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.

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.

𝙒𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝘼𝙬𝙖𝙮 – 𝙋𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙠 𝘼𝙝𝙡𝙢

Charles is standardising…

To quote It’s a Wonderful Life (as I often seem to), “I live in a shack in Potter’s Field and my wife ran away three years ago and took the kid”… This basically sums up my life. No, wait. That’s not true. It doesn’t at all. I have never lived in such a place (if it exists), I have never been married, and I don’t have any children. But the rest is true. But, there is no “rest”! Ah yes. True. Well, in that case I have absolutely nothing in common with the alternate life of Ernie Bishop, the cab driver. I can’t even drive! So where does this leave us? Where does this LEAD us? Well, it leads us to the beginning. My beginning. I really had a wonderful life!

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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.

𝙑𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝘽𝙚𝙚𝙨 (𝘼𝙩𝙡𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙀𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙍𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙭 𝙎𝙮𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙬𝙖𝙫𝙚) – 𝙆𝙚𝙡𝙚 𝙁𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝘼𝙩𝙡𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙀𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙝

Charles mixes things up a bit…

For a change, we will not be diving deeply into the subconscious and philosophy of this here writer. We will not be talking about flowers, life, death, breakups, language, meditation, hangovers, choice, weather, buckets, or any of a number of things on which I have touched most recently. We will instead be going straight into the world of music. Or more specifically, remaking music. Being an observant unsigned artist, and being surrounded by unsigned artists, I have noticed two things crop up again and again. One of which is collaboration (habitually called “collabs”). I have covered no less than 7 of these “collabs” over my months of musing. The idea can really work to great effect, as talents can be combined to build a bigger, better picture. When art spurs art, inspiration can take flight. The other thing these days that punctuates our playlists, is the remix. I have however been, shall we say, less forthcoming in advertising these works, and have covered – I believe – no more than 2. This could be conceived as unforgivable, particularly regarding how popular they are, and how frequently they are released. But this might not be the case. Art is by definition subjective. Art is Marmite – a joke only perhaps for the Britonians, and one at which we can chortle in private as the rest of the world raises an eyebrow or politely glosses over. I have a little bit to say about remixes, which may or may not be contentious. Ooh! Nothing like a bit of banter.

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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.

𝙒𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙄𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙨 – 𝙏𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙇𝙤𝙤𝙫

Charles is heard but not seen…

Am I an introvert, or do I just have English manners? Am I scared of the world and its things and its people, or do I just prefer to live within the boundaries of my own little world? One can limp along in life, doing little and getting by. Anyone is free to do so. The darkness of the world will attempt to grab you by the ankles whenever possible, though. To mould you into a “standardised” member of society. I would say it takes more courage, determination and guts to pull away from the natural tide and do one’s own thing. A person such as this may seem to hide and shy away from “the norm”, but really they are only ridding themselves of the mundane and quietly getting on with their own way of doing things. It may seem like they are threatened by the lions and sharks of the land and the sea, but in fact they are batting away the irritating flies of the world wide wet.

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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.

𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙢 𝙀𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙏𝙤 𝙎𝙣𝙤𝙬 – 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙮𝙖𝙣 𝙍𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙣, 𝙋𝙡𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙮

Charles reads you a sermon…

Every year I write a Christmas review. It has become a tradition, in keeping with the situation. Throughout my weekly musings I try hard not to repeat myself. To try to come up with new things to write about. I try hard not to repeat myself. The annual Christmas edition is no exception. I don’t want to rehash the same old theme every year, tradition or no tradition. I have spoken of the lights, the jingle and the tree. I have spoken of family. I have spoken of little elves, reindeer and the big man himself. I have quoted Dickens numerous times. I have quoted lines from It’s a Wonderful Life. But this year, I feel rather different. The music goes on. My gorgeous tree sits elegantly decorated and twinkling oh so prettily in the corner. I even went to a Christmas concert on Sunday evening. And yet I feel festive like it’s mid November. Strangely, I seem not alone. It appears that several others are also shchtruggling to get into the spirit of things this year. I really can’t explain 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.

