The Pop Corporation
WORDS ABOUT MUSIC + POP CULTURE
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When you’re singing along to a song at the top of your lungs, sometimes you don’t know what you’re singing. Sometimes you can be singing the saddest lyrics imaginable, but you’ve not realised because you’re half-cut on a bottle of rum and some floor-drugs, and it’s Friday night. Ever danced to ‘Gimme Gimme Gimme’ by
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We’re not arsed if you already knew about this, because some of us didn’t. Below is a video of Nico (Velvet Underground/Warhol) playing in Preston, and that’s exciting. Nico’s time with the Velvets is well documented, but ever the Bohemian, she moved from romantic partner to country and was generally a nomad going where the
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It really is hard to imagine the shape of pop and soul music without Barrett Strong. While he may not have been the household name that many of his peers were, where would popular music be without his hugely influential and soulful powerhouse that is ‘Money (That’s What I Want)’? There’s more too – he
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Imagine for a second, you’re driving past Abbey Road, and you nearly hit a pedestrian on that famous crossing. Imagine some more, that the pedestrian in question is Paul McCartney. The car in question is a Prius, so it’s kinda funny that he nearly got offed by a green motor. Also, let’s go with the
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We all need cool stuff to read. Finding it in the soup of the algorithm can be tricky, with a bunch of former broadsheet sorts going solo, and trying to flog subscription content on their mailers and whatnot. No harm, no foul – but these things tend to skew toward the po-faced and overly earnest.
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Caroline Polacheck’s is an adventurous pop star, and that’s always a good thing. She’s recently hit out at lazy comparisons to Bjork and Kate Bush, preferring to make music under her own steam, which is fair enough. She’s got a big voice and likes to be mildly awkward, which we say as a compliment of
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Hey! Do you like new music and, not just new music, but slightly difficult music that’s fun? Well, you should check outy Rob Mazurek’s Exploding Star Orchestra newbie, ‘Future Shaman’. Apply here if you like wonky jazz and post-rock. It’s discordant, good stuff. Mazurek is a composer/trumpeter and the Exploding Star Orchestra features Damon Locks
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We like a popstar making bold choices, and Sam Smith has been doing exactly that lately. It doesn’t matter whether you like the tunes or not, we should absolutely support a commercial artist when they lean into the experimental and off-kilter. Did you see them on SNL, with Sharon Stone draping themselves all over the
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It feels kinda shitty referring to a new artist as ‘Bjork’s daughter’, but needs must. Isadora Bjarkardottir Barney is her name, and she’s released her debut solo work as part of a comp showcasing Icelandic music. The comp is called ‘DRULLUMALL 4’ and Isadora’s track – ‘bergmál’ – is really good, you’ll be glad to
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The mighty Pet Shop Boys are all set to share some previously unreleased songs in April. It’s all part of a new thing they’re doing and that new thing is a book called ‘Annually’. The 2023 edition of the yearly release (hence the name) will be a 64-page hardback affair, containing journals, photos from their
STOP HOARDING TUNES
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BRIGITTE CALLS ME INDUSTRY PLANT?
Look, no-one likes to besmirch anyone’s hard work, but when a band has a stratospheric rise and a bunch of massive support gigs with next to no information on them and their rise, in 2024, people are going to get suspicious. So, just like those awful podcasts that hur-de-hur-hur and say “look man, we’re just…
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JIMMY SOMMERVILLE / THE PEOPLE’S CHAMP
Anyone who knows anything about Jimmy Sommerville knows that he’s The People’s Champ. Always on the right side of history, and just so happens to be the writer of one of the most vital and important songs in pop history – ‘Smalltown Boy’. The song has found itself in a sticky place by people acting…
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REVIEW / KENDRICK LAMAR / GNX
After the absolutely breathtaking spectacle and culture event of the Kendrick/Drake feud, King Kenny wasn’t quite done. We knew he was planning a Super Bowl Halftime show, which honestly, isn’t likely to be half as good as his Pop Out show back in June where he invited half of Los Angeles on stage with him…
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REVIEW / JEFF PARKER / THE WAY OUT OF EASY
Look, if you’re the kind of bozo that turns their nose up at jazz, look away now. Jeff Parker is a serious musician who likes to play. Now, you might be thinking of overtly worthy music that is meant to challenge and stimulate and all that – and while Parker is no slouch, there is…
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