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

This edition features beat-driven ambient by Jason Engling, gothic-folk by Dollie Rot, folk by Dave & Kristi, organ experiments by Latimer Rogland, and gritty vaporwave by Delos Prismatic.

Jason Engling, Thirty Minutes in Ypsilanti
The North Coast Modular Collective isn't as active as it was a few years ago, though it has sparked similar local groups, such as Gear Lords, who perform with and educate about modular synths. Jason Engling is a founding member of North Coast, but his latest album, Thirty Minutes in Ypsilanti, was performed entirely on an iPad using various software apps. Recorded live at Dreamland Theater on April 27, 2024, the album showcases another side of Engling's sonic output: Rather than the drifty ambience of past releases, Thirty Minutes incorporates all sorts of off-kilter hip-hop beats under the plaintive melodies and drift-music accompaniment.

Dollie Rot, Hidden Works
Ann Arbor's Dollie Rot makes several references to drinking on Hidden Works along with a lyrical nod to Tom Waits' 1975 album Nighthawks at the Diner. But unlike Waits' explorations of nighttime and vices, there are no bluesy, jazzy, sore-throat odes, just late-night meditations delivered by a haunting, velvety voice over gently picked and strummed acoustic guitar. Spoken-word poems open and close the album, but the six songs in between evoke the gothic-folk sound of This Mortal Coil and the earliest His Name Is Alive albums.

Dave & Kristi, The Chickadees
This Dexter and Ann Arbor project is led by Kristi Lynn Davis and Dave Boutette, the latter formerly of the very popular late '80s and early '90s Detroit-area alt-rock act Junk Monkeys. But nothing is rocking on Dave & Kristi's new album, The Chicadees, a mature, chill, lovely little LP that incorporates jazzy folk, country, and bluegrass into an appealing amalgam. The duo, plus their pals, will celebrate the release of The Chicadees at Old Town Tavern in Ann Arbor on Sunday, June 1 at 7 pm.

Latimer Rogland, Organ Thru Phone Thru OP-1 Thru
University of Michigan organ student Latimer Rogland continues his explorations on making the giant church instrument into a device for left-field audio explorations that might not please the Sunday-morning crowd, but he has built a congregation of reverential listeners. The title track of this two-song release features Rogland playing abstract bits that are processed (at some point) through the highly portable OP-1 synthesizer, while the second cut, the swirling "Presentation V," is a live reworking of a song from his 2024 EP compilation, Contemporary Battle Cries. "Presentation V" was recorded in April 2025 at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Ypsi for a multimedia event called à la Dada.

Delos Prismatic, "Neighbor" b/w "Friendly Conversations"
Delos Prismatic, Minimal Spaces EP
Ypsi's Delos Prismatic (aka Jordan Compton) makes instrumental synth music that mostly evokes vaporwave, but there's also an overdriven grime to the music that strips away any retro-futuristic sheen for something that almost sounds like it's being broadcast through pirate radio.

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