PC Music

PC Music
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]

In March 2015, the label appeared in the United States for the first time at a South by Southwest showcase.[8] Cook described it as a "rebirth moment" for the group, moving toward functioning as a real record label.[9] Shortly after, they released their first official compilation album, titled PC Music Volume 1.[10] 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".[11]

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.[12] 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.[13]

Details

Promotional artwork for Kane West's Western Beats EP. The use of Comic Sans alludes to the typography of early web sites.[14]

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.[15] Early on, the label kept tight control over its branding and limited its interaction with journalists,[16] and as its profile grew, Cook declined to engage with press, described as a sort of Berry Gordy figure within the group.[17] 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."[18] 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".[16] 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.[15] Abrupt shifts in timbre and rhythm are used to create multiple perspectives of a personality.[19] Cook also indirectly cites American musician Conlon Nancarrow as a source of inspiration in the PC Music Pop Cube Trailer 1[20]

PC Music's songwriting often deals with consumerism as a theme. In their take on haul videos,[21] Lipgloss Twins include references to fashion and makeup brands.[22] 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.[15][22] 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][15] These distortions create a post-ironic representation of consumerism, money, and sex.[23]

PC Music's aesthetic combines elements of cuteness, camp, and kawaii,[1][16][22] though often, as music critic Maurice Marion points out for Rare Candy, with a sinister, Lynchian undertone achieved by dissonant inversions and caustic harmonization.[24] Critics likened the label to Ryan Trecartin in its irregular pacing, "feminine appropriation", and valley girl slang.[25] The use of pitch shifting, image manipulation, and costumes may also serve as a form of drag.[14] This blurs the distinctions between binary genders and allows male artists to mask their identities.[25][26] In a piece for Vice, Ryan Bassil suggested that PC Music's style allows for a more candid expression of emotions.[4]

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][16] 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.[25] 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.[26]

Reception

As PC Music became more prominent in 2014, the reaction to it was often described as "divisive".[16][18] 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.[15][27] The distortions in its music can fall into the uncanny valley and have an alienating effect on listeners.[28] Some critics have found its high-tempo trance sound artless or aggravating.[15]

PC Music received accolades in several 2014 year-end summaries. Dazed included A. G. Cook at number 12 in their "Dazed 100";[29] Fact named PC Music the best label of 2014;[30] The Huffington Post included PC Music at number 3 in their "Underrated Albums - 2014";[31] Resident Advisor included PC Music at number 4 in their "Top Labels of The Year" in 2014;[32] and Tiny Mix Tapes included it in their "Favorite 15 Labels of 2014".[33] Spin magazine named PC Music its "Trend of the Year" for 2014.[34]

Artists

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Martin, Clive (12 September 2014). "PC Music: Are They Really the Worst Thing Ever to Happen to Dance Music?". Vice. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 Jones, Charlie Robin (11 September 2014). "PC Music's digital dreams". Dazed 4: 178–183.
  3. 1 2 Geffen, Sasha. "PC Music's Inverted Consumerism". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Bassil, Ryan (23 May 2014). "Trying to Make Sense of Hannah Diamond and Post-Ringtone Music". Vice. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Hunt, El (11 June 2014). "Inside the hard drive of PC Music". DIY. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Golsorkhi-Ainslie, Sohrab (25 August 2013). "Radio Tank Mix: A. G. Cook". Tank. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  7. ↑ Anderson, Trevor (4 December 2014). "Will Butler, Against the Current & Hannah Diamond: Emerging Picks of the Week". Billboard. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  8. ↑ Kornhaber, Spencer (25 March 2015). "PC Music at SXSW Shows the Gloriously Tacky Future of Music". The Atlantic. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  9. ↑ Stephens, Huw (25 March 2015). "PC Music Interview". BBC Radio 1. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  10. ↑ Grebey, James (2 May 2015). "PC Music Boot Up First Officially Released Album, 'PC Music Vol. 1'". Spin. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  11. ↑ 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
  12. ↑ Joyce, Colin (21 October 2015). "PC Music Announces 'Partnership' With Columbia Records With Danny L Harle EP". Spin. Retrieved 28 November 2015./
  13. ↑ "PC Music and Chinese pop star Chris Lee unveil ‘Only You’". FACT Magazine: Music News, New Music. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
  14. 1 2 Frank, Alex (19 September 2014). "A Visual Primer on PC Music, London's Weirdest New Subculture". Vogue. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Sherburne, Philip (17 September 2014). "PC Music's Twisted Electronic Pop: A User's Manual". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bakare, Lanre (12 September 2014). "PC Music: clubland's cute new direction". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  17. ↑ Norris, John (March 2015). "SXSW 2015: The 8 Most Standout Performances". MTV Iggy. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  18. 1 2 Bassil, Ryan (17 December 2014). "Even If They're an Elaborate Joke, PC Music Dominated 2014". Vice. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  19. ↑ Harper, Adam (2 October 2014). "System Focus: High Speed Sounds to Blister Even Internet-Accelerated Brains". The Fader. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  20. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzpMZUBaavU, retrieved 2015-11-11 Missing or empty |title= (help)
  21. ↑ Moynihan, Joe (13 August 2014). "PC Music: the 10 best tracks so far from 2014′s most divisive record label". Fact. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  22. 1 2 3 Kretowicz, Steph (26 June 2014). "You're Too Cute: Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, SOPHIE, PC Music and the Aesthetic of Excess". The Fader. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  23. ↑ Monroe, Jazz (22 October 2014). "Post-Irony Is the Only Thing Left in the World That Gets a Reaction". Vice. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  24. ↑ Marion, Maurice (29 April 2015). "The Sinister Pop of PC Music". Rare Candy Magazine. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  25. 1 2 3 Pearl, Max; Lhooq, Michelle (8 January 2015). "PC Music is Post-Internet Art". Vice. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  26. 1 2 Frank, Alex (23 September 2014). A Rational Conversation: Is PC Music Pop Or Is It 'Pop'?. Interview with Erick Ducker. National Public Radio. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  27. ↑ Kretowicz, Steph (31 December 2014). "Feminine Appropriation Was 2014's Biggest Electronic Music Trend". The Fader. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  28. 1 2 3 Joyce, Colin (26 August 2014). "Like Aqua's 'Barbie Girl' Through a Funhouse Mirror, Meet SOPHIE". Spin. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  29. ↑ Cliff, Aimee (2014). "Dazed 100". Dazed & Confused. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  30. ↑ "10 Best Labels of 2014". Fact. 8 December 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  31. ↑ Van Luling, Todd; Kristobak, Ryan (18 December 2014). "Underrated Albums - 2014". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  32. ↑ "Top Labels of the Year". Resident Advisor. 12 December 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  33. ↑ Beige, J (December 2014). "Favorite 15 Labels of 2014". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  34. ↑ Weiss, Dan (17 December 2014). "Trend of the Year: How PC Music Chewed Up Pop Conventions". Spin. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  35. ↑ "PC Music teams up with Chinese pop megastar Li Yuchun". FACT. 3 December 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  36. ↑ "Maxo streams GFOTY-featuring jam Not That Bad". Dummy. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  37. ↑ "Spinee Lands on PC Music with Pretty Green". Dummy. 15 December 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  38. ↑ Cos, Jamieson (4 September 2014). "Thy Slaughter: 'Bronze'". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 28 November 2015.

External links

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