“One Track Mind” features a Washtenaw County artist or band discussing one song from their latest release.

Standout Track: No. 2, “Maneuvers Through the Prominence of Tau Ceti,” from Michael Skib. The Ann Arbor artist’s latest album, The Distance Between Two Stars, is an electronic and cinematic journey into another realm. The album includes several references related to stars, planets, and space pollution.

On “Maneuvers Through the Prominence of Tau Ceti,” he takes inspiration from the star Tau Ceti in the constellation Cetus. “I was reading about exoplanets—planets outside our solar system—actually. Tau Ceti has been a star of interest in the search for exoplanets for a while because of its proximity to Earth and its sun-like properties. It’s also in reference to The Dispossessed, which takes place on planets in Tau Ceti’s orbit. I sort of imagine whatever mission might have been taking place, in the loose-fitting storyline of this album, might have been related to the search for hospitable planets.”

Meme Resnick’s interest in Dungeons & Dragons started when she transferred to a new high school in her junior year.  A friend suggested that she might like to learn about the popular role-playing game.

“He was putting together a group and asked me if I wanted to play, and I thought, 'I’m new at this school, and this will help me meet some new people,'” she said. “I like to play different characters and play different story lines and see what they are like.”

In addition to Dungeons & Dragons, Resnick was also interested in theater.

Theater and D&D role-playing came magically together in Qui Nguyen’s play She Kills Monsters, which the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre will present March 12-15 at the Arthur Miller Theatre, with Resnick directing.

Julianna Loera-Wiggins’ journey in standup comedy has been a bit more academically motivated than most.

A Ph.D. candidate in the University of Michigan’s Department of American Culture program of Latino/a Studies, Loera-Wiggins decided to write her dissertation about the Latina stand-up comedy scene in Chicago, where she moved to take stand-up comedy classes.

“I figured you can't really write about comedy without doing it,” said Loera-Wiggins. “I like the idea of being sort of unruly, because you’re brought up with these sorts of cultural expectations, especially as a woman, and comedy sort of breaks those a little bit, or you can lean into that.”

While Loera-Wiggins hopes her time in Chicago as a scholar could one day lead to publishing a book about her research, she has worked to create additional opportunities for representation in stand-up in the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti area during the completion of her Ph.D.

After returning to the area from Chicago, the Ypsilanti resident inherited Femme Feedback, a monthly comedy open mic in Ann Arbor that offers feedback for aspiring female, trans, and nonbinary comics.

While Femme Feedback has elements of a typical open mic where comedians can try out four to five minutes of new and old material, it also provides a teaching element courtesy of a headlining veteran comedian who gives feedback via written comments to less experienced joke tellers.

“It's one of the few places where we can talk directly to the femme and trans experience, where if we were to do this material elsewhere, we would get no reaction, or we're often kind of met with unfortunate circumstances,” Loera-Wiggins said. “So, this is definitely a safe place for people to do that. My goal as the producer is for femme and trans comedians to know how to advocate for themselves and their own needs.”

Loera-Wiggins will showcase what Femme Feedback is all about during a special showcase hosted during this week’s Tree Town Comedy Festival at 7:15 pm on Thursday, March 5, at 212 South Fourth Avenue in Ann Arbor.

The Radar tracks new music by Washtenaw County-associated artists and labels.

This week:
Laughing Hyenas, Post-Ford, Houdïnï CHïN, Matt Jones & The Reconstruction, Deniz Tek, The Saturations, BigPlanet, and Prhyme Rhyme Boss.

Robin Speth’s Synapses of a Storm Cell is a painted snapshot of a dynamic moment.

“I try to capture the excitement and movement of an event like that,” said Speth about his 2023 airbrush painting. “It seems to be between a snapshot and a time-lapse. I want to showcase the movement because you get to see something that isn’t always seen.”

Synapses of a Storm Cell also showcases Speth’s interest in storm chasing.

“I found a filmmaker on YouTube named Mike Olbinski, and he does this amazing time-lapse footage of storms,” he said. “It was seeing those and getting a sense of how they move. I wanted to try to make a larger piece. I will also say that with the clouds, they came out messing around in my studio. I figured out how to do them over the course of a day.”

