Playlist 06.08.23

Huge thanks to Mara Schwerdtfeger for her excellent selections last week while I was on tour in QLD.<br /> This week we're featuring a number of singles from forthcoming albums I'm excited about, as well as various new releases from artist ranging from here in Eora/Sydney to Canada, USA, Iran, Egypt, China, the Netherlands, and more! LISTEN AGAIN and be ahead of the game. Podcast here, stream on demand there. Popular Music - Lifetime Achievement [Sanitarium Sound Services]<br /> Back in the mid 2000s I loved the music of Parenthetical Girls, the experimental pop project led by Zac Pennington, with contributions from the likes of Jherek Bischoff and Xiu Xiu's Jamie Stewart. Pennington disbanded Parenthetical Girls in 2017, but the strange orchestral, electronic, cabaret vibes continue with Popular Music, a collaboration between LA-based Pennington and Melbourne-based musician Prudence Rees-Lee. Jherek Bischoff's there too, along with Deerhoof's Greg Saunier. As often is the case with great pop, there's an aura of "reminiscent of" about it, and everything it's reminiscent of is great, so. I'll be hanging out for Minor Works, coming in October. alice does computer music - The Sandcastle [JOLT Music/Bandcamp]<br /> alice does computer music - Leaves Growing Away From The Sun [JOLT Music/Bandcamp]<br /> Cello was Rees-Lee's first instrument, and is also the primary instrument of Alice Gorlach, who dubbed herself alice does computer music for her indietronic pop project. Shoegaze 5G is her debut album proper, drawing equally from the scratchy cello-fuelled outsider pop of Arthur Russell and the idm/indietronica of the early oughts. And shoegaze, obviously. There's the kind of cut-up glitchy production and manic beats that this show has cleaved to for almost 2 decades, but it's made special by the blissful songwriting that the instruments and programming are supporting. I'm still a little dubious about the artist name, but that's on me. Highly recommended. Michael Peter Olsen - So Far So Good [Hand Drawn Dracula/Bandcamp]<br /> Toronto cellist Michael Peter Olsen is the perpetrator of the most disqueting artist photo ever (further developed on the vinyl gatefold of this new album), with credits going back over 2 decades with artists like The Arcade Fire, The Hidden Cameras, Drake and many others. He's also in the trio Soft Thoughts with ex-Melbourne experimental musician Tim Condon (Fresh Snow,