The Pop Corporation

WORDS ABOUT MUSIC + POP CULTURE

  • THE STORY OF KING CURTIS

    To many, King Curtis is the emotional saxophone at the start of Withnail & I, as his take on ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’ drifts over the two unfortunate souls in ’60s London. To others, he’s the blistering sound that made Aretha’s ‘Respect’ pop so hard, as well as ‘Yakety Yak’ by The Coasters and…

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  • ELLIOTT SMITH’S TEENAGE BAND

    Elliott Smith has basically become something of an American Nick Drake – gone too soon and a voice for sensitive and introverted around the world’s bedrooms. Of course, there’s joy in both of their music and so much to love, but it’s the downer, depressed element that made both artists so enigmatic. And when you…

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  • MORE UNEARTHED STEELY DAN

    By now, you’re probably aware of the unearthed and lost track ‘The Second Arrangement‘ by Gaucho-era Steely Dan seeing the light of day. This new bit of news isn’t quite that level, but it’s still fun stuff! A performance of ‘Reelin’ In The Years’ from the Midnight Special has turned up online and finds the…

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  • CHECK OUT THE VEGAS SPHERE // PURE MADNESS

    Venues are every bit as interesting as the bands that play them, and there’s a new one over in Vegas which is psychedelically odd. It’s fun, even if a bit of a mind melter. Technically, it’s called the MSG Sphere (that’s Madison Square Garden, not the stuff you put in food) and it’s innards are…

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  • BOMBINO BACK WITH NEW TUAREG HOT SHIT

    You may not know Bombino, but listen to the song below and you’ll wish you did already. Bombino is a Nigerian artist who sings in Tamasheq and was the subject of the movie ‘Agadez, the Music and the Rebellion’. It’s heavy political music, but also joyful and psychedelic in places, and his music sprung out…

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  • IF THERE’S A FARAWAY LOOK IN YOUR BARISTA’S EYES, THIS IS WHY

    Listen, there’s been a lot of heartache in the service industry of late, and that’s because Taylor Swift tickets are nigh-on impossible to get hold of. Obviously, we haven’t tried because 1. We’re too cynical to enjoy her music 2. We’re too cynical to even join a Ticketmaster queue 99% of the time. This month,…

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  • NEW SAMPHA

    Sampha is back with new music and seeing as he’s one of the most interesting and unique voices in UK pop, that’s good news isn’t it? That’s rhetorical. Yes it is. This is his first single in six years, and it’s called ‘Spirit 2.0’. He’s not been lazy in the interim though – he’s been on…

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  • LIVE // ROISIN MURPHY // TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN

    It’s kind of annoying to refer to any musician by comparing them to someone else, but there’s this unavoidable thing with disco and dance music that makes you look at certain performers like they’re carrying the torch for the scene. Sure, there’s a lot of people who have employed house and whatnot into their music,…

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  • ELIZABETH FRASER GOES KOSMICHE

    Cocteau Twin Elizabeth Fraser has teamed up with Damon Reece who is Massive Attack’s drummer for a project called Sun’s Signature and there’s a new thing to lend your ear to. The track is called ‘Bluedusk’ and has been remixed by Lump. The band’s debut LP came out last year, but now, there’s an extended…

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  • KEIRON HEBDEN X WILLIAM TYLER

    Hey Four Tet fans! Keiran Hebden and William Tyler have released a new single called ‘Darkness, Darkness’ and we’re going to share the b-side from it because it’s a great piece of Hauntological Creepcore, and yes, we know saying things are ‘hauntological’ is incredibly fashionable right now. But it is. It sounds like something from…

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STOP HOARDING TUNES


  • ZOH AMBA’S SPIRITUAL JAZZ

    Jazz never died, but it did feel harder to find since major music publications effectively turned their back on it some time in the ’70s. Jazz is of course, in rude health and as disparate as it ever was. With that, we were super thrilled while listening to baritone sax’er Zoh Amba’s new one, which…

  • COOL ISLAND RECORDS BOOK

    Island Records is one of the most legendary record labels in the history of rock, pop, reggae and more. Especially iconic is the ‘Island pink’ years, where the records sported a gorgeous baby pink label and was home to some of the finest records ever cut on the lathe. With that, following first volume, there’s…

  • CHE NOIR WITH THE NU BOOM BAP

    It certainly seems there’s a quiet revival of boom bap rap in recent years, underlined obviously, by the all-conquering Doechii LP released last year. Of course, she’s not the only one putting a fresh twist on golden era hip hop, and now we look to the new one from prodigious talent Che Noir. Hailing from…

  • JEFF PARKER IVTET TINY DESK

    We wrote a very glowing review of the wonderful album by Tortoise cohort Jeff Parker and his IVtet, being one of the best jazz LPs we’ve bought in years. In case you missed, Parker and his band did a blissfully wonderful and super invigorating set for the always great NPR Tiny Desk. Watch it here.

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