Speth’s painting is one of 30 pieces featured in his latest exhibit, Decoherence, at the University of Michigan’s Matthaei Botanical Gardens.

“One Track Mind” features a Washtenaw County artist or band discussing one song from their latest release.

Standout Track: No. 4, "Rain (We Are Alive)," by Ann Arbor vocal-looping artist Ki5 from his new four-track EP, Mind, with guest vocals from Aviva Match. The artist born Kyler Wilkins writes uplifting, soul-centric, a capella pop that is usually built by him sampling his own voice to provide the harmonic and rhythmic beds of his songs as well as the melodic leads. On some previous releases, Wilkins has strayed outside of vox-only jams and incorporated the likes of drums, synths, bass, and viola, but for "Rain," it's just body parts—mouth and hands—to make all the sounds, including the liquid percussion. "'Rain' was inspired by a want to encourage presence by engaging with senses of hearing and touch," Wilkins said. "The first set of lyrics are 'Be free / Listen to the rain / We are alive,' and that very simply is an invitation to the present using hearing. The rain sounds [here] apply to the sense of touch through their creation with hand-clapping and snaps."

UMS and the City of Ypsilanti are once again filling up the old Freighthouse with a month full of artists and musicians. "UMS at the Freighthouse" is a twice-annual residency in the historic building that offers a diverse lineup of local creatives putting on a variety of shows, all of which are all either free or pay what you wish. This year's spring residency runs April 9-25, and Ypsi residents get priority access with early registration starting Tuesday, February 24, at 10 am. The general public can register for shows beginning on March 10.

Here are the performers and events for the April residency; click on the performance to go to UMS's website page for the event:

When I was a child, the mere mention of “summer school” was enough to scare most kids straight.

Little did I know then that many of my Asian American peers across the country were not only drilled and educated all day, every day in the summer, but for hours each afternoon during the school year, too.

U-M Stamps School of Art & Design professor Angela Chen’s new book, After School 課後, chronicles the author’s experience growing up (during the ‘90s and aughts) in this competitive subculture—both as a student and as the child of Taiwanese parents who owned a “supplemental school” called Futurelink, initially housed in a strip mall in Temple City, California.

“As a kid, none of us really wanted to be going to after school,” said Chen. “In Chinese, we call them buxiban … and in English, we refer to them as ‘cram schools,’ but among ourselves, as children, we called them ‘hell.’ Like, we hate going there. Nobody likes it. We all wish we could be at home, playing video games, or just with our families, having a nice cookie and milk snack or something. … But at the same time, as an adult, one thing I think about now is how a lot of my social life happened at Futurelink. Even though we were forced to study and do workbooks all the time, even in those 10 minutes of recess, or waiting for the van to pick us up and take us to Futurelink, a lot of social life happened in those in-between moments. … I have very fond memories of those moments in particular.”

The Radar tracks new music by Washtenaw County-associated artists and labels.

This week:
Animal Trial, Dennis Proctor, G.B. Marian, Redwood Ride, DAViS, Marc Hannaford, Jerry Arlen, and Will Kaye.

“One Track Mind” features a Washtenaw County artist or band discussing one song from their latest release.

Standout Track: No. 6, “Amaretto,” from Fearless Amaretto (they/them). The Ypsilanti artist’s latest EP, Diary of Amaretto, is an exploration of passion, intimacy, and authenticity in relationships. Each song is like a personal journey entry, examining Fearless Amaretto’s thoughts and feelings about different romantic encounters.

On “Amaretto,” they’re educating potential suitors about how to approach them. “Navigating sex and relationships as a witch, or even as an intuitive or empathetic person, is always interesting," Amaretto said. "I’m often presented with suitors who talk a big game with no follow-through, or have feelings they want to explore with me, but are afraid to speak up. ‘Amaretto’ is that song to let them know to shit or get off the pot. Either make a move or move aside, because someone is waiting for their chance. You are that witch! I hope people hear this song and are reminded that they are not only desired, but they’re also deserving of people who won’t play about their desire for you. Tell them not to call your name unless they’re about that life.”