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.

𝘽𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙩 – 𝙎𝙢𝙤𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙡𝙞𝙣, 𝙀𝙡𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙈𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙙𝙮, 𝙈𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙎𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨

Charles struggles to drive home the point…

Getting around town is something that we do because we have to. Less so these days for obvious reasons, but inevitably we’ll get back into the swing of movement. If we can remember how it goes. Almost my complete and utter life at the moment is conducted at home. I barely leave the house. Everything I need is here, and I have no major reasons to really go anywhere. At the moment. I must stress this lack of motion being temporary because I have very much not always been like this. I used to have a normal job and have to go there daily. Like normal people. But things are different now. I sit, and sit some more. Not exactly healthy, I grant you. But it has its benefits. Call it bittersweet.

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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.

𝙈𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥𝙨 – 𝘼𝙧𝙣𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙤’𝙨 𝙇𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨

Charles has a birthday – of sorts – and so will blether on even longer than usual.

We all have a birthday. It is something we ALL have in common, bar none. But how many of you can boast two…? Aside from the Queen, of course… Would it surprise you to learn that I have two? Yes indeedy. Well okay, this isn’t exactly true. Today marks a rather special occasion. My 50th review! All right then: more of a landmark figure. But wait, there’s more. Due to a little break we all had from the internet at Christmas and New Year, this actually marks the one year anniversary of Connolly’s Corner, despite this not being number 52. And so lies the reason I have two birthdays. Okay, fine, I have one birthday. But you get my point. I cannot imagine how many words I’ve written, but certainly more than enough to fill the largest pamphlet ever known to man. ‘Pamphlet’ is, and will always be a very silly word indeed. “I’ve got to see the doctor about my pamphlet”, “Our special of the day is a delectable side of roast pamphlet”, “Two squirts of our patented spray is enough to get rid of the pamphlet growing on your shower curtain”, “The Impossible Case of Mr. Pamphlet”… And so you have seen the kind of nonsense with which I fill these reviews, week in, week out. Maybe a somewhat individual and possibly ridiculous way of writing about music, but nevertheless, to quote Sinatra, “I did it My Way”.

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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.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝘼𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 (𝘼𝙩𝙡𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙀𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙍𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙭) – 𝙆𝙚𝙡𝙚 𝙁𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝘼𝙩𝙡𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙀𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙝

Charles pulls the plug in order to…

Progress, is a noun that has a sense of the positive. It suggests “onward and upward”. Progress, is a word that has been bandied about for decades. Maybe even centuries. It was a buzz word long before “diversity”, “pro-active”, “woke”, and indeed “buzz word”. In this sense, we progress, right? We get better, no? Well, I feel the word’s meaning is usually more legend than reality. An illusion. I feel that “progress” is more a synonym for “change”. Supposedly, progress is for the better, but so often it doesn’t quite feel like this. Change, makes it rather more difficult to compare the old with the new, because it is simply different. So our moral-driven minds assume that change must be a good thing and that therefore “change” must be progress, right? Well, sometimes. But more often than not, it is not.

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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.

𝘼.𝙄. 𝙅𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙨 – 𝙆𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙠𝙞

Charles pretends to be intelligent…

I told myself I wouldn’t do this. I thought it would be unlikely that I ever write this piece. I have hinted at it in the past, I have mentioned it in passing in the odd article over the weeks and months, but I never thought I would cover it fully. However, as time goes on, I increasingly receive messages and comments strongly urging me to write about it. And my passion and emotion on the subject has become too strong to ignore. I will finally speak my thoughts on A.I. You asked for it! “A.I.” is very annoying to write. I don’t want to write A.I. without the dots, as it reminds me of Al Green, Al Di Meola and Al Jolson. Lowercase just makes it look like the sound you make when you stub your toe. Putting in the dots wreaks havoc on my obsession with punctuation. I need for a “full stop” to be a full stop, followed by a space, followed by a capital letter. Call it period pains. Because of this, from now on I will refer to A.I. as HAL. If you don’t know why, just go back 23 years.

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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.

𝘼 𝙇𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙊𝙙𝙙 – 𝘿𝙤𝙢 𝙋𝙞𝙥𝙚𝙧

Charles is feeling a little queer, as it were…

This may upset or offend some readers of faith. No particular faith. If you think you might be one of these people, it may be best to skip this one. Trigger warning over, now let’s commence.

