Concert Review: Pop Crypt II

Impressions from a 10-hour marathon of Personal Computer Music

On Halloween, I attended Pop Crypt II, a mini-festival organized by A. G. Cook under the banner of his now-retired label, PC Music. The concert featured 15 performances by various artists from the PC label and friends. It was a marathon—and though my ears weren’t tired by the end, my legs definitely were.

The concert took place at Outernet, a relatively new venue near Tottenham Court Road in Central London, which opened two years ago. It claims to be “the most visited cultural attraction in the UK, a virtually real™ entertainment district bringing together breathtaking arts, culture, and music experiences for all the family.” It’s a bit of a behemoth of a space, decked out in shiny LED panels with a concert hall situated four stories underground.

I went to the show on my own because I didn’t want to rope any friends into coming with me. I actually love going to concerts solo, especially PC Music ones, because I don’t have to worry about whether the person I’m with is having a good time or not. Plus, it’s a great way to meet new people. At the event, I met two fellow PC Music fans, Senne and Sophie, who were as enthusiastic about the music as I was. So I didn’t have to feel bad for bringing them—they’d already come on their own. We ended up hanging out together for most of the evening.

OK, without further ado, here’s a rundown of the event. Doors opened at 5 p.m., and I arrived around 5:30. Music proper kicked off at about 6 p.m., with the final act closing at 4 a.m., so the event spanned a solid 10 hours 😳.

Day Event (doors at 5 p.m.; 6 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.):

• Chi

• Witch Post

• Felicita

• Mowalola

• Tommy Cash (feat. Hannah Diamond)

• Oklou (Secret Guest)

• Thy Slaughter (feat. Ellie Rowsell)

• Amnesia Scanner (feat. Dorian Electra)

Night Event (11 p.m. – 4 a.m.):

• Dorian Electra

• Dux Content

• Finn Keane (formerly EASYFUN)

• f5ve (a secret guest)

• A. G. Cook

• Kane West (a secret guest)

• THELIMITDOESNOTEXIST

Day Event

The day event introduced me to a lot of artists I hadn’t encountered before. At the beginning of the concert, everyone was handed a small pumpkin to hold.

Chi

First up was Chi, two artists dressed as Team Rocket from Pokémon. I couldn’t find much about them online, but they played a couple of bangers & I loved their matching wigs.

Witch Post

Witch Post is a singer-songwriter duo made up of Dylan Fraser and Alaska Reid. They performed a pared-down set with just two guitars and drums—very raw, unprocessed, and lyric-driven. They debuted earlier this year on A. G. Cook’s online Witchfork Music Festival and have been opening for him on the Britpop Roadshow. You can read more about them here.

Felicita

Felicita, a long-standing member on the PC Music roster, returned to Pop Crypt this year with a memorable presence that included a latex cow costume and live video projections on stage. It was an exciting multimedia performance and one of the night’s more experimental acts.

Mowalola

Nigerian fashion designer and musician Mowalola first appeared on my radar through her collaboration with Namasenda on “Banana Clip.” She delivered a high-energy performance, including some breakbeats, & I loved the abstract visuals that accompanied her performance.

Tommy Cash (feat. Hannah Diamond)

Tommy Cash played at Pop Crypt after his last performance at the PC Music Vol. 3 show at Koko (London) in 2022. He opened with his most iconic track, “PUSSY MONEY WEED,” with A. G. Cook, joining on the decks & dressed as Cookie Monster. Tommy played other favorites like “X-RAY” and his track with Charli XCX, “Delicious.” Hannah Diamond joined him for the set’s final song—their remix of 100 gecs’ “xXXi_wud_nvrstøp_ÜXXx.” The visuals were surreal and jarring, ranging from tacky marijuana weed imagery to a woman crawling in mud.

Oklou (Secret Guest)

Next up was Oklou, billed as a secret guest. She’s gearing up to release a new album, that is likely to be released in early 2025. Dressed as a scarecrow, she handled some early technical issues well, throwing in the occasional French curse word. My highlight was her remix of the Bladee & Mechatok song “Rainbow”—if you haven’t heard it, I recommend it for its amazing mid-song build-into-nowhere reminiscent of A. G.’s tracks from the 2015–17 era.

