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.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙞𝙧𝙙 𝙞𝙨 𝙂𝙤𝙣𝙚 – 𝙎𝙪𝙣 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙈𝙞𝙣𝙙

Charles considers a live worth living…

Over the months and years I seem to have forgotten about a very important aspect of music… Yes, I am actually going to be talking about music. You see, every week I go on about technical terms that most of you wouldn’t be able to understand; like “punch”, “oomph” and “POW”. But I must learn to realise that we can’t all be muso audiophiles like me (oh please, it’s a yoke). I speak of melody and harmony and how things fit together (another technical term). I speak of technique and musical judgement. I speak of recording quality and mixing knowledge. I speak of panning and even occasionally specific frequencies. I speak of reverb and delays and all sorts of other magical wonders that make a good thing better. I speak of the way a guitarist digs in to the guitar. I speak of how a trumpet will portray the saddest of moods within the breaths between the notes. I even pick up on the “mistakes” that MAKE the song; the perfection in imperfection. I go into how the artist has honed their sound, delving and diving into the depths of each individual note and made it as good as it can possibly be. I speak of sparkle and clarity. I speak of bass that vibrates so ferociously it makes my nose tickle. But all in all, I am listening intently. I am in the process of analysis. I am rarely taking a step back. Maybe even several steps back. You see, each release is a static recording. I am able to go back to lines I didn’t quite catch, or mentally zoom in on that crash cymbal choke and marvel at its harmonics. I can play it again and again, getting to know each vocal flick (another technical term) and drumstick drop (more technical terms, of course – when the drummer drops his stick, for those not so wordily endowed). It is the familiarity and unchanged sound that is warming and close to our hearts. It is this that makes a classic, a classic.

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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.

𝙏𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 – 𝙑𝙤𝙣 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙤𝙣

Charles falls into the groove.

Let’s play a drinking game. Those under the legal age, please leave the room and play with your toys. This is serious man stuff. No offence to the minors or the women. Actually, women are allowed if they think they’re man enough – lovely phrase. Right! Let’s begin. Every time I mention groove or anything groove related, you have to down a shot. Or at least, have a large gulp of your alcoholic beverage of choice. We’ll have none of that sipping lark, thank you very much. We are about to step into the groove. You should be on your fourth by now – this might get a little messy…

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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.

𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣‘ 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙚𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 – 𝙗𝙖𝙙.𝙧_4𝙩

Charles is looking forward…

We rounded off 2024 with No Pinks. Were you young enough to start 2025 with No Pants…? New Year can make you do the strangest things, so I hear… But I suppose, you’re as young as you feel, so the saying goes. How young are YOU feeling? I’m feeling sort of averagely young. Ya know. Not old, not young. I suppose my age might have something to do with that, what with it being somewhere in the middle… Take Facebook, for example (if we have to). Is it an old thing to you? Were you born with it? Did you grow up with it? Did it arrive when you became “an adult”? Have you only just started using it in recent years? And more to the point, are you STILL using it? If your answer to the last two was yes, you’re probably rather old. If you have yet to ever touch the thing, I commend you, you ancient being. You are still untainted by cheap garbage. Or you’re so young as to be proud of not needing nappies (diapers). The ancient beings will only just have revived the fond old habit; that is, if they can remember it at all… Lately, Facebook has decided to show me a plethora of certain posts. No, not HAL (A.I.). In fact it seems to be one of the only kinds of post on Facebook that contains a genuine photograph. Here’s how the post usually goes: “You may be old, but are you THIS old?”, complete with a photograph. So what is this photograph? A horse and cart? An untethered bicycle parked by a beautiful cottage? A man smoking a pipe? A manual sewing machine? A wartime ration book? A man wearing a waistcoat when it isn’t forced upon him? Nope nope nope. The prehistoric item is……… A CD player. I warned you it was face-palmy. Oh, I didn’t? Well, there you go. The thing is, apparently you are VERY old if you remember a CD player. Meaning that anyone older than 10 or 15 is apparently VERY old. There’s another similar post I saw whose photograph was of Windows XP. An operating system that was (rather surprisingly) used well into the 2010s in some places. So basically, if you’re into double figures, it’s official: you’re old. What wondrously upbeat information I bring you to ring in the new 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 𝘿𝙖𝙮 𝘼𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 – 𝘽𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙇𝙤𝙬𝙧𝙮

Charles talks about tomorrow…

There is something I have always found mildly fascinating, ever since I was young. I mean, even younger. It involves the passing of time, and the way we regiment said passing of time. A birthday, for example. It is a day for celebration. But we have decided this. It is not actually the actual day of one’s actual birth. It is to commemorate x-amount of years since one’s birth. But what is a year? We split life into years, yet this is a human invention. God did not place years on our table. Neither did God invent the table (but its simple perfection leads me to wonder). Sure, the seasons make the idea of years a little easier to digest and swallow, but what if we go further into months… Why 12? Why does January start in, well, January? And what about weeks and even days? Why is Sunday the so-called day of rest? I say “so-called” because on Sunday I had to do a full day’s work alongside constant power tools across the road that only stopped shortly before 7pm. Day of rest, my FOOT!! This fictional birthday I spoke of before, it is technically just another day. Just like New Year’s Day. It is technically just another day. With a “day” only being made official by the sun going up and down like a slow-motion yoyo.

