Connolly’s Corner

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.

𝙁𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 – 𝙋𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙋𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣

Charles finds significance in retrospect.

Occasionally I mention mainstream artists in my reviews. Sometimes for comparison, sometimes because they often simply can’t be avoided – here’s looking at you, Beatles. When sifting through new releases, we are unlikely to stumble across a new Beatles album, unfortunately – not counting the 2021 Let It Be mix of a few weeks back. It will be the usual huge artists of the last 10 or 20 years. Coldplay’s ‘Music of the Spheres’ (universally deemed mediocre by the press), Ed Sheeran’s ‘=‘ (said to be dated and very unexceptional indeed), and Adele’s latest single, ‘Easy On Me’ (another masterpiece from the mastress – well okay, if you say so). But – if it hadn’t been for the pummelling of pricey advertising – we maybe didn’t expect a brand new album by one of the old greats: ABBA.

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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.

𝙁𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙩 – 𝘿𝙤𝙢 𝙋𝙞𝙥𝙚𝙧 (𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙩. 𝘾𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙨 𝙍𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚)

Charles is all at sea…

Last week, I somewhat misjudged things. I didn’t do anything wrong or bad, I just simply made an error of judgement. Call it a misunderstanding. I wrote an entire mini-episode of the TV sitcom, Cheers. I thought it was a safe bet, and that perhaps 80% of my readers would know the show. It turns out it is more like 30%, including people from America, Canada and Britain. Which amazed me. I thought it was possibly the most popular TV comedy after Friends. Evidently I was wrong. What amazed me more however, was certain people completely misunderstanding. HUGELY. Three people thought I had simply copied and pasted the script of an episode. Two of those three said they remembered the episode!! And then there was one chap who thought I had actually been given the opportunity to write a new episode of Cheers, and that I had decided to show the whole script in a review of a song. Yep, that sounds totally plausible…! The nice thing about all this, is that it shows I evidently wrote it realistically. The sad thing is, some people evidently don’t read properly. Due to popular demand (I assume), I will NOT be writing a whole episode of another TV show most of you have never seen. I put the “NOT” in uppercase for the skim-readers who might have thought I meant the complete opposite.

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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.

𝙄’𝙙 𝙍𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝘽𝙚 𝘿𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙁𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙚 – 𝙮𝙖

Charles wonders if decrypting the enigma is a wise choice…

Life is a big old thing. Or moreover, the world is a big old thing. A world chock full of billions of beings and trillions of things. We’re not put here to understand every single one of them. Even if equipped with the best of brains, it would be quite literally impossible. Just not enough time, and not enough interest to do so – not to mention the diverse cognitive ability to undertake such a task. It would hardly be a doddle or a walk in the park. The simplest things can baffle me, but I simply and naturally learn to accept it. I urge you not to be a pedant or an irritating little blighter when reading and possibly commenting on this article. Chances are, you are cleverer than I, and that you should be proud of this knowledge. Quietly proud. Allow me to be simple and unknowledgeable. Permit me to be contentedly lost in a world of people and things.

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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.

𝙄 𝘿𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙚 – 𝙃𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙍𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙤

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 world’s 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.

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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.

𝙄 𝘿𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙆𝙣𝙤𝙬 – 𝙉𝙤𝙖 𝙂𝙞𝙡

Charles opens up, writes an honest review, and tells no lie.

As I have shed my filthy years of youth and grown less immature, I have noticed one thing dying and one thing growing. I speak not of hair and warts, but of lies and truth. Very few of us will have led a completely sin-free life. A young person might rarely see the wrong in telling a lie – or not telling the whole truth – but will often only see the benefits. There can be benefits! But is it therefore RIGHT…? Young people might not really care if it is RIGHT or not. But as I grow less young, I care more and more about honesty.

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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.

𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 – 𝙆𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙠𝙞

Charles finally has his Europe in the Summertime…

Who knew he’d talk about his holiday?? Quite impossible. Surely not! Well, surely. Predictability, with a twist.

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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.

𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙊𝙪𝙩 – 𝘼𝙡𝙘𝙤𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙘

Charles has just the one…

Temptation is… Well, what IS temptation? Something that lures. Something too good to resist. Something that sits on your shoulder refusing to allow you to forget. But is this a bad thing? That’s what’s interesting. Temptation tends to err towards the negative. There is usually the feeling of “I really shouldn’t, but…”. Like when you’ve already had two slices of chocolate cake, but now there’s only one slice left… It would be a shame to waste it… And wouldn’t it be more satisfying for that plate to be rid of remnants…? And so, like a wild animal, you pounce and devour. Crumbs a-plenty! Face like a used pig pen. And the plate has relinquished its duty to hold and present. Do you now feel the purest satisfaction? Do you now feel replete? Not really. You feel guilt, and you have a stomach ache. That final slice wouldn’t have had to go to waste. You could have had it the next day. And now you WISH you had had it the next day. But it’s too late. The deed is done. At least you have learnt not to do this silly thing ever again. At least you know now to be abstemious, should this predicament arise in the future…

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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.

𝙃𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮 𝙉𝙤𝙬 (𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙩. 𝙅𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙍𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙣) – 𝙅𝙪𝙣𝙚 𝙃𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙

Charles socks it to you with a smile…

The life of an artist can be a trying one. Oh, let’s face it, the life of a person can be a trying one. There is always so much to do. So much to think about. So much to worry about. So much to push for. So much to strive for. And so much to bring you down. So let’s have breakfast and look at the news. Bad, worse, absolutely bloody terrible. It’s exhaustingly negative, and all true. This is not how I wanted to start my day. I have a lot to do! Ah, now here’s something. It’s “lighthearted” and jovial. “Dolce & Gabbana launches luxury perfume for dogs”. And I’m sad to say that this was not made up. This is a genuine article headline in The Times today (Monday – when I write these things). Riiiiight. So that’s all good. Paper to one side, methinks. I mean, if it isn’t catastrophically dreadful and deeply depressing, it’s absolutely downright moronic. Coffee. That’s a good thing. Sip sip sip. Noyce. But I have heard that it can be bad for the heart. Hmm… Well, I’ll put that on my list of things to mildly concern me and look into later. As I start my day, I realise it’s Monday. Well, I don’t realise; I KNOW. Monday has that big invisible clanging bell hanging over it as soon as the wakey-wakey alarm does its thang. Bastard Monday. The best and worst thing Bob Geldof ever did was to make us all come together in agreement, in not liking Mondays. I don’t even have to tell you why.

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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.

𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙮 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 – 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣

In ignorance, Charles has a heavy heart…

A lot of bad stuff is going on in the world. Always. Even at the best of times, there is always bad stuff. Bad people, bad things, bad decisions. Even nature itself can be bad. It’s enough to flip that smile for a while. Each page turn of the paper; or scroll of your preferred news outlet can often lower the soul, despite it often being so disconnected from our own little world. So why not ignore it? Why not cocoon oneself within one’s own blinkered existence? Why not, indeed! Well, because we need this information. More than ever, these days we crave the latest goings-on. It has almost become “cool” to know exactly what is happening everywhere in the world, the split second it happens. But seemingly not in all ways. In many ways we stay within the comfortable confines of what we know and what we are happy not to know.

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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.

𝙃𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙄𝙣 – 𝙁𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙀𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩

Charles fishes for compliments…

Today, I’m going to be talking about sport. Which may come as a surprise from someone who neither plays nor enjoys it in the slightest, save the odd game of badminton on a balmy sunny summer’s day. But since we don’t get many of them in London, even those feeble serves are slim. I am not going to talk about something so common as football or tennis (Happy Centenary, Wimbledon), but rather something altogether less taxing. In fact, it involves little movement at all. Most would even struggle to bring themselves to call it a sport. And no, it’s not golf. Golf would maybe seem positively exhausting compared to this. It could be considered a team sport, though it is quite often and maybe usually achieved solo. And when I say solo, I mean there is no human opponent. But this does not mean victory is easy. In fact, it can be pretty brutal, usually resulting in multiple deaths…! Strangely enough, the sport is very often accompanied by a dozen bottles of beer. I know, this is really starting to sound peculiar. What is this drunken violence?? It involves a great deal of sitting, and very often in the rain. Suddenly it sounds rather less crazed and rather more stupid. The player has a long slender stick (more violence?), but much of the time said stick rests alone and remains untouched by human hands. From the stick’s narrowest point, a string dangles downward (as only a thing can dangle). It is kept taut by a weight at the end. This is starting to sound less like a weapon and more like an ancient mathematical instrument for measuring earthquakes. But earthquakes are difficult to measure in the water. Oh yes, did I not mention? This thread dangles below the surface of the water. It still sounds rather scientific. But what with the beer and the Kangol hat, it all starts to look like a bit of a practical joke. Oh, did I not mention the sun hat? But of COURSE! What else are you meant to wear whilst sitting in the pouring rain?

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