
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…

Sinéad O’Connor has died aged 56. It’s strange to write about her passing as, like many music fans, we’ve spent a good amount of time worrying about. While O’Connor showed incredible strength for much of her life, it was obvious there were breaking points and, to be perfectly honest, much of the music press that…

Black Grape have announced a new LP, which we didn’t see coming. They might have been talking about it for ages for all we know, but that’s not the point. We’re surprised and it’s not wholly unpleasant, is it? The group, of course, are a project of Shaun Ryder (Happy Mondays) and Kermit (Ruthless Rap…

Much like recreational drugs, AI is a fine toy to muck around with if you already know what you’re doing, but wildly annoying in the hands of know-nothings with loud mouths and their hangers on who think it’s the future maaaaan. Anyway, with that, like recreational drugs, we’re going to have to live with it…

If you like standing around groups of other dweebs debating what constitutes a track that could slot into a Balearic set, welcome to the fold. We don’t mention that by accident, because when we first heard Art Feynman’s new single ‘Desperately Free’, we wondered exactly that. Anyway, Luke Temple (Art is his alter-ego, of sorts)…

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…
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.
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