
Just the other day, everyone was sharing their Spotify Wrapped graphics and having a giggle and all that, but things were about to get tremendously serious at Spotify HQ. This week, the streaming behemoth announced that they’d be sacking 17% of their staff. That’s around 1,500 people losing their pay just before Christmas. Pretty brutal.…

Kiss are no longer real people, and will be forever young as some imaginary thing. See, they’ve announced the ‘end of its physical existence’ because now, they’ll be digital avatars. They’ve copied ABBA obviously, because pop walks so rock can run. Anyway, it all feels a bit weird and this whole scenario is like when…

Kenya Grace apparently had a viral smash, but virality is something that passes us by so we’ll just have to accept what’s been said regarding all that. What we do know, however, is that Kenya’s new single ‘Paris’ is a slice of future pop that we like a whole bunch. Writing, producing and performing her…

Michael Head and The Red Elastic Band are bringing back the jangle, with Ciao Ciao Bambino! Recorded in West Kirby with Bill Ryder-Jones (him again!), Head says: “’Ciao Ciao Bambino’ came to me one night when I was thinking about the first words I ever heard. It was a song called ‘Ciao Ciao Bambino’ that my…

Writing pop music isn’t easy, despite what dopes might say. When you get a slice of baroque, folk-pop, you better not ignore it and we’re super into this new track from def.fo, ‘Autumn Leaves’. If you like some strings with your jangle, get on this. It’s a group that features Tom Powell (Michael Head and…

Now ambient music is back, the good folks over at Light In Attic Records have teamed up with Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed’s Archive custodians to give us a vinyl reissue Lou’s ‘Hudson River Wind Meditations’. It’s not been on record before, and as you’d expect, it’s a real fancy package indeed. Out January 12,…

Some songs, some albums are beatified by rock critics decade-on-decade, and sure, we should doff our cap to cultural impact and massive sales and all that stuff. But honestly, we’re allowed to just be irritated too. There’s loads of stuff that gets rammed down your craw so hard that the sheer ubiquity of the damned…

When you love a popstar, a rockstar, whoever, you hope that they feel the same way you feel about things. When you hear of a popstar you like, saying things contrary to your beliefs, it can tarnish the music. There’s separating the art from the artist, then there’s wanting to stop giving someone money because…

Hugely influential and inventive, Autechre are one of electronica’s elder statesmen (whether they like it or not). From goading government bills over ‘repetitive beats’ and forward thinking music for decades, it is always worth keeping an eye on what they’re doing. With that, they’ve just released 12 new live sets, and focusing on their fabulous…

Steve Albini is no longer with us, but his productions remain. And the last record he was working on was one with FACS, and you can hear some of the fruits of that labour right now. It’s a skuzzy, angular thing called ‘Wish Defense’ and there’ll be a new album of the same name out…

What is there to say about Quincy Jones that everyone hasn’t already said since his passing this weekend? What an extraordinary human and what a life! He produced ‘Thriller’, which is enough for any other mere mortal, but he worked for 75 glorious years, including 28 Grammies, collaborations with Sinatra, Ray Charles, helped shape ‘We…
THERE’S NO MONEY IN THIS GAME ANYMORE, BUT IF YOU WANT TO WRITE SOMETHING FOR THE POP CORPS, YOU ARE WELCOME TO GET IN TOUCH. HAPPY HUNTING.
POP CULTURE IS WORTH TALKING ABOUT.
CONTACT: HOWDYPOPCORPSATGMAILDOTCOM