Friday Five is where we highlight music by Washtenaw County-associated artists.

This week features funk-jazz-whatever by Isolation Daze, pop by Crossover, instrumental R&B by Tanomura, live jams by Stormy Chromer, and sax-drums duets by Shitty Sons.
 

Isolation Daze, In Which Our Hero... EP
I'm genuinely jealous of how productive the Isolation Daze collective was in 2020. Since I last plugged the group's Chaotic EP on December 4, Isolation Daze has released five more, including this one as well as iso duz xms ! ! ! ( ho ho ho ), Binaural Response, Exquisite Corpse, and Ghost Ode. With six members spanning Ann Arbor as well as Washington and Kentucky, the Daze keeps cranking out these EPs that fall between funk, jazz, ambient, and electronica. There's even some British music hall piano on In Which Our Hero.... A genre-less project where the members seem to be having a blast with the pure art of creation.

Crossover, "The Other Side"
The first single from this new Ann Arbor pop duo, which is on the upcoming The Moonlight album. Strong Maroon 5 and Hall & Oates vibes. The closest local analog would be The Kelseys.

Tanomura, Black Tulips
The 11 sly, slow, and funky miniatures here—the longest is 1:48—by this Ypsi producer feel like templates for an R&B vocalist to grab and expand into full songs. He also released a self-titled, nine-song instrumental album in November where the songs are fleshed out into three- to five-minute slow jams. Calling all soul singers: Get in touch with Tanomura.

Stormy Chromer, 10/09/2020 - Ferndale, MI
This Ypsilanti-based jam band spent much of 2020 updating its Bandcamp with nearly a dozen live shows. This one is the most recent—released December 25—but you could spend weeks listening to the group's extensive concert recordings.

Shitty Sons, Shitty Sons II
This duo consists of Ann Arbor saxophonist Tim Haldeman and Chicago drummer Frank Rosaly. While there are three short solo tracks featuring ukelele, flute, and piano, the majority of this album offers bracing sax-and-drums duets that bridge the inside-out divide. Haldeman plays in a style reminiscent of Sonny Rollins, mixing idiosyncracies and engaging melodies. Also check out Haldeman's fantastic Open Water, as a Child album from 2018.

Christopher Porter is a library technician and the editor of Pulp.

Winter Game 2021:
ISOLATIONDAZE