Helllllllo Reedstackers!
I wanted to apologize for not writing for quite a long time. Here are my excuses: last week I had a big boy paper due, so I held off on writing the ‘stack till Tuesday (the day I got my second dose of #pfizer) and when Thursday came around and I fully recovered from my Pfi-high brought on by my new microchip, I was like OKAY, I’m just gonna postpone till Monday. So Monday rolled around and I freakin forgot. Or I was just lazy. Forgive me.
OK, no more BS. Time to actually deliver on content (I know. It’s the least I can do). The topic for this week is a bit more than a song: it’s actually multiple! I am going through a couple of PC Music resident rich kid A.G. Cook’s covers and their importance to me.
For those unfamiliar with the outrageous movement, PC Music, in its most literal definition, is basically a record label of bubbly pop experiments focused on blurring the line between camp and avant-garde textures. Most of PC Music’s most successful productions come from the period 2013-2017, which saw the label’s artists mostly using vocalizers and rubbery sonics, as well as doing performance art for ridiculous things like advertising an energy drink that doesn’t exist. The artists focused heavily on creating avatars to present the music, which could be seen as a critique of Photoshop-heavy pop idols. Or it could just be fun. Hence, it is no surprise that PC Music came to not solely be known as a record label, but as a musical movement, with artists like 100 gecs or Shygirl capturing the label’s essential sounds and taking them to the extreme.
This summer, A.G. Cook released two albums. One was a compilation of sorts called 7G, containing seven discs of seven different sounds. Each disc had (guess how many) 7 (!) songs. Some are studio sketches, others fully produced PC Music pop songs, or covers of other artists. The ones that resonate most with me sit in the latter category. I find them particularly interesting because each of them dilute what makes each original song great down to their core elements.
7G’s emotional significance to me lies in its timing. This summer, 7G released the day I found out my friend had passed away. I actually had it on when I heard the news. Therefore, it holds a special place in my heart, with each song representing a different fragment of my grief. My friend was a huge Taylor Swift fan and pop music aficionado, and he would have loved to hear the spin Cook put on her mother-appreciation-anthem The Best Day. I’m sure he also would have loved to hear the extrapolation of Sia’s awesome Chandelier into a form of vocoder ego death.
These translations, emotional significance aside, represent some of the core themes of PC Music: deconstruction and extremity. I recommend listening to the Cook version followed by the original to focus on this sense of experimentation, then hear the pieces come together in their original intended form.
First, we have Chandelier (originally by Sia) (both versions are bangers). I love how Cook’s auto-tuned voice takes center stage for the first chorus.
Second, we have Today (originally by The Smashing Pumpkins). Mostly pulls the same tricks as Chandelier, but at 2:24 the song basically starts flying.
Lastly, we have The Best Day (Swift). It is truly difficult to see how these songs are even related (for somebody tone-deaf like me!), but it ultimately pulls on the same heartstrings the original does.
Well, that was a meaty post. Guess I’m making up for all the time I left you guys waiting (I’m sure you were so upset I wasn’t spamming your email inbox). Thank you for subscribing to my passion project,
Reed(stack) Putnam(stack)
P.S.
A.G. Cook recently released a reflection on the life of his friend SOPHIE, who was an incredible artist and person (and probably the most influential artist of the PC Music movement). It’s a fantastic read. Here: http://agcook.com/msmsmsm/