
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

Is Spotify great for music listeners? Obviously it is. It has a lot of great music on it and is incredibly convenient for anyone with a phone, a console, a laptop, a tablet… the advent of being able to make your own playlists pretty much reinvented the notion of making mixtapes for yourself or someone…

Alasdair Roberts is great. His brand of Scottish folk is utterly bewitching and if you’re into great tales and intimate performances, he’s definitely the guy for you. He’s back with a new track on Drag City, and according to them ‘The Bonny Moorhen’ is a “fond paean to a waterbird whose regal profile compares to…

Rosalía released one of the most brilliant (and experimental) pop albums ever cut to wax last year, and sincerely, if you’re one of the few that didn’t listen to it, remedy that when you next get the chance. ‘MOTOMAMI’ is a carnival of Spanish pop, brutal electronics, elegant and fractured rhythms, reggaeton and hard edits galore…

An absolute giant of jazz, Wayne Shorter, has sadly left us. He was a fair old age, which is lovely to see in a genre where too many left us way too young, but even with that said, we would like to throw praise his way. The fact is, Shorter is one of the people…
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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