
If you’ve been reading the music press this week, there was some alarm or peevish glee (depending on where you were doing your reading) that vinyl sales had dropped. A Billboard piece stated that vinyl sales dropped by 33%, which is not insignificant. That’s selling 34.9 million units, down to 23.3 million in 2024. Are…

At the country music awards, they didn’t nominate Beyonce for anything despite her all-conquering country LP and while many shrugged, many were irritated by the whole thing. The irritation came from all sides, but more importantly, so did the shrugs – apart from something for the shelf in the spare toilet or a sticker to…

There’s something about golden era rap that just loves a fancy action figure, to place on your shelves next to your collected essays from hip hop journalism, tchotchkes, rap comics and high-end record middles and the like. It’s very wholesome, honestly. Well, Doom’s ‘Mm… Food’ is getting a reissue for its anniversary on November 15th,…

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…

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…

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…

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…

There’s a difference between hearing a song that’s new to you and new music. Unless you’re actively seeking out new stuff like a massive nerd (hi there!) and tailoring the algorithm to give you the new good stuff, Spotify is generally quite bad when it comes to promoting new music from smaller acts with little…

Georgia has been making some great music over the past couple of years with loads of promise. It’s been R&Bish pop, but now, jjst before hitting the road with Kim Petras, there’s clearly one eye on the dancefloor. The track starts moodily before making way for some glorious doof doof action, and it’s very fun.…

Look, it’s fine that Beyonce is going country and anyone can do whatever they want. We don’t have to write about it though, because we’re just not that bothered. It might be great, it might be average – it’s just not that interesting, regardless of the endless ‘MOTHER!’ comments and people insisting on the re-use…

Hey! We have a new radio show out! It features music from all corners of the world, including something from the Fonteyn and Pat’s Soundhouse we’ve raved about recently, as well as the peerless Dina Ögon, and the new one from The Lemon Twigs. And there’s stuff from Lebanon, Turkey and more! Get stuck in!
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.
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