
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

L’Impératrice are brilliant and pretty much everything they do is that brand of irresistible, smoother than silk, French disco pop. It brings us great joy to say that the new song they’ve quietly put out is exactly that. Now, there’s not a proper video for it yet – only a lyric video – but it…

Recife is the hidden gem in Brazil’s musical heritage. While Rio and Salvador get all the critical praise, Pernambuco has a wealth of super interesting music, with shape-shifting acid folk, gonzo rock, and now we’re looking toward Amaro Freitas who manages to combine that rural and rugged sound with sophisticated metropolitan goodness to make for…

In more ‘what did you think was gonna happen?’ news, the fallout over SXSW and their ties to the US Army continues and, of course, with SXSW being held in Texas, the Texans are of course acting up. If you stick your head out of the window and keen your ear, you may be able…

Metronomy are back, gang! Now, we will be using the plural here because that’s how you talk about bands, but is Metronomy just Joe Mount really? We’re not wholly sure, so we’ll swerve the whole thing. More important is that there’s a new song to listen to called ‘Nice Town’ and it’s really good. They (?)…
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