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

This week features delicate dream-folk by Henri Bardot, instrumental prog-metal by The Strange Theory of Light and Matter, altered tuning computer music by The Evil Doings of an Intergalactic Skeleton, tweaked tunes by Jib Kidder, and a brief techno-house jam by Gvmmy.

Henri Bardot, Face Down
Ann Arbor-area musician Henri Bardot sings in a soft head voice that makes every dream-folk tune he croons sound like the ultimate paean to romance. Face Down is Bardot's latest full-length album in a career that has spanned more than a decade, and it's a sweet and delicate collection of songs that should appeal to fans of Elliott Smith, Bon Iver, and Dashboard Confessional.

The Strange Theory of Light and Matter, 20etnghjm EP
This mysterious Ann Arbor prog-metal project has put out a lot of music on its Bandcamp page, but nearly every release mentions that the songs featured were written many years before the recording was shared. That's also true of the four instrumental songs on 20etnghjm, which were penned between 2011-2016. Maybe it's because there aren't any vocals, but I get big video game and movie trailer soundtrack vibes from these tracks, which are as moody and grand as the band name The Strange Theory of Light and Matter.

The Evil Doings of an Intergalactic Skeleton, DEMOS for ect., silly, krill
Speaking of grand band names: The Evil Doings of an Intergalactic Skeleton is a one-person Ann Arbor project exploring special tunings in electronic music. The four songs on DEMOS are quirky and clever, existing somewhere between Aphex Twin and early computer-music experiments.

Jib Kidder, Life's a Bitch EP
Ann Arbor's Jib Kidder wields production tools like Eddie Van Halen rips on his Frankenstrat. The three songs on this EP are built on simple guitar lines, but the way Kidder plays with time, pitch, modulation, autotune, and sound effects is virtuosic. 

Gvmmy, "Sexyback"
The latest single by Ypsi producer and rapper Gvmmy steps away from the hip-hop stage and heads straight onto the dance floor. The too-brief tune "Sexyback" isn't a Justin Timberlake cover but there is a sublte nod to another song: Cajmere's 1992 techno-house smash "Percolator." 

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