Thy Slaughter

Thy Slaughter, A. G. Cook and Finn Keane’s joint project, returned to Pop Crypt this year dressed in medieval tunics. Finn played guitar, A. G. played bass, and another musician handled drums. A highlight was “Lost Everything,” featuring Ellie Rowsell from Wolf Alice (whose album Visions of a Life I loved back in 2017). They also covered “Being Harsh” from 7G and played a guitar version of “Fountain.”

Amnesia Scanner (feat. Dorian Electra)

Alongside Felicita, Amnesia Scanner was one of the more avant-garde artists on the pop spectrum. Their visuals—oscillating between intense green and red, with heavy strobe effects—were mesmerizing. Amnesia Scanner is signed to PAN, which you might consider the Berlin equivalent of Warp (roughly speaking). Dorian Electra joined for the last song, leading into the night event.

Night Event

After Amnesia Scanner, everyone was asked to leave the building, and we found a long line outside for re-entry. I took Senne, Sophie, and another friend, to Five Guys, where I had an overpriced (£12!) cheeseburger and a milkshake. Back in line, I was freezing in my t-shirt, but when we finally re-entered, Dorian Electra was already on stage.

Dorian Electra

Dorian Electra’s performance was in full swing, featuring two dancers on pedestals. The Gothic/American-themed visuals gave the illusion that the stage was moving up and down.

Dux Content

Dux Content, A. G. Cook and Danny L Harle’s joint project, gave what was possibly their first performance since their time at Goldsmiths (?). Posing as science communicators, they performed a satirical piece punctuated by fictional dialogue between journalists who praised their talents as musical science communicators.

It felt like a nod to Tim & Eric and was very different from their respective solo work. My personal highlight was how they’d keep bringing back snippets of Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso”—which I covered in a previous newsletter—only to subvert its pop appeal with odd MIDI guitar riffs and other musical shenanigans.

Finn Keane (formerly EASYFUN)

Retiring his moniker EASYFUN, Finn Keane started his solo DJ set with “Laplander” & “Audio”, gradually moving into newer material. Toward the end, he played a drum and bass remix of Bree Runway’s “FWMM” and closed with Charli edits, e.g. “Sympathy is a Knife”, “Unlock It,” and other tracks. The crowd loved them.

f5ve (Secret Guest)

After EASYFUN, I had to move further back, because the crowd was getting hyped and I needed to take a seat and a drink. f5ve, A. G. Cook and Ö’s new J-pop girl band project, mostly played existing material. With A. G. seems to be taking on a role akin to Yasutaka Nakata, and I’m keen to see how this project develops.

A. G. Cook

A. G. played a lot of new material, much of which he’s probably been debuting on his Britpop Mania tour. His set featured immersive visuals, which I especially appreciated given my thesis topic.

Highlights included a new Life Sim track, a trap remix, an edit of Welcome to My Island, a special edit of SOPHIE’s Love Me Off Earth, and some incredible ambient tracks that fully utilized the venue’s sound system. I took plenty of videos and uploaded them to a Google Drive—DM me on Substack if you want the link.

This new track was incredible, feels like Britpop Disc 3-like material:

Kane West (Secret Guest)

A. G.’s set was “hijacked” by Kane West, who played a funny edit of Charli XCX’s “Girl So Confusing,” along with warped WordArt-style visuals. He even threw in the Donkey Kong track from his 10 x 10 set.

THELIMITDOESNOTEXIST

Thelimitdoesnotexist, founder of the Brooklyn party SKSKSK, rounded off the night with club edits of PC favorites by Danny L Harle, Namasenda, Tommy Cash, and a killer edit of Justin Bieber’s “Stay.” I Shazamed “Watch Me Work” by Brenmar, one of the standout tracks for me personally. The night closed promptly at 4 a.m.

Final Thoughts

New material, new artists, new friends. This event was a great experience overall and I’m glad I attended it. I’ll be attending A. G.’s Britpop London Show in December, so keep an eye out for a post about that one. If you want more videos, DM me on on Substack and feel free to share this post with any PC Music friends (: