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.
๐๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ (๐พ๐๐๐ง๐ก๐๐จ ๐พ๐ค๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ค๐ก๐ก๐ฎ ๐๐๐ข๐๐ญ) - ๐พ๐๐๐ง๐ก๐๐จ ๐พ๐ค๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ค๐ก๐ก๐ฎ, ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐จ
Charles resolves the new with egotism (of a kind)โฆ
A fresh start to a fresh year. It is unsealed and the vacuum is broken. Decaying as we speak. But let us not think of decay with a ticking clock. The year is long, and - in the words of The Carpenters - โWeโve only just begunโ. It seems so out of fashion these days to make new year resolutions, partly because we are so well trained at thinking in this way throughout the year, that a brand new year suggests we simply continue as we have been. We are simply infallible and frankly a bit perfect these days. Well, arenโt we? Not really, no. But take for example, health. Health seems to be such a major point of interest (and obsession) these days. Gone are the days of โgiving up smokingโ for new year. This particular resolution used to continue for at least a decade until you would eventually just stop with these broken promises; give up giving up. You knew it would never happen. But nowadays itโs all so different. The majority of us doesnโt smoke and has a balanced diet - or is at least somewhat conscious of what one consumes, and the โcancer sticksโ stopped long ago. We are oh-so aware of our mental state and general wellbeing throughout the year, that a new year has little goodness to bring. Could you GET any gooder? If one were to habitually achieve 100% on a regular test, how could one improve? 101% is impossible. Maybe improve your handwriting? Itโs thin pickings, reallyโฆ The problem is that weโre all just so bloody perfect these days!! Weโre all so kind and caring. All so helpful. All so humble. All so self-effacing. Could THIS be the problemโฆ? It very much COULD be. Is this not maybe the opportunity to try to be a little more selfish? Maybe not selfish, but to be proud of oneself? To show the world how good YOU are, rather than to praise others? Just for a change, how about a bit of โme-timeโ? I think itโs wise. Youโve spent the entire year making others feel good, being helpful, kind and considerate. Do NOT stop this! But donโt forget about yourself. Sometimes being selfish can be a good thing.
The UK supermarket chain, Sainsburyโs, has a range of healthy foods called โBe Good To Yourselfโ - theyโve got the idea. Vanity in small doses can be such a morale booster, and if what youโve got to offer is that good, it benefits everyone. Win-win! Pride is different to arrogance. Making someone aware of what you have made, is different to bragging and smothering their faces with it day-in, day-out. Well in the last few days, it was brought to my attention that my latest release was seemingly not known to a lot of you. Almost certainly my fault. I have a tendency of putting the emphasis on the art, and not on the promotion. I am afraid of going too far, so I naturally donโt go nearly far enough. I donโt like annoying people. Pitching. Pestering. Poking. Call it what you will. Itโs just not me. And I am aware that to make it in this music world, one MUST do this. Oh sigh of sighs. WELLโฆ With hesitation and maybe regret (and a small dose of smug pride), here I am, talking about myself. With this in mind, I guide your eyes towards a little known thing from September of 2021โฆ
I think Iโm right in saying that most of you absolutely love and adore โPantiesโ by NAS artist Skinny Dippers (Ryan Gross). In fact, I reviewed it early on in my Corner, with very high praise indeed. It is an indie pop classic and undoubtedly one of the best songs on the New Artist Spotlight - not that we ever rank or judge artists (ahem!). I canโt stand it when Hollywood remakes classic films (โmoviesโ for the Americans, โmoving picturesโ or โtalkiesโ for the centenarians). Why remake something that is flawless and universally praised? West Side Story does not need to be remade. But here we are. They apparently wanted to modernise it. The original is set in the 50s in New York. The brand new Spielberg production is set in the 50s in New York. Nice modern touch, there. With the idea of remaking an old film, I always used to wonder why they didnโt remake something that flopped and make it good, rather than taking something perfect and making it less perfect. Or hereโs an idea - make something new and original!! I know, I know. Crazy suggestion. With all that being said, what did I do? I took a perfect song and remade it. โYou hypocritical bastardโ. I know. Absurd. Ridiculous. Both a cad and a bounder. How can you possibly take me seriously about anything NOW?? Well, did you ever? I do hope not. The main reason I decided to write about this release of mine right now, is to coincide with Ryanโs achievement of hitting the Number 1 stop on NAS Top 20 Chart this week. Bearing in mind that โPantiesโ was not only released more than 15 months ago, but that it is still - not for long - his only release to date! Skinny Dippers has many scheduled releases coming this year - I say no more! Basically, Ryan did brilliantly, and I wanted to jump on the bandwagon of โPantiesโ. This will be the first and last time I talk about or advertise my own releases in my Corner. The bandwagon of panties - what an image!
Will he ever get on with this damned ego-trip of his? Okay, okay. While it is true that I remade the song, I didnโt want to make a โdoomp-tick doomp-tickโ remix but neither did I just want it to be the same but not as good. I wanted to make something truly different, whilst still retaining the greatness of the original. Although Ryan sent me all the stems (separate audio tracks), I decided only to use the vocals and then clad it with my own music. This is why I call it a remake as opposed to a remix (despite the title). Oh, and speaking of titles, I had to call it โRemixโ because a certain distributor that shall remain anonymous, forced it upon me. They also completely screwed up EVERYTHING about the release. Just EVERYthing. Actually, no. It shall NOT remain anonymous. It was distributed by RouteNote. A friendly word of warning: if you are planning on doing a remix or collaboration (or at least having the release labelled as more than one artist), DO NOT use RouteNote. I am not alone in losing my mind over their incompetence and ineptitude. Long live Distrokid! (they are excellent). Now thatโs out of the way, we move on to greener pastures. I wonโt go into detail about the song, because as with all music, it is best listened to, rather than reading about. But I will say that it is somewhat orchestral in parts, and also pretty heavy rock at other times. There is also some slow cool stuff going on. Slow, cool stuff - the writer lives on! Basically, it is a mishmash of genres and styles all lumped into one song. Because why not. To my ears, it works, and is not a cacophonous disaster. You can be the judge of that. It was released on the anniversary of the original, and so there was a bit of a rush โonโ. I managed to do the entire piece from first idea to final mix, in 24 hours. Which was nice.
Another โresolutionโ for me this year is to finish and release more music. I have SO many pieces close to being finished, and I just MUST. Last year was frankly rather pathetic in terms of prolificacy, and I intend to change that this year. In 2021 I did however start my career in mixing for other artists, and my mixing and production skills are still very much available to anyone interested. Yes, thatโs a plug. Ha! (but seriously, get in touch if you need/would like a little โCC Magicโ [as it has come to be known] sprinkled โon yoโ assโ - as they say).
Self-help, my DONKEY! This is pure ego.
Listen to both versions of ๐๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ on the ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐น๐น๐โ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ Spotify playlist HERE!
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