The Pop Corporation

WORDS ABOUT MUSIC + POP CULTURE

  • LONG LIVE THE 45 KING

    We’ve lost The 45 King, and we couldn’t let his passing go without paying tribute. Real name Mark James, The 45 King is a supremely influential producer and mover and shaker in hip hop and club music, even if he wasn’t a household name broadly. Influence and fame aren’t the same thing. James has produced

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  • IS BRITNEY’S BOOK THE ALBUM DROP OF THE YEAR?

    Whether you like it or not, Britney Spears is about to drop the biggest pop-cultural moment of 2023, and it’s not even new music. The fervour around her new memoir is bigger than, say, a new album from Rihanna or the imminent Beatles release. And why is that? Well, largely, it’s because Britney is still

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  • BRAZIL’S PSYCH MASTERS, BIKE

    Brazil has a wealth of incredible psychedelic music at the moment – a second wave of Tropicalia if you like – which we plan on writing about extensively (if it doesn’t appear in a magazine, pitch skills dependent). One of the best groups are BIKE who are fuzz forward and heavily cosmic and we love

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  • HOUSEY TUB THUMPS FROM DAWN RICHARD

    Dawn Richard is brilliant. Experimental R&B and related and always ahead of the curve for sure. We shared her fantastic ‘Bubblegum’ track a while back, but now there’s a three track EP and one of the songs of it needs you to update your playlists! ‘Babe Ruth’ is a cross between house and R&B and

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  • CAROLINE POLACHEK GLITCHES WITH DANG

    Caroline Polachek has been making big waves lately and even landed a primo slot on the Colbert show, which is no mean feat. With that, she’s got a new glitchy number which might be our favourite of hers yet. It’s called ‘Dang!’ too, and came from the same sessions as her last LP ‘Desire, I

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  • BANDCAMP RIP?

    It isn’t generally a good sign when a company takes over another company and promptly sacks half the staff, is it? Seen the absolute shambles at Twitter? Exactly. And so to Bandcamp, depressingly. Music licensing company Songtradr bought the platform – widely regarded to be the saviour of independent musicians getting any kind of income

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  • THE TOUR THAT BROKE THE JACKSONS

    You’d think 1984 would be a vintage year for Michael Jackson. His album ‘Thriller’ has basically conquered the world and, for many, redefined what it meant to be a popstar and the subsequent tour only cemented his place in the annals of pop, fully breaking free from the shadow of his pop past. However, post-Thriller,

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  • THIS WISHY TRACK IS FUN

    It’s nice to see the return of noisy indie music. We’re not sure if this is classic college rock, shoegaze or what. It doesn’t really matter as we’re imagining the sound of Wishy cascading over us from a small stage, and it feels real nice. They’re from Indiana and we don’t know too much about

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  • DANIEL ÖGREN VINYL

    Mr Bongo put good records out, and the latest we’ve spotted is a gem from Daniel Ögren, who you might know from our newest favourite band Dina Ögon. Available on special magenta vinyl (and standard obvs), Ögren’s ‘Fastingen-92′ was initially put out on a limited pressing in 2020, and now Mr Bongo have reissued the

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  • THE BIRTH OF PUNK IN NYC

    Wanna watch something cool? You’re in luck. Amplified have shared a documentary on YouTube about the start of the New York City punk scene. All the faces you want to see are there – Iggy, Debbie, The Ramones, and talking heads from Jayne County, Alice Cooper, Lenny Kaye, Alan Vega and loads more. From non

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STOP HOARDING TUNES


  • ROB MAZUREK FUTURE SHAMAN

    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…

  • SAM SMITH VERSUS SAUCEPAN

    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…

  • BJORK’S DAUGHTER RELEASES MUSIC

    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…

  • NEW PET SHOP BOYS DUE

    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…

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