The Pop Corporation

WORDS ABOUT MUSIC + POP CULTURE

  • KINKS TOUR, PLEASE

    Look, we’ve already written a love letter to The Kinks on here, so it should be of no surprise that we’re in full-blown love affair mode right now. That’s because The Kinks are teasing something of a comeback. They’ve apparently got a number of songs written and obviously, Ray and Dave Davies have a complicated…

    Read more

  • HOW A POLITICAL JAPANESE ’60S HIT INFLUENCED THE WHOLE OF HIP HOP

    Back in 1961, a young singer by the name of Kyu Sakamoto had a number one hit on his hands, Stateside. The song – a lilting ballad sung entirely in Japanese (thereby being one of a scant number of non-English sung hits in the US) – was called 上を向いて歩こう, or in English, ‘I Look Up…

    Read more

  • SLEAFORD MODS, EH?

    So. Sleaford Mods, eh? They have found themselves in a situation. You’ve already read about it elsewhere. You have probably seen their updated stance on The Whole Thing, right? What to think? Well, a lot of the punks are really unhappy with them and expected them to have more spin. The centrists dads totally get…

    Read more

  • KACEY MUSGRAVES BACK KINDA

    Kacey Musgraves last LP got a mixed response, even though we really liked huge chunks of it. Fact is, Kacey is a psychedelic breath of fresh air in a country scene that’s really bogged down in rootsiness at the moment. Obviously, rootsy business is stock-in-trade in the world of country – it always has been…

    Read more

  • SHYGIRL WITH THE THICC HOUSE

    We’re very much about the R&B love of housey bangers thing at the moment, and a new fave is the new track from Shygirl with the wonderfully titled ‘thicc’. A tribute to everyone’s favourite cut – the thigh meat, if you will. Listen, if you’re still moping around to dour music in 2023, then you’re…

    Read more

  • JULIA HOLTER WITH NEW MUSIC

    It’s not Julia Holter’s fault that all the toxic sadbois who have been in your DMs incessantly love her. She’s a cool songwriter and deserves her flowers. Well, she’s got a new track out called ‘Sun Girl’ and it has a real pretty video, made by animator and artist Tammy Nguyễn. She’s been away from…

    Read more

  • MOONRIIVR WITH THAT OLD TIMEY MUSIC

    Not all music has to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes, you just want the simple pleasure of that good time music that’s as familiar as it is fun. So, to MOONRIIVR, with a song that is like an old country song, if it shared some bunkbeds with DIY indie. It’s called ‘Flowers on the Fire Escape’…

    Read more

  • WHICH GRAMMY NOMS DO YOU REALLY CARE ABOUT?

    The 2024 Grammy nominations have been announced. Awards ceremonies suck, we know, we know. But honestly, more than ever, recent ceremonies gave seemed so wildly out of step with what people are listening to, and looking at this year’s Grammy nominations, we’re insert shrug emoji here. For starters – record of the year has the…

    Read more

  • ANNIE-CLAUDE DESCHÊNES SOUNDS LIKE YOU HOPE

    With a name like Annie-Claude Deschênes and a track called ‘Menace Minimale’ on a label called Italians Do It Better, you’d hope she’d be putting out pumping, darkwave synthpop, wouldn’t you? Good thing that this is exactly what we’re looking at here. She’s a member of Duchess Says, and this we think, is her first…

    Read more

  • NEW FRANK OCEAN? / HEARD THAT BEFORE, MATE

    Frank Ocean is not a reliable source. That’s not a criticism per se, but it is something of a fact given the amount of times he’s done things his own way, shied away from the churn of pop culture, and all the rest. We only mention that because you should at least be allowed to…

    Read more




STOP HOARDING TUNES


  • ZOH AMBA’S SPIRITUAL JAZZ

    Jazz never died, but it did feel harder to find since major music publications effectively turned their back on it some time in the ’70s. Jazz is of course, in rude health and as disparate as it ever was. With that, we were super thrilled while listening to baritone sax’er Zoh Amba’s new one, which…

  • COOL ISLAND RECORDS BOOK

    Island Records is one of the most legendary record labels in the history of rock, pop, reggae and more. Especially iconic is the ‘Island pink’ years, where the records sported a gorgeous baby pink label and was home to some of the finest records ever cut on the lathe. With that, following first volume, there’s…

  • CHE NOIR WITH THE NU BOOM BAP

    It certainly seems there’s a quiet revival of boom bap rap in recent years, underlined obviously, by the all-conquering Doechii LP released last year. Of course, she’s not the only one putting a fresh twist on golden era hip hop, and now we look to the new one from prodigious talent Che Noir. Hailing from…

  • JEFF PARKER IVTET TINY DESK

    We wrote a very glowing review of the wonderful album by Tortoise cohort Jeff Parker and his IVtet, being one of the best jazz LPs we’ve bought in years. In case you missed, Parker and his band did a blissfully wonderful and super invigorating set for the always great NPR Tiny Desk. Watch it here.

Search for a Topic
Categories
Posted Recently
Submissions

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.