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.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙄𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙 – 𝙑𝙞𝙭 𝟐𝟎

Charles Connolly is unwell…

Let’s see how this goes. Like Jeffrey Bernard, I am currently not very well. Nothing terrible. I’m not dying, or anything, but it was all rather sudden. On Sunday, I was carrying on with a mix/production for a client. All was relatively normal throughout the day. Lunch was late but hearty. The music continued its journey through my mind with every bite. I was “in the zone”, and feeling perfectly normal. Or as close to normal as a thing like me can be. As you can probably tell from that last line, I’m not exactly feeling “wordy”. Words are NOT flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup. They are instead missing the cup entirely or occasionally sticking to the brim. It is more like constipated drizzle than endless rain. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, I was feeling normal whilst immersed in music. Noyce. In my element, one could say. But then towards the evening, I coughed. Now, coughing is not particularly a sign of anything, in fact we do it all the time. Particularly we asthmatics. The word asthma reminds me of Jack Lemmon in The Odd Couple when he is attempting to clear his sinuses. Thma. Thma thma thMAA! If you have no idea what in God’s name I’m talking about, do watch the film – it’s worth it. Ugh, I really am like a meandering tangent today. So, I coughed. It was different though. I felt it in the centre of my chest. It banged like a distorted timpani drum. Instantly I knew this was not normal and that I might be starting to get ill. Oh bugger. I am never ill. I am almost never anywhere I could catch anything (i.e. outside). Maybe it was just one isolated oomphy cough. A “man’s cough”. But no. It happened again. I continued with my mixing and arranging and whatever else I do most days. But over the following hour or so, I started to feel dirty. Dirty on the inside. You know those satisfying before and after cleaning videos? This was the before. Then as the early evening became later, my head started to get all stuffy and bunged up. You know that feeling all too well. We all do. I just so rarely GET this! The lower back started to ache and I became fragile. This must be what it’s like to be old. It gives us a glimpse of the wonderful days ahead. Bloody awful.

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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.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙢𝙖𝙣’𝙨 𝙇𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 – 𝘿𝙤𝙢 𝙋𝙞𝙥𝙚𝙧

Charles plays a word game…

Justice. It’s a funny thing. We say it’s not revenge. We say it’s not. We say things like “They can’t get away with this. It’s just not right”. And we’re right in saying this. If wrong has been committed, the wrongdoer should go back in time and undo their wrong. But since we don’t yet have time machines, we have to deal with it another way. Punishment by beating…? No no no. We are a civilised society. Or so I am told. Ask them politely not to do it again? “Say you promise”… Unlikely to work. So prison then. But what if their crime is so much worse than, say, stealing a car, or even high level fraud? Say it’s something like… MURDER!! Well, it’s the chair for you. At least in some states. But in Britain, we have no such punishment. Prison for theft, prison for murder. Just simply more time. In fact, in Britain the last execution was 60 years ago next year. Now THAT’S a cheery thought! Who says I don’t bring you joy. Let’s go back to the “good old days” of the 19th Century and further…

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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.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙖𝙢𝙚 – 𝙇𝙪𝙣𝙖𝙧 𝙋𝙡𝙚𝙭𝙪𝙨

Charles plays a game…

This weekly thing of mine. You all witness it, but only in its finished form. None of you ever sees the process. It’s possible that many of you barely register there being a process of any kind. A bit like how my father never imagined Beatles songs actually being crafted and put together in the studio by his heroes playing instruments, manually and laboriously, take after take; rather that the songs simply came to exist. I don’t just tap the “make review” button, then tap the “post” button. If only. But “if only”? Would I really like that? Where’s the fun in that? Sure, it would certainly give me a lot more time to work, and not keep artists/clients waiting (I’m a producer/make-things-sound-gooderer, just in case you wondered), and it certainly would be nice not to have that persistent weekly pressure on my shoulders… But then again, isn’t this all part of what has turned it into a “thing”; like a PROPER thing? My little Corner has apparently become something special. Which makes me rather proud, I must admit. However, I see the column differently to you. For me it’s a weekly challenge, and one that I relish. It’s not an obstacle or a chore to be completed. The fun is in the process, but the outcome is just as important. But fun doesn’t mean lack of effort; hell no. The effort is what makes it enjoyable, both in the giving and the receiving. Basically, much like Solitaire, it’s a game I play by myself. By the way, did you spot all 11 card games in last week’s article (12 if you include Tarot)? That in itself was a game you probably weren’t even aware was being played!

