Welcome all to ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐น๐น๐โ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ, 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 ๐๐๐ฌ ๐ผ๐ง๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ฅ๐ค๐ฉ๐ก๐๐๐๐ฉ playlists.
๐๐ช๐ง๐๐คฬ๐ฃ - ๐๐ก ๐๐ง๐ค๐ฎ๐๐๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ ๐ ๐ค๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐
Charles speaks but one languageโฆ
Andiamo! Despite my blood being decidedly foreign (not meaning I am ridden with germs), I am English. I mean, I was born in England, and have been here all my life. That makes me English, at least in the modern way of viewing things. Right? Well my foreign ancestry takes me back to two other places in the world. My native heritage lies in Italy and Ireland. Or Ireland and Italy, so as not to offend. I believe I am still roughly half English, but it may be less. I am not about to pay a rather large fee for someone to analyse my blood to find out. I donโt care enough. I am who I am, and that is fine with me. England is my love, and so is the English language. But I also feel a huge warmth and fondness for pretty much anything to do with Italy. I also quite like Guinness, when the time is right. And U2. When the time is right. But predominantly it is England that wins my heart. Paddy's Day is universally known and celebrated. On Saturday it was St. George's Day, otherwise known as England Day. Did you know? Would you have known if Google hadn't told you? โEnglandโ and โEnglishโ are pretty much seen as dirty words here in London. I canโt think why. It saddens me. Everyone should be proud of their own nation. Almost everyone. Ooh! Contention! Joking, of course.
You all know by now that I like words and I like language. I like to use language to describe exactly what I mean, and I like to have fun with it. Fluency is vital in this regard. It is because of this that I am almost entirely monolingual. If I canโt express myself and be myself, then I would rather be mute. โWell shut up then!โ - as if thatโs ever going to happenโฆ No, no. I will keep on spouting my thoughts and ramblings until I am forced to stop. But it will only ever be in English. My roots may be in Italy, but I can barely speak a word of Italian. I can speak a smattering of French, but nothing useful. I donโt know a jot of Spanish. Not even simple phrases like โยฟDรณnde estรก la estaciรณn mรกs cercana?โ (I had to look it up), because itโs not often I need to know the whereabouts of the nearest station in a Spanish speaking countryโฆ To me, language is not about โgetting byโ, it is about communication, flow, comprehension, charm, form, balance, elegance, knowledge, education and wit. To wit? To WOO! You see? Thatโs just the kind of nonsense I like in language. As for Irishโฆ Well, what IS the top of the morning, in fact? The night? Or is it reversed and referring to the afternoon? Or perhaps middle-morn? Who knows. I can speak it, but I canโt FEEL it. Jokes aside, Gaelic baffles me. Canโt speak a word. It has the sound of Irish, but after just a few moments one realises one hasnโt understood a word. At least I THINK it was Gaelicโฆ Jokes, jokes and more jokes. We must remember to laugh. But yes, I am very much NOT a natural linguist, despite being a user of language. I cannot just PICK UP a language like I might pick an instrument I have never played before. Okay, anyone can physically PICK UP an instrument. Thatโs not quite what I mean. One needs to pick it up in order to attempt to play it. I AM a natural musician, so this comes easily to me. Speaking foreign languages however, is another thing entirely. People often say music and language are very much linked, and that an arty soul can usually flow from language to language with little hardship. I disagree. Words, maybe. But a whole new SET of words, oh no. Itโs like plonking me in a chemistry class. I just donโt understand. Or perhaps talking to me about computer coding. I simply have no idea.
Aside from politeness, I donโt see much point in knowing โHello, how are you?โ. They will reply that they are fine, and that will be that. I cannot go any further. Pointless. Not me at all. I look stupid and boring. Maybe you all think Iโm stupid and boring, but I donโt want to FEEL stupid and boring. Anyway. The great thing about music is that no matter how alien the sound, we can listen and interpret-et-et it. Our minds donโt spasm and spit back โthe number you have dialled has not been recognised, please try again laterโ. The music is simply THERE. Almost visually, at least for me. And so, when I come across a piece of music in a foreign language, although I am intrigued as to what the singer is singing about, I realise that half the time I donโt listen to the words even in English. So I tend to just think of the voice as being another instrument. A thoroughly organic and expressive instrument. Which it is. The greatest instrument in the world, in fact. And one that cannot be bought! Let us descend all the way to Argentina. One of many lands where Spanish is king.
Argentina, you say? But surely they speak Argentinian. Well they do. In the same way that North Americans speak "American". Speaking of North America, it is one of the major exporters of great music, alongside Britain and Canada. But lately there have been some heavy competitors. The Philippines for example, but most notably, Argentina. And THIS is why we are here today. It should be bloody hot as we are slowly coming into summer, but of course they have backwards seasons. The good old Southern Humphisphere and all that. I meet up with someone by the name of Jorge Pendiente. He refuses to show his face. He is rather peculiar and quiet, yet confident and standoffish. He gives little away about his personality. Boy with a toy? Bloke with a smoke? Chap with a cap? Dude with a snood? Guy with a tie? Gent with a tent? Bro with a moโ? Man with a vanโฆ? Whoever he is, he hiding behind something. Iโll go with man with a van. Or, un hombre con una furgรณn. And with the whisk of a cape, he is gone. We barely even had time to say โHola, ยฟcรณmo estรกs?โ! This person insists on being the star of the show, yet never has the decency to stick around! Such arrogance, in my opinion. I guess his band will have to continue without him. I gather they are however very much used to this. Enter, El Proyecto de Jorge Pendiente.
It is maybe because of this permanent active role as the understudy, that the band has become the most incredibly talented bunch of musicians. The only quartet in the world with 3 members. Jorge doesnโt even bother to show up to rehearsals anymore, and frankly he is not missed. I donโt know why they let him take all credit. Despicable behaviour, really. Anyway! El Proyecto de Jorge Pendiente is a stunningly original trio (letโs called it that), full of enthusiasm and excitement. Their latest release is a brand new EP called Tiempos Eclรฉcticos, translating as Eclectic Times. This is just about the perfect name for such an assortment of goodies. It is full of rock, prog, funk, hip-hop (sort of) and even reggae - all in just 6 songs! Furgรณn (Van) was my personal pick of the day. Due to what Iโve said earlier, I will not be going into the lyrics, because I canโt. But my WORD (as it were), I donโt need the words. The music is simply phenomenal! Even without the words, there is a good dollop of humour, that to me is slightly reminiscent of the 60s/70s Brazilian band, Os Mutantes (listen to their track Top Top, for an example). Back to El Proyecto dJP, led by singer and guitarist Lucas Pellegrini, we have Federico Busse on bass, and Matรญas Lombardo on drums and vocals. And WHAT a drummer!!! The amount of times recently that I have been blown away by drummers of bands in the New Artist Spotlight. Such a thrill! The whole song is impeccably mixed to perfectly compliment the immense power of these three musicians. As I often say, I donโt think there is a great deal of point in going into the music here, because my humble words simply cannot do it justice. No oneโs can. That is the power of music. It has to be heard to be believed. It has to be heard to be felt. Music is a little like food in that respect. Our ears are like our tastebuds. All I can do is recommend a restaurant. The rest is up to you. But having begun this thrilling train ride, believe me, you wonโt want to get off.
The last thing youโll be asking is โยฟDรณnde estรก la estaciรณn mรกs cercana?โ
Listen to ๐๐ช๐ง๐๐คฬ๐ฃ on the ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐น๐น๐โ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ Spotify playlist HERE!
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