PC Music

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PC Music
180px
Founded 2013
Founder A. G. Cook
Genre Pop, electronic
Country of origin United Kingdom
Location London
Official website pcmusic.info

PC Music is a record label and music-making collective based in London and run by producer A. G. Cook.[1] It was founded and made its first song available on SoundCloud in 2013.[2] The label's music often features pitch-shifted, feminine vocals and bright, synthetic textures.[3]

PC Music has been characterized as embracing the aesthetics of advertising and corporate branding,[3] and its roster artists have often devised imaginary personas often inspired by cyberculture.[4] The label has received a polarized reaction from music critics.

History

Cook had previously worked on Gamsonite, a "pseudo-label" collecting his early collaborations, while studying music at Goldsmiths, University of London.[5] He founded PC Music in August 2013, as a way of embracing an A&R role.[6] Within a year the label had published forty songs on SoundCloud where, as of September 2014, some of its songs had accumulated over 100,000 listens.[2][4] It has not released a physical single,[2] and its first paid download did not come until the November 2014 release of Hannah Diamond's "Every Night".[7] QT's "Hey QT" single was also released in 2014, on XL Recordings, with production from Cook and PC Music-affiliate Sophie.[8]

In March 2015, the label appeared in the United States for the first time at a South by Southwest showcase.[9] Cook described it as a "rebirth moment" for the group, moving toward functioning as a real record label.[10] Shortly after, they released their first official compilation album, titled PC Music Volume 1.[11] On 8 May 2015, PC Music artists performed at BRIC House in Brooklyn, New York as part of the Red Bull Music Academy Festival, to premiere Pop Cube, "a multimedia reality network".[12]

On 21 October 2015, the label announced on Facebook a partnership with major record label Columbia Records. The first release through this partnership was an EP from Danny L Harle.[13] In December 2015 PC Music released the single "Only You", a collaboration between A. G. Cook and the Chinese pop star Chris Lee, with a music video directed by Kinga Burza.[14]

Details

File:Kane West - Western Beats.jpg
Promotional artwork for Kane West's Western Beats EP. The use of Comic Sans alludes to the typography of early web sites.[15]

The label functions as a collective in which acts frequently collaborate with each other.[1] Many of the acts are aliases, obscuring the identities and number of artists on the label.[16] Early on, the label kept tight control over its branding and limited its interaction with journalists,[17] and as its profile grew, Cook declined to engage with press, described as a sort of Berry Gordy figure within the group.[18] Vice magazine said that PC Music's acts are best understood not as living people but as "meticulously planned and considered long-running art pieces…living installations who put out music."[19] Cook mentioned preference for "recording people who don't normally make music and treating them as if they're a major label artist."[6] Rather than engaging in extended promotional campaigns, the label continually announces new acts.[1] Each develops a persona that is conveyed through Internet slang and cartoon imagery.[4]

Sound and influences

The label has released music with a consistent sound that Clive Martin, writing in Vice, described as "A playful composite of disregarded sounds and genres".[1] Lanre Bakare, writing in The Guardian, identified the music's elements as "the huge synth blasts favoured by Eurodance chart-botherers such as Cascada, grime's sub-bass, and happy hardcore's high-pitched vocal range".[17] The styles and influences of music incorporated include bubblegum dance, Balearic trance, wonky and electro house. Cook cites Korean & Japanese pop music and gyaru culture, as well as the production work of Max Martin and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.[6] His production involves layering discordant sounds on top of each other to produce chaotic mixes,[6] similar to the techniques used in black MIDI music.[16] Abrupt shifts in timbre and rhythm are used to create multiple perspectives of a personality.[20] Cook also indirectly cites American musician Conlon Nancarrow as a source of inspiration in the PC Music Pop Cube Trailer 1[21]

PC Music's songwriting often deals with consumerism as a theme. In their take on haul videos,[22] Lipgloss Twins include references to fashion and makeup brands.[23] Vocals on the label's mix for DIS Magazine reflect various forms of marketing: producer ID tags, film trailers, and product placement for a sponsor.[16][23] The label brings in inexperienced singers to record its songs.[5] It thoroughly processes the vocals, shifting the pitch upward or chopping it to use as a rhythmic element.[6][16] These distortions create a post-ironic representation of consumerism, money, and sex.[24]

PC Music's aesthetic combines elements of cuteness, camp, and kawaii,[1][17][23] though often, as music critic Maurice Marion points out for Rare Candy, with a sinister, Lynchian undertone achieved by dissonant inversions and caustic harmonization.[25] Critics likened the label to Ryan Trecartin in its irregular pacing, "feminine appropriation", and valley girl slang.[26] The use of pitch shifting, image manipulation, and costumes may also serve as a form of drag.[15] This blurs the distinctions between binary genders and allows male artists to mask their identities.[26][27] In a piece for Vice, Ryan Bassil suggested that PC Music's style allows for a more candid expression of emotions.[4]

File:Lil Data - Sup website.png
A promotional website for Sup by Lil Data, which incorporates influences of net art.

The label has been embraced as a more feminine response to dance music subculture.[1][17] The availability of music software has allowed for the spread of high-production dance music by independent musicians, particularly on SoundCloud. PC Music often exaggerates the homogenized, high-fidelity aesthetics of these songs.[26] Vogue deputy editor Alex Frank commented that the overt manipulation of cultural references showcased a cynical sense of humour, creating an insular approach to making dance music during a period of house revival.[27]

Reception

As PC Music became more prominent in 2014, the reaction to it was often described as "divisive".[17][19] Joe Moynihan, writing in Fact, remarked that "PC Music have, in just over a year, released some of the most compelling pop music in recent memory." The label's feminine aesthetic has been criticized as disingenuous or appropriative.[16][28] The distortions in its music can fall into the uncanny valley and have an alienating effect on listeners.[29] Some critics have found its high-tempo trance sound artless or aggravating.[16]

PC Music received accolades in several 2014 year-end summaries. Dazed included A. G. Cook at number 12 in their "Dazed 100";[30] Fact named PC Music the best label of 2014;[31] The Huffington Post included PC Music at number 3 in their "Underrated Albums - 2014";[32] Resident Advisor included PC Music at number 4 in their "Top Labels of The Year" in 2014;[33] and Tiny Mix Tapes included it in their "Favorite 15 Labels of 2014".[34] Spin magazine named PC Music its "Trend of the Year" for 2014.[35]

Artists (past and present)

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2

References

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  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/11/arts/music/review-pc-music-and-sophie-in-a-high-concept-extravaganza-at-bric-house.html?_r=0
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found./
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ 16.00 16.01 16.02 16.03 16.04 16.05 16.06 16.07 16.08 16.09 16.10 16.11 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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