The Pop Corporation

HOW A POLITICAL JAPANESE ’60S HIT INFLUENCED THE WHOLE OF HIP HOP

Back in 1961, a young singer by the name of Kyu Sakamoto had a number one hit on his hands, Stateside. The song – a lilting ballad sung entirely in Japanese (thereby being one of a scant number of non-English sung hits in the US) – was called 上を向いて歩こう, or in English, ‘I Look Up…
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SLEAFORD MODS, EH?

So. Sleaford Mods, eh? They have found themselves in a situation. You’ve already read about it elsewhere. You have probably seen their updated stance on The Whole Thing, right? What to think? Well, a lot of the punks are really unhappy with them and expected them to have more spin. The centrists dads totally get…
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KACEY MUSGRAVES BACK KINDA

Kacey Musgraves last LP got a mixed response, even though we really liked huge chunks of it. Fact is, Kacey is a psychedelic breath of fresh air in a country scene that’s really bogged down in rootsiness at the moment. Obviously, rootsy business is stock-in-trade in the world of country – it always has been…
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SHYGIRL WITH THE THICC HOUSE

We’re very much about the R&B love of housey bangers thing at the moment, and a new fave is the new track from Shygirl with the wonderfully titled ‘thicc’. A tribute to everyone’s favourite cut – the thigh meat, if you will. Listen, if you’re still moping around to dour music in 2023, then you’re…
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JULIA HOLTER WITH NEW MUSIC

It’s not Julia Holter’s fault that all the toxic sadbois who have been in your DMs incessantly love her. She’s a cool songwriter and deserves her flowers. Well, she’s got a new track out called ‘Sun Girl’ and it has a real pretty video, made by animator and artist Tammy Nguyễn. She’s been away from…
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MOONRIIVR WITH THAT OLD TIMEY MUSIC

Not all music has to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes, you just want the simple pleasure of that good time music that’s as familiar as it is fun. So, to MOONRIIVR, with a song that is like an old country song, if it shared some bunkbeds with DIY indie. It’s called ‘Flowers on the Fire Escape’…
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WHICH GRAMMY NOMS DO YOU REALLY CARE ABOUT?

The 2024 Grammy nominations have been announced. Awards ceremonies suck, we know, we know. But honestly, more than ever, recent ceremonies gave seemed so wildly out of step with what people are listening to, and looking at this year’s Grammy nominations, we’re insert shrug emoji here. For starters – record of the year has the…
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ANNIE-CLAUDE DESCHÊNES SOUNDS LIKE YOU HOPE

With a name like Annie-Claude Deschênes and a track called ‘Menace Minimale’ on a label called Italians Do It Better, you’d hope she’d be putting out pumping, darkwave synthpop, wouldn’t you? Good thing that this is exactly what we’re looking at here. She’s a member of Duchess Says, and this we think, is her first…
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NEW FRANK OCEAN? / HEARD THAT BEFORE, MATE

Frank Ocean is not a reliable source. That’s not a criticism per se, but it is something of a fact given the amount of times he’s done things his own way, shied away from the churn of pop culture, and all the rest. We only mention that because you should at least be allowed to…
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SUPER SOUNDS OF THE SEVENTIES FROM SINKANE

Look, there’s no point pretending that the soul music released during the 1970s isn’t one of mankind’s greatest ever achievements. With that in mind, it’s not surprising that so many artists draw inspiration from that period. Sinkane’s new one – in tandem with Tru Osborne – is exactly that, and called ‘Everything Is Everything’ and…
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