The Pop Corporation

THE RETURN OF TUNNG

Once upon a time, music retreated away from the bombast of Britpop and US rap-rock, and all over the place, more introspective bedroom producers were making tricky electronic music and singer-songwriters gravitated toward the acid-folk of the ’70s, focusing more on cottage industries and community. Tunng managed to straddle both worlds, with critics dubbing their…
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2ND GRADE’S POWER POP REVIVAL!

Look, most bands put a song out to let you know new things are coming, but not 2nd Grade. The power poppers from Philadelphia have chucked THREE whole songs at our ears and mercifully, they’re all really fun and filled with skuzzy pop hooks and jangly guitars. The revival of power pop is very welcome…
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AMBIENT LENNON IS SURPRISINGLY GREAT

Today is John Lennon’s birthday – he would have been 84 – and to celebrate this, we’ve been treated to something rather surprising. While a lot of repackaged music from musicians can feel a little exploitative at times, churning out old stuff without much new going on, that’s not the case with this latest Lennon…
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GULP ISSUE LAUNCH PARTY

The excellent GULP are having a party for the 8th instalment of their broadsheet counter-culture magazine, which features all the wonderful words, tidbits, diatribes and cool design we’ve come to expect from them now. The issue drops on Friday 11th October and you can get down in person at The New Cross in Manchester’s Northern…
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HAVE YOU HEARD OF NICE BISCUIT?

In another week, this would have been an album review – and maybe it still will – but sometimes you don’t want to read someone’s thoughts about what makes music work and how great a song is. Maybe you just want to listen to some tracks and make your own mind up? How are we…
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TIM & ERIC WITH NEW RECORD LABEL

If you know Tim Heidecker, he takes having a laugh pretty seriously and as well as being a fine comedian, writer, podcaster and musician, he’s also willing to put his money where his talented mouth is. Tim, along with Eric Wareheim and Dave Kneebone founded Abso Lutely Productions which gave us ‘Tim and Eric Awesome…
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LAUREN MAYBERRY ‘SOMETHING IN THE AIR’

You;l know Lauren Mayberry from the ace Chvrches, but she’s had some really cool solo stuff out and there’s a new one for you called ‘Something In The Air’, which is coming out ahead of the new LP ‘Vicious Creature’. The press release says the album is about “sexuality and empowerment from a profoundly personal…
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THE HORRORS ARE BACK, DOOM MERCHANTS

The Horrors are back with a new line-up and after some genuinely great neon coloured synthy bits, they’re back to their gothic roots with a new track called ‘The Silence That Remains’. Of course, there’ll be an album and tour too. You can find dates yourself, but the LP is called ‘Night Life’. So what’s this…
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ROBBIE WILLIAMS AS A MONKEY – LOOK

There’s a trailer to look at, which sees Robbie Williams as a monkey. Now, that’s not your average sentence to write, but that’s the score as Robbie has a new biopic coming out, and instead of getting someone to just play him straight, he’s gone for a dollop of fantasy, which admit it – is…
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PUNITIVE DAMAGE WITH THAT FUN HARDCORE

Good hardcore will have you sat in your pants at home, imagining running headlong into a crowd of people, limbs flailing around wildly and emerging from the pit with a tooth missing and wanting to go back for. Regardless of whether you’re the kind of person who does that or not, the new Punitive Damage…
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