A. G. Cook Essentials

A. G. Cook is a distorting mirror, reflecting the tricks and hooks of mainstream pop music with a sense of deadpan accomplishment that is part celebration, part sonic critique. As the head of the eclectic label PC Music—home to Hannah Diamond and Danny L Harle—he worked with artists who share his delight in playing with post-millennial pop’s effervescence and refined architecture. Accordingly, his solo work embraces ghostly synthetic soul (“Show Me What”), fragmented, whispering pop (“Lifeline”) and even glassy acoustic confessionals (“Oh Yeah”), each song buffed to a dazzling sheen.