The Pop Corporation
WORDS ABOUT MUSIC + POP CULTURE
-
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…
-
Daniel Johnston’s ‘Artistic Vice’ LP is going to be reissued and it’ll come with some new – or rather, previously unreleased – music attached to it as well, which is cool for fans! The redo will be out on October 18th, and it’s not just a case of one or two alternative versions of songs…
-
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…
-
We haven’t heard a mix as original as this in quite a while. Glitchy electronics, free jazz, soundscapes and loads more. You don’t need us to wax lyrical about this. Press play if you like cool new things.
-
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…
-
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…
STOP HOARDING TUNES
-
LOU REED AMBIENT VINYL
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,…
-
GREAT SONGS THAT ARE JUST ANNOYING / PART1
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…
-
GOD BLESS YOU, SHANE MACGOWAN
If there’s one thing no-one can ever accuse Shane MacGowan of, it’s a boring life. Excessive, sure, but on his own terms – MacGowan may be most famous for a Christmas song, but the real heads know that there’s so much more to him than the ‘Fairytale of New York’. Big Shane was born in…
-
SIMON REYNOLDS WRITES ABOUT THE FUTURE
Writer and pop-culture fiend Simon Reynolds is releasing a new book. He’s a clever so-and-so, so this is good news. He’s looked at retro culture and dance music in the past, so marrying the two (of a fashion), this time, he’s looking backward to look forward. The book is called ‘Futuromania: Electronic Dreams, Desiring Machines…
Search for a Topic
Categories
- 10 SONGS WITH
- BEGINNER GUIDE
- CHECK THE HARD DRIVE
- COOL STUFF
- HERE'S A COOL SONG
- MIXES
- MOVIES
- NEW TUNES
- NEWS
- NOT MUSIC
- OPINION
- REAPPRAISAL CORNER
- REVIEWS
- WE FORGOT TO TAG THIS
Posted Recently
Submissions
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.
CHAT
POP CULTURE IS WORTH TALKING ABOUT.
CONTACT: HOWDYPOPCORPSATGMAILDOTCOM
The Pop Corporation 