𝙒𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 – 𝙈𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙮 𝙏𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙧𝙤𝙥, 𝙅.𝙃.𝙈

Charles considers the formative years…

When did time begin? Okay, let’s narrow that down a bit. When did YOUR time begin? More to the point, when did it start to matter? I was born in the 80s. As a young Calvin Harris once said, “It was acceptable in the 80s”. So I will assume I was generally accepted and I wasn’t a wretched outcast from day one. That came later (a-ho-ho). Cool! So there I was, all blob and no backbone in Orwell’s infamous favourite year. Prod my right shoulder and I fall to my left with a giggle. Prod my left shoulder and I fall to my right with a giggle. You get the picture. This could and almost certainly did go on for hours (minutes, in adult time). I was probably thinking about very little at the time, let’s face it. We’re all useless at that age. My first computer was a bloody expensive thing that did almost nothing. But thank you Daddy, for buying it for me. EYE was a bloody expensive thing that did almost nothing. And I’m sure I rarely showed any signs of yield. I had no purpose at all! Meaning of life? Hah! To eat and poo and giggle and dribble and injure myself. But I was far from being alone. I was cared for deeply by two gullible adults who seemed to think it would be worth it. This conception (as it were) is not uncommon. In fact, it is “the norm”. We were pretty much ALL in this situation at one time. And it comes back near the end when we’re senile and useless, with life becoming once again an amalgam of eating, pooing, giggling, dribbling and injuring oneself, being looked after, fed and wiped by the very people who followed in the natural chain of events. Swings and roundabouts, my dear! Depressing swings, and crippling roundabouts. But let’s not even think about the end, for there lies bad juju. Let us instead ponder on that beginning…

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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.

𝙒𝙚 𝙉𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙏𝙤 𝙏𝙖𝙡𝙠 – 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙠𝙤 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙠𝙚𝙨

Charles wishes to speak…

I used to be completely invisible. Not literally of course, as that would be impossible, not to mention quite cool. But there used to be very few people on this planet who had heard of me. In the old days, our goal was not the world. That was only for billionaire power junkies and Bond villains. We knew only a handful of people, and only a handful of people knew us. That was normal. But these days we are so naturally and casually connected with so many people all over the world. Just think about that for a sec. Weird, isn’t it. But also kinda neat. And unlike real life, you can cut them all off with the press of a button. No strings! Which is probably why the world is so beastly on the internet. In NOT being the type to cut people off and blank them (because it’s so darned easy), I instead use this international connection as a positive. So yes, I used to be invisible. Then I started to get a tiny little bit of attention with my music. Which was nice. Then that went a bit further. So what came next? Was I edging closer to billionaire-power-junkie? Nah. I’m not rich enough, and I don’t like the idea of having that much power. Sway sounds like a nice thing, but ultimate power? No thank you. So was I turning into a Bond villain, then? Nah. I’m allergic to cats and violence. So surely, I am going to take over the world musically? Hah!! I don’t think so. The thing is, I am now probably most known for my Corner. That and the producer/engineer stuff. While the fixey/mixey/producer side of me earns the pennies, the Corner gets a lot more attention. You see, people like stories, and I seem to be known these days as a storyteller.

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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 𝙄 𝙏𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙈𝙮 𝘽𝙤𝙨𝙨 – 𝙅𝙪𝙣𝙚 𝙃𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙

Charles is talking about quitting…

A job’s a job. How many times have we heard that? It’s both optimistic and pessimistic, but ultimately saying a whole load of nothing. A job. We all have one; or most of us anyway. Some of you un/lucky ones are retired. Some of you are still students. But the majority is kept busy most of the time in a means of making money, in order to live. Seems simple enough. Some are content in their work, or simply don’t mind it; a job’s a job. I am one of the lucky ones (I imagine a rarity) in being able to earn my living from doing what I am best at, and doing what I love. Producing and mixing music. This doesn’t mean I don’t work hard; I just don’t resent it. Each and every project is to me a worthwhile endeavour. Of course, I could do with a few more clients (preferably of the disgustingly rich variety), but things are fine, and my life is generally not a bad one. Still though: “Come to me, my pretties!” Go on. I’ll make you shine. And no, I am not also a part-time window cleaner. And you – to be fair – are not a window. But I feel I can still see through most of you. You’re unhappy in your work, aren’t you. You can tell me. I won’t let on. Pour yourself into Uncle Charlie’s ears. Let it all out. Most of you accept it and get on with it. But given the chance you’d flee the scene if there weren’t a camera by the exit door and a great sense of guilt in doing so. Your feeling of elation and freedom would last a matter of minutes before you come to your senses and realise that you still need to put food on the table. And your partner might not feel the same elation: “You’ve done WHAT?? That is the most selfish unthought-out thing you’ve ever done! Go back there right now and grovel to Mr. Potato Head for your job back, and pray that he lets you off lightly. If he has you back at all. I wouldn’t if I were him” – yes, these fictitious lovers fondly call the boss, Mr. Potato Head.

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