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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.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙨 – 𝙒𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙋𝙞𝙣𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙋𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙩𝙨

Charles gifts a gift by means of a gift…

Friday saw the release of a new Ed Sheeran album. Never mind.

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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.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙔𝙤𝙪 – 𝙅𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙧 𝘽𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨

Charles is your dealer…

Sometimes you look back at things you’ve done and wonder how you managed. Sometimes it was a doddle to you. Other times it nearly killed you. But either way, you managed. The songs I wrote years ago were definitely more towards the former. The flatpack IKEA desk I built last week would definitely be more towards the latter. Sometimes you look back at things you’ve done, and you cringe. The face crunches up in repulsion. That song I wrote called ‘Library of Love’, for example… Sometimes you do things for a very specific reason, that seemed particularly important at the time. Sometimes things are simply forgotten. A moment in the past that apparently happened, but it either seems so insignificant that your brain hasn’t seen or realised any worth in holding on to that memory, or that it conjures deep, dark memories that you would rather not think about. This is how we deal.

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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.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙭𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 – 𝙗𝙞𝙜𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙙𝙗𝙚𝙣

Charles theorises…

What is music? “Wait, wait, wait a sec… You’re actually going to talk about music??” – I know. You’d think I’d be sick of music by now. But no, I ain’t the blasphemous kind. “But you NEVER talk about music in your intros.” – Yes, I know, I usually write about something like ”How to overcome the pressures of the world”, or “What came first, the chicken or the duck?”, or “Have you noticed the increasing presence of the hip flask lately?”… But this time I thought I’d go all out and speak about music. It is, after all, the time and the place. So. Back to my initial question… What IS music? This is something about which people will argue forever. But I’m not going to go into avant-garde nonsense that in my eyes (ears) is simply not worth bothering with. I am talking about REAL music. Ya know, instruments and all that. Something that doesn’t make one scratch one’s head, and something that one actually enjoys, as opposed to reluctantly putting oneself through, for the sake of being kind to the “artist” or in an attempt to broaden one’s horizons. One’s horizon is probably quite big enough, and does not need broadening. So you’ve got your instruments, be them analog or electronic. You’ve got yourself a singer. Bravo! That’s basically done, right? Well, you’ll need a place and a means to record. Okay then, CHECK! Got all of the above. Hit record, we’re ready! “Okay guys, what’s the name of the song?”, the engineer says through the studio’s intercom.

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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.

𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 – 𝙀𝙙 𝘾𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙤

Charles contemplates time and its association with the stigma of age.

Youth is everything. Youth is the very essence of life. Youth is vital. But it is the ever-diminishing tight boundaries of its definition that concern me. I am all for praising the young and their talents, but why should someone aged 25 be made to feel middle-aged? Are they destined to depart this Earth at the age of 50? People only live longer these days, so that can’t be right. Despite this embiggened life, our “youth” continues to truncate. Surely it would only be better to live longer if we can have more of the good bits? Not to say adults of wise and experienced maturity are having a terrible time, but it is simply different. Almost ALL emphasis seems to be on youth and youth only, in this modern era. The world is tackling racism and sexism at an enormous and rather astounding pace, but ageism is rampant and continues to grow with every year. I simply do not understand. Experience is in my opinion the greatest asset, and is by definition the one thing the young can almost never have. Age is also the ONLY thing we all have in common – we start young, we grow old. I will leave you to ponder that thought and mull it over.

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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.

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙇𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘼𝙩? (𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙅. 𝙉𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙡 𝙍𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙭) – 𝘿𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙣 𝙈𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣, 𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙅. 𝙉𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙡

Charles bangs his head for fun…

Antidisestablishmentarianism is a word that appears in few dictionaries these days, simply due to its rare usage. I cannot think why. Could it be because it takes half an hour to pronounce, and half a day to write? It is still arguably the longest word in the english language. Yes, arguably – don’t start up in the comments. So is it just its length that stops people including it in their day-to-day vocal spiel? Probably not. It is probably because it has a stupid meaning. One can be FOR the establishment. One can be AGAINST the establishment. But this word sums up being against being against the establishment. Not a typo. Meaning FOR the establishment. And we’re right back where we started. Take coffee, for example. There are people who like coffee (the correct ones), and there are people who don’t like coffee (the silly ones). And then there are the people who don’t NOT like coffee. Who in God’s name invented this irritating and confusing double negative?? Speaking of God, this lengthy pretentious word originally stems from the Church of England, being the establishment. But just as you were all starting to moan and groan about this being another piece about words, you are now moaning and groaning further in thinking it is another piece about religion. Well, I am here to put your mind at ease. It is about neither. The point is, anyone who uses “antidisestablishmentarianism” is evidently someone who is against things for the sake of being against things, while trying to look cool. Bringing us to punks. A modern take on the original renegades. But not the rather amusing punks of the 70s, or the bullies of the 60s disguised as Hell’s Angels, but in fact a different variety. The crazy mixed up kids of the early 90s. Anti-establishment? Antidisestablishment? They were anti everything! But also couldn’t really care enough to make a solid point about anything. Basically, it was an excuse to have a lot of fun. To enjoy being young and seemingly invincible – as all young people should feel. Though this had been going on underground since around 1988, it took a few years for the scene to become a known culture. I bring you, London 1992.

