
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…

Believe it or not, there’s still a war on drugs, despite drugs clearly being the victor. Fact is, music and taking drugs go hand-in-hand, whether you’re getting off your chops at a rave, bumping a key a gig, or rolling some fat ones while you dissolve into the sofa listening to John Martyn records. And…

Cleo Sol is quite possibly the best soul artist the UK has ever produced so it’s great to hear that she’s got a new LP on the bubbler. The album is called ‘Heaven’ and it’ll be out in just a few days, on September 15th. She put a little teaser online for those who need…

We already told you the ins-and-outs of the new deluxe version of Prince’s ‘Diamonds and Pearls’ edition, so we won’t repeat ourselves again. Interestingly though, there’s another previously unreleased recording to come from the project. This time, it’s a version of ‘Cream’ that shows off a new arrangement and is obviously excellent, because it’s Prince…

More new music from Portable Radio! The second single from the imminent ‘Counting To Three’ LP and this one is a Zombies-esque romp that should tickle your pickle no end. The video is a smart animation by the tremendous Nirshath Madhusanka who you can find more about here.
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