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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 𝘼𝙧𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙚 𝙈𝙪𝙨𝙚 – 𝙐𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙖 𝙁𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙖, 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝘼𝙣𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚, 𝙋𝙚𝙩𝙚 𝙍𝙖𝙬𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚

Charles goes to infinity and beyond…

Things are not working. The system is broken. What was once a perfectly planned, sculpted landscape with each piece linking into place like a Da Vinci sketch, it is now fraying fast, and falling apart like a moth-ravaged wool rug. People understood the way the world worked. People knew how to live life. Governments governed and industries boomed. This was progress. The world was beautiful and forward-thinking, whilst never ceasing to enjoy the current era. The sun now bakes the land and forces entire populations to migrate and bustle shoulder to shoulder in a more coveted, cooler land. Cooler, for now. There is no sign of an end to war, and money rules more than ever before. Money used to be power, but now money is ultimate power. Whole industries are withering before our very eyes, and the times they are a-changin’. But the change is far too fast. It is not thought out. It is not considered. It is flung through the lawyers’ checklists and banged out like cheap mass-produced Chinese technology. And like the cheap tech, it doesn’t work. To force change so rapidly is to cause chaos and confusion. Economies are as erratic as modern weather, and people are not happy and not comfortable. We are all hot and bothered. So what can we do…?

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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.

𝘼𝙟𝙞 𝘼𝙟𝙞 – 𝙎𝙖𝙧𝙖 𝘽𝙖𝙮𝙖, 𝙂𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙙 𝙏𝙤𝙩𝙤

Charles spices it up a bit…

Spring has sprung! The daffodils are out in bloom. The air is full of fragrance. It is decidedly mild. All of this is at least how it is in London. I cannot speak for the snowier regions of the world, nor the desert climate of others. In London, the wind has tired from its usual bluster. Winter – though not a bitter one – seems too to have got bored and wandered off. It could of course greet us with a bite at any moment, but let’s hope not. Spring is such a hopeful season. A haze of new life lingers over the horizon in my view as I write. A fresh start. Think of New Year… We go from Winter to even colder Winter. It doesn’t really feel very new. It’s one of the many reasons why people get so depressed in early January – the new year feels suspiciously like the old year… Yet Spring, really does feel like a new-born beginning. How’s about we move New Year to March 20th? I’m sure there are some cultures/societies/nations/religions that do this. There seem to be so many New Years every year, which makes me feel much older. But I won’t speak about age because it’s boring. I want to speak about youth.

(more…)

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.

𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙊𝙣 𝙈𝙮 𝙊𝙬𝙣 (𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙩. 𝙅𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙖 𝙈𝙞𝙖) – 𝙅𝙖𝙣𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙚

The trail of the lonesome Charles…

This life. This time. This era. We’re all in this together, right? That’s the way of it, no? We help one another in order to be happy and to progress in the best possible way, yes? We all have the same views, thoughts and feelings, and are moving forward towards the same goal? Our governments support and help us in every way possible? Our police protect us? The world is so free of crime that they have little to do but help old ladies across the street? Our friends and family would never let us down? Our chosen lover is with us till the end? God is close at hand, guiding us every step of the way? The weather forecast is accurately predicted by scientists who really know their stuff? When the packet says “whitens teeth in 3 days”, it means “whitens teeth in 3 days”? Google Maps says the bus will be arriving in 12 minutes, so I had better allow around 12 minutes to get to the bus stop? We are one big happy family, smiling through every joyous day so kindly given by the givers of life? No need for looking over one’s shoulder, no need for protection, and no need for worry? Greed is a thing long forgotten, long in the past, as it was deemed simply unnecessary? That leaking sink in the kitchen: the reasonably priced plumber will sort that out in a matter of minutes? In the same way that if someone offers a helping hand, you can rely on said hand, right? I mean, RIGHT??

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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.

𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙗𝙚 – 𝘼𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙖 𝙍𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙞

Charles attempts to please the majority…

“You can’t please everyone”. How many times have we heard this? It has been said by all walks of life – a parent, teacher, close friend, accountant, lawyer, and just about anyone else who feels the need to provide some sort of unhelpful input. It seems that when you are in a predicament, the simple and seemingly innocent response is, “You can’t please everyone”. It is something automatic that people say. And I suppose in a way it’s utterly true. Factually correct. But still, it does not help in the slightest, and is not so much advice as the feeling of having advised. The feeling that they care about you, as their hand rests on your shoulder, before being carted off to the electric chair. What it really means is, it’s out of your hands and there’s nothing you can do. You’re completely and utterly screwed, whichever way you look at it. Wonderful. Just wonderful. You choose one option and someone isn’t happy. You do the other thing, and someone else isn’t happy. You’re damned if you do etc…. So, where does that leave us? You could hide under the duvet until it all goes away? Seems pretty planny, but it doesn’t, does it. Just go away… It sits there, festering. Twiddling its thumbs and tapping its foot, knowing that you will eventually need to come up for air. And there it will be, just as you left it, staring at you with eager eyes. So maybe you make a stand and become selfish? Please neither side and choose yourself instead? What’s best for YOU? To be all that YOU want to be. But that won’t work either.

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