The Pop Corporation
WORDS ABOUT MUSIC + POP CULTURE
-
It really is hard to imagine the shape of pop and soul music without Barrett Strong. While he may not have been the household name that many of his peers were, where would popular music be without his hugely influential and soulful powerhouse that is ‘Money (That’s What I Want)’? There’s more too – he
-
Imagine for a second, you’re driving past Abbey Road, and you nearly hit a pedestrian on that famous crossing. Imagine some more, that the pedestrian in question is Paul McCartney. The car in question is a Prius, so it’s kinda funny that he nearly got offed by a green motor. Also, let’s go with the
-
We all need cool stuff to read. Finding it in the soup of the algorithm can be tricky, with a bunch of former broadsheet sorts going solo, and trying to flog subscription content on their mailers and whatnot. No harm, no foul – but these things tend to skew toward the po-faced and overly earnest.
-
Caroline Polacheck’s is an adventurous pop star, and that’s always a good thing. She’s recently hit out at lazy comparisons to Bjork and Kate Bush, preferring to make music under her own steam, which is fair enough. She’s got a big voice and likes to be mildly awkward, which we say as a compliment of
-
Hey! Do you like new music and, not just new music, but slightly difficult music that’s fun? Well, you should check outy Rob Mazurek’s Exploding Star Orchestra newbie, ‘Future Shaman’. Apply here if you like wonky jazz and post-rock. It’s discordant, good stuff. Mazurek is a composer/trumpeter and the Exploding Star Orchestra features Damon Locks
-
We like a popstar making bold choices, and Sam Smith has been doing exactly that lately. It doesn’t matter whether you like the tunes or not, we should absolutely support a commercial artist when they lean into the experimental and off-kilter. Did you see them on SNL, with Sharon Stone draping themselves all over the
-
It feels kinda shitty referring to a new artist as ‘Bjork’s daughter’, but needs must. Isadora Bjarkardottir Barney is her name, and she’s released her debut solo work as part of a comp showcasing Icelandic music. The comp is called ‘DRULLUMALL 4’ and Isadora’s track – ‘bergmál’ – is really good, you’ll be glad to
-
The mighty Pet Shop Boys are all set to share some previously unreleased songs in April. It’s all part of a new thing they’re doing and that new thing is a book called ‘Annually’. The 2023 edition of the yearly release (hence the name) will be a 64-page hardback affair, containing journals, photos from their
-
You can try and be as clever as you want, deep diving on this, that, and the other… but sometimes it’s just worth reminding yourself how great a band were. From Detroit, America’s greatest music city, Inner City was the brainchild of the great Kevin Saunderson and Paris Grey. Saunderson of course, was one of
-
If you’re a fan of vinyl and Daniel Johnston – good news! His debut ‘Songs of Pain’ is going to appear on record for the first time and you can get your hands on it some time in March. There’s probably some pre-orders knocking around if you have a look. Originally, ‘Songs of Pain’ was
STOP HOARDING TUNES
-
LISTEN TO KIDS PLAY SHE BLINDED ME WITH SCIENCE
If you’re not following Mystery Discs on YouTube, you’re denying yourself one of the most brilliant and unusual record collections on the planet. With the tagline ‘obscure records are fun’, you’ll find high school bands and amateur outfits performing shaky, gorgeous heartfelt music, Steely Dan covers, big jazz, wonkiness and loads of magic treasure that…
-
REVIEW // AVA ROCHA / NEKTAR
It’s poor form to liken a new artist to a legend straight off the bat, but there’s a wriggling, unescapable something about Ava Rocha that reminds us of Gal Costa. Gal, is of course, one of the most legendary artists to come out of Brazil and the Tropicalia movement, so no pressure Ava. However, while…
-
REVIEW // APHEX TWIN / BLACKBOX LIFE RECORDER
Aphex Twin, we’re happy to say, is at it again. Even though he’s not been especially prolific with sensible, mainstreamish releases, he’s been quite busy with a number of lung busting, eye frying shows around the world. Of course, there’s a been a slew of things released for the ultra-dedicated. Like what? Well, devotees will…
-
CITY POP // Hiroshi Nagai SOUND BURGER
Hiroshi Nagai is the man who you may have seen the work of on a number of City Pop releases – for the uninitiated, that’s the cool ’70s and ’80s Japanese pop music that’s impossibly sophisticated; a bit like Yacht Rock with a smidge of disco and jazz fusion. Nagai’s work is synonymous with Japanese…
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 