Friday Five highlights music by Washtenaw County-associated artists and labels.

This week features electric solo folk from Lily Talmers, acoustic folk by Daring Detour, jazz by Meg Brennan, a techno/house mix by Joshua Orange, and experimental ambient and pop by Samn Johnson and friends.

Lily Talmers, "Things You Can Find" & "Warm Bodies"
Lily Talmers' Remember Me As Holy was one of my favorite albums in 2021—and not just among local records either. The Birmingham, Michigan native and recent University of Michigan grad is a terrific songwriter with a strong, unique voice. She seems to have moved to Brooklyn recently, which is where she recorded these two live versions of older songs (albeit on a pre-move visit). These two performances were recorded at the HQ of Paper Moon Records, also in Brooklyn, and the label has a gem on its hands if they continue to work with Talmers.

Daring Detour, "Road to You"
The Ann Arbor duo of Kathi Dvorin (vocals) and DeVeaux Gauger (guitar) create the sort of folky Americana that would slot in any night of the week at The Ark. Daring Detour recently played The Ypsi Alehourse, as previewed in The Stratton Setlist, and revealed it would play cover tunes by Mary Chapin Carpenter and Taylor Swift, but the duo's new "Road to You" is an original that you can imagine either one of those superstars covering as well.

Meg Brennan, Legend of Sleeping Bear EP
Meg Brennan featuring Andrew Bishop, "Justice Come"
Saxophonist-flutist and recent University of Michigan grad Meg Brennan is taking over the school's School of Music, Theatre, and Drama Instagram account on Saturday, January 29, to celebrate the release of her new EP, Legend of Sleeping Bear. She recorded the swinging three-song session last October at the Duderstadt Center on U-M's campus, a place she returned to in January to cut the single "Justice Come," which features saxophonist Andrew Bishop, her former professor.

Joshua Orange, Exposure Mix 039
Another fantastic mix from a Michigan Electronic Music Collective member. Joshua Orange mixes techno, house, and some dance-pop remixes into an exquisite hour of booty-shaking jams.

Samn Johnson, Sasha Kaoru Zamler-Carhart, Consolation (EP 1)
Samn Johnson, Epistulae, Consolation (EP 1)
Acraea, "Clockshifter," "Limerence" & "Ions"
Samn Johnson is a Kalamazoo-based educator and musician who holds composition degrees from the University of Michigan and New York University. He worked with Ann Arbor singer-songwriter Kat Steih on her recent EP series, Songs From a Far Away Galaxy ... and West Park, which focus on pop, but the music released under his own name is more amibent and experimental, utilizing his knowledge of different tuning systems. The 2021 album Epistulae is a 10-track collection of music Johnson made between 2011 and 2017. Last year Johnson also released a collaboration with New York City-based vocalist Sasha Kaoru Zamler-Carhart: The three-track Consolation EP is the first part of an intended 15-song album based on the Latin poetry from Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy, written in 526 C.E. as he awaited execution. Another Johnson project, Acraea, features him teamed with another New York City singer, Leora Mandel, and the duo have released three shimmering and strange avant synth-pop singles together.

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