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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.

𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙏𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙈𝙚 – 𝙍𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝘾𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙡 & 𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙣 𝙈𝙘𝙂𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙣

Charles dons his mortarboard and begins the class. “Settle down, children”…

This week I have moistly – it has been raining in London – been listening Jacob Collier. Many of you may not even have heard of this chap. He is not quite yet 27 years old, and already has a total of 5 Grammys (Grammys, not Grannies – that would be even more unlikely), breaking all previous records of all kinds. Not to mention MAKING records of all kinds. To say he is a virtuoso is really actually putting him down. I believe him to be the most talented musical artist since possibly Stravinsky or even Beethoven, and he is very much a genius. I don’t mean genius in the sense of a footballer scoring a goal, for that is slightly less than what I would call genius. In fact, I very rarely use the word. Paul McCartney is another musical genius. But Mr. Collier goes beyond this. McCartney has a gift. Collier has an incredible mind. If an informed man/woman/person/thing were to have a brain the size of a house, Jacob’s brain would be the size of the street. Or even the entire borough. His musical talents are seemingly quite literally unlimited. It is almost like he has the answer before you have even posed the question! His music knows NO bounds. No bounds at ALL! There is one problem, however. We, the general public are not on his level, or even close to it. We are barely on his horizon. We NEED boundaries. We need something we can understand and grasp. There needs to be a certain amount of familiarity (for most), or even predictability. There is something so satisfying about knowing where “the one” is. There is something so gratifying about knowing that the big old chorus is going to come nnnNOW. Jacob does not however make horrible dissonant disjointed “music”. He makes stunning MUSIC – no quotation marks. But it will only be for certain people, hence despite all the countless awards, he has never entered the Top 40 charts for any single or album. So! Where on Earth is CC going with this? Well. We have learnt that in order to make music that will appeal to the masses, it has to be not TOO dissimilar to music we know and love. But there is no point whatsoever in regurgitating the same old stuff, year after year (although this is exactly what most “artists’ seem to do these days). The question is this: How does one make music more interesting?

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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.

𝙔𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙊𝙠 (𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙩. 𝙍𝙮𝙖𝙣 𝙍𝙤𝙣𝙠𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙮) – 𝙋𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙇𝙖𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣

Charles is getting on with it…

What is comfort? Is it cushions and ice cream? Or how about an evening with the lads? Maybe it’s an idyllic day in the countryside? Could it be that you just like to sit secluded in your car, listening to the best of The Carpenters? Well, comfort can be all these things and more. But there is one thing these all have in common, They are short-lived. It’s not a way of life. You know when someone asks “How are you?”, “How’s it going?”, “How’s life?”, “How’s it hanging?”, “You all right?”, “What’s happening (man)?”, “You good?”, or “What a gwan?”? You habitually and automatically reply something along the lines of Fine, Good, Okay, All right, Alright, Can’t complain, Not too bad, Could be worse, Surviving, You know how it is, Muddling through, Mustn’t grumble, Getting on with it, and so forth. On the surface, these are all pretty positive replies. But the underlying feeling is stagnancy or worse. I’ve always wondered about the expression “Not too bad”. It’s meant to be positive, but if you think about it, it’s overwhelmingly negative. “Things are bad, but not TOO bad”…! Anyway. To be fair, one main reason for an answer like this, is to cut things short and be modest. After all, they only asked out of politeness. They didn’t want a genuine reply! The French have it perfectly: “Ça va?” – “Oui, ça va?” – “Alors”. That’s “How are you?” – “Yes, how are you?” – “So”. They don’t even bother to answer the question, It’s just a case of getting through the mandatory chit-chat as quickly and efficiently as possible.

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