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

This edition features lo-fi chill by Whimsical Beats, hyperpop from The Cicada, rampant eclecticism via Isolation Sundaze, modular synths by Luminous Fridge, and political grunge by History History.

Whimsical Beats, Cinematic Moods
Ypsi's Whimsical Beats makes the sort of lo-fi, chilled-out, melodically pleasant instrumental hip-hop that would slot right in on the Lofi Girl channel. Cinematic Moods is comprised of six tracks that was over you like a summer rain. With titles such as "Spring," "Take a Walk," "March of the Beetles," "The Park Bench," "Cloud Gazing," and "Quiet Breath," the moods aren't so much cinematic as they are outdoors and sunny.

The Cicada, Stay Away
Before listening to Bandcamp recordings, I like to check the tags to find out how the artists characterize their music. For Stay Away, Ann Arbor's The Cicada added more tags than a spray-painter in Graffiti Alley. This one-person project added "ambient electronic experimental hyperpop ambient art pop dance deconstructed club dream pop experimental electronic noise noise pop synthpop Ann Arbor," and that pretty much covers it. Lyrically, the nine songs are emotive explorations of life's travails.

Isolation Sundaze, Joy Ride EP
Isolation Sundaze, Lose In Space EP
Earlier this month, the long-distance musical collective Isolation Sundaze, which includes a few Ann Arbor musicians in its ranks, released its first recordings in two years. Now, it looks like we're getting a steady stream of them as the group just released its second and third EPs in November. Isolation Sundaze's music is all over the place, from electronica and funk to jazz-informed voicings and art-pop songs.

Luminous Fridge, Avenue Avenue
Ypsi's Luminous Fridge is a prolific creator who makes minimalist electronic music, mostly of a modular synth variety. Avenue Avenue takes cues from '70s and '80s horror soundtracks, experimental composers, and computer music from an earlier era.

History History, "No State Solution" b/w "Never Ending Genocide Blues"
Jason Bombach is History History. The A-side of this Ypsi artist's latest single is a meditation on the Israel-Hamas war and the tragedies happening in the Palestinian territories: "No State Solution" features buried audio clips of people talking about the repercussions of the conflict—trigger warning for crying kids. Bombach does spoken-word vocals for "Never Ending Genocide Blues," which analyzes the violence of colonialism and wayward globalization. The slow-motion music is built on distorted guitars, giving it a grunge-gaze vibe.

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