𝙨𝙖 𝙍𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙃𝙪𝙣𝙩, 𝙎𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙨 & 𝙎𝙢𝙤𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙡𝙞𝙣

Charles blooms and realises flower power…

As the world gets increasingly machine-driven and automatic, one must occasionally “peace-out” and remind oneself of how it all started. In nature. Before a time when man realised that nature was a force to be reckoned with, and that – feeling the challenge – man would do its utmost to conquer and overthrow it. Luckily however, nature is unstoppable. The phrase “let nature take its course” conjures winding twine and vine grappling everything in its path, finding the shortest route to the finish line. Nothing will get in the way of this slender rope. I have recently finished watching the latest David Attenborough series: The Green Planet. Having adored almost everything he and his team have produced in the last 25 years, I was very much looking forward to this most recent wonder-series. For anyone unfamiliar with Attenborough (is there anyone?), he makes the natural world absolutely captivating and awe-inspiring to anyone who hasn’t the slightest inclination towards that kind of thing. Simply put, the target audience is everyone in the world. Attenborough really is Mother Nature’s Son. He has seemingly covered almost every existing living creature known to man – including some that he and his team have discovered for the first time. We have swum through seas and oceans. We have trekked through deserts and dunes. We have been scorched by the sun and drenched by the rain. We have travelled every corner of the globe (if the globe has corners). So what left was there to talk about…? Was there anything still uncovered…? Well it turned out there was. Plants.

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, 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 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙢𝙖𝙨, 𝘿𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝘽𝙚 𝙁𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙 – 𝙛𝙖́𝙗𝙟𝙖́𝙣𝙞 (𝙎𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙛𝙛𝙮 𝙎𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙨)

Traditionally, Charles is safe…

Christmas comes but once a year,

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, 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 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝙃𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙨 (𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙩. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙀𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚) [𝙏𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙏𝙬𝙤] – 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙮𝙖𝙣 𝙍𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙣

Charles leaves his onions at the door…

And here we are again. Same place; different year. Right now, the papers are full of predictions for 2023. Not to mention ways to stay fit and healthy, and how to burn off the festive excess. We enjoyed the Christmas season and have the stomach to prove it. But the predictions thing is more interesting to me. The idea of guessing what is going to happen in the coming 12 months, is seemingly mandatory these days. And those days too. It is habitual for the press to predictably churn out the same unpredictable predictions, when each year they have one thing in common. They just don’t know. Did we guess a few years ago that a pandemic was going to change absolutely everything? Did we guess last year that the Queen was going to die? Did we guess that Ukraine would be thrown into war by the only living “human” we are all universally allowed to hate – without fear that we are committing a hate crime? Did we guess that Argentina would win the World Cup? Did we guess that England wouldn’t? Well, maybe that one. We always do well, but never quite well enough. But so you see, we just don’t know.

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