The Pop Corporation
WORDS ABOUT MUSIC + POP CULTURE
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You know James Acaster from the TV and clips of him rinsing Ricky Gervais don’t you? A ball of nervous energy in a tracksuit top, famed for his Bake Off failures and his wild ride on Taskmaster. He’s a funny, smart fella. He’s also in a 40 piece collective called Temps, which sees Acaster in
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There’s nothing a music writer likes saying more than ‘toldyouso‘. Be it spotting a band before they get big and you told everyone they’d like them, and they did, or better yet, saying there’s something off about an artist for them to reveal themselves to be dicks. This is all to lead up to this
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We could have said that ‘Thrust’ by McNeal and Niles was getting reissued, but that may not mean a lot to most people. Instead, we’re telling you it has been sampled by J Dilla, because that’s a bit catchier. Either way, it’s a masterful and very, very sought after LP, so this is great news
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Let’s face it – we don’t need to write about the imminent Beyonce tour. We don’t need to mention it at all, because obviously, the Beyhive have alerts set up and publications bigger than this one, with their CEO teams and algorithm jammers, will write about it more prominently. So we’ll be honest and just
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The best cartoon sitcom of all time, King of the Hill, is coming back. Now, you may have thought ‘hang on – isn’t The Simpson’s the greatest?‘ but we said ‘best‘, so suck it up. It’s official and everything that Hank Hill & Co will be back on our screens, and it will be getting
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Like your country music to have at least tried acid? Well, you’re in luck, as primo psychedelic guitarist Ripley Johnson (of Wooden Shjips and Moon Duo) has a project you might like called Rose City Band. There’s a new LP due called ‘Garden Party’ (the fourth by the band in as many years) and is
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We can’t quite pigeonhole the new single from singer/songwriter Lael Neale, but that’s okay. If you’re absolutely desperate for a hook, then we’re picking up some of the great pop that came out of NYC in the ’80s – kinda part punk, but not all OI! and FLOB!, rather, uptempo loftmuzik with Farfisa and cool
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The Guardian have written an interesting piece called ‘Are Bands Dead?‘ Basically, it’s about the resurgence of solo acts and all that. Like we said, it’s interesting, but of course bands aren’t dead. There’s loads of good bands knocking about aren’t there? And some of them are really popular. In indie, you’ve got Wet Leg,
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Nile Rodgers, still reminding us how many classic songs he wrote and produced even though everyone knows by now, is working with St Vincent and, honestly, that sounds like a marriage made in heaven. Rodgers, of course, has been having something of a resurgence this past few years, contributing to Daft Punk’s big hitters and
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If you missed it, Lil Yachty has gone psychedelic. Now, we’re not talking full mid ’70s German progressive cosmic rock psychedelic, so don’t get your hopes up. However, he is spreading his wings away from robo-pop/kindergarten-trap. That’s always fun isn’t it? His first new LP in ages, he’s released ‘Let’s Start Here’ and it’s taking
STOP HOARDING TUNES
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AI + BOTS + SCAM
There’s clearly a scam afoot which needs addressing – streaming platforms are making money from A.I. music with inflated streaming numbers from bots. If the audience is removed, and platforms benefit from programs generating income for themselves, then that’s a con, right? We wrote about the AI group who had amassed millions of listens, but…
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OZZY SHOWERED IN LOVE
What can you write about Ozzy Osborne? A man who lived enough life for all of us put together. A pioneer. A funny swine. A heroic effort to hedonism. An unlikely reality TV star. The man who, with Black Sabbath, pretty much invented heavy metal. A great fella. While tributes pour in from every corner,…
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FREE RANGE / JULY 2025
Our new radio show has been uploaded and features music from Argentina, Malawi, Madagascar, the former Yugoslavia, Japan, and more places besides! There’s funky stuff, power pop, new releases including the new one from Tchotchke and a gem from Domenique Dumont! We’d include the tracklisting, but we encourage you to listen to the show and…
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NEW CATE LE BON + WORRYING ABOUT A DOG
The new Cate Le Bon track is out and it’s called ‘Is It Worth It (Happy Birthday)?’ and it’s a moody, psychedelic synth track and, predictably, it’s very good. The accompanying video is left-of-centre, and we spent a good chunk of it worrying about a fun little dog who gets tied to a bollard. We’re…
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