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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.

𝙏𝙤𝙢 – 𝙆𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙠𝙞

Charles is just being friendly…

Last week was all about ballads. It was about how music makes you feel. I don’t quite mean HOW it makes you feel, but THAT it makes you feel. Dud music doesn’t make me feel. Songs about things I can’t relate to, do little for me. They don’t make me feel. The best music should make you feel, in some way or other. It could be that it makes you cry, it could be that it makes you glow, and it could be that it makes you tingle; up here, or down there. But if there’s none of that, there’s none of that. So there isn’t a great deal of point in listening. Which is the main problem I have with generic pop. It plays, I hear, and that’s about it. It’s as nutritious as a leaf of iceberg lettuce. Basically crunchy tap water without the sweetness of watermelon. I seem to have a thing for that cruddy song ‘Watermelon Sugar’… Anyway! I said last week how sadness is a bigger feeling than happiness. Hence the Blues. But the Blues isn’t just a genre of music; it’s a lifestyle. Well, for some it is, but I only really said that because it sounded cool in my head. What I really meant was, the Blues doesn’t really need to be in the style of Blues music. It’s about feeling blue. So in a way, any sad song is a Blues song. Which sounds ridiculous, but it’s kinda true if you think about it.

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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.

𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙏𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙪𝙚 (𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙩. 𝘿𝙧𝙚𝙬 𝙉𝙤𝙡𝙙) – 𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙗

Charles gives you three wishes…

You know that game where you pretend to rub the lamp, and a genie gives you three wishes? Ya know, hypothetically speaking, where people say the three things they most want or wish for? Well, what is the one thing that almost always comes up? And no, you can’t wish for more wishes. What is the wish that is wished the most? The one that comes up with pretty much every rub of this no doubt gleaming lamp? A Ferrari? An incalculable sum of money? Heroin without the side effects? Nope. I think you’ll find that the wish most wished, is…….. “Oh, I know. Cheaper train tickets!!!” – … Errrmm… No, not quite. Weirdo. The answer is…… “Oh, I know! Something that stops cows farting because that’s apparently bad for the environment!” – Riiiggghhht. No, you’re not really there. This person is insane. The answer is – no, don’t interrupt, you’ve had too many tries and they were ridiculous. The answer is, peace on Earth. Yep, that old chestnut. I am absolutely sure this is the most wished for thing when playing this completely pointless game. Pointless…? The wishes don’t come true, you see. You have been duped! It was all a lie. But why is it that so many wish for this? Well, the main reason is because Earth is such an unpeaceful place! But the other reason people wish for peace on Earth, is because people wish for peace on Earth. That is “what you do”. It is not because most people are saints. Like when someone asks how you are, and you reply “Fine, thanks. You?”… You quite possibly don’t actually wish to know the howabouts of this person (they’ll lie anyway), but it’s just what we do. I suppose one could call it manners, but I think it’s more automatic habit (manners).

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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.

𝙏𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 – 𝘼𝙧𝙣𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙤’𝙨 𝙇𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨, 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙠𝙤 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙠𝙚𝙨

Charles ch-ch-ch-ch-changes…

Let’s face it. Everything is changing. Perhaps everything has already changed. But then again, this would suggest that things have stopped changing, and that all is stagnant. This will never happen. Whether you like it or not, things are always changing. Sometimes for better. Other times, well, not so much. ’Tis zee vay of zee vorld. I have never quite understood the definition of the word “progress”. I used to think it meant improvement, but now I realise it is more just simple evolution. To progress. To move forward. Not necessarily brilliant, but ultimately vital. I can’t explain why, but it is seemingly and apparently necessary as a civilisation, I think. Right now, we have the dawn of A.I., poking and teasing us like impatient demanders. I won’t go into this because I cannot bring myself to. The biggest change before that was undoubtedly the internet. A truly world-changing phenomenon. I think the first of these “modern” phenomena was electricity. It changed the world. It changed everything. The next big wave of movement – admittedly more of a cultural or societal nature – was possibly the liberation of youth in the 60s. They had power and money, for the first time. They were not tired from war, for they had never experienced it. To a certain extent, this changed a lot of the world. Our way of thinking changed. Younger people were taken seriously. And others who used to have status and respect were relegated to the old folk’s home at the grand old age of 48.

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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.

𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨 – 𝙇𝙪𝙠𝙖𝙨 𝙆𝙞

Charles scatters cushions.

The scatter cushion. Why? I mean why do we call it this? I have nothing whatsoever against the humble cushion. But why must it be called a scatter cushion? I couldn’t suggest it were to differentiate between one to “scatter” (the very image!!) and one on which to sit. We have come a long way in chair design, and now have padded seats, thus, a cushion is no longer required for to soothe the aching bones of an anorexic bot like my very own. But okay, say I surrender to the term… “What were you up to today?” – “Oh, you know. Scattering cushions. The usual”. It’s just quite an absurd picture, to picture. Place cushions. Plonk cushions. Or even just plain old Cushions!! I mean, we don’t say a ‘sit chair’, a ‘wear jacket’ or a ‘cut knife’, do we? I don’t, anyway. And don’t get me started on the ‘pan-fried’ and ‘oven-baked’ tautologies – as if we have many other methods of frying or baking…! We do however say ‘juggling balls’. But this is to differentiate from any other kind of balls.

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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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