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

This edition features music-hall-pop-psychedelic-jazz by Tinn Parrow & Company / Laurence Bond Miller, synthesizer music by Fred Thomas, alien electronica by The Evil Doings of an Intergalactic Skeleton, avant-R&B by Keif Skye, and ukulele-led pop by Mother Mushroom.

Tinn Parrow & Company / Laurence Bond Miller, My Gymnasium Museum
Laurence Bond Miller is one of the most prolific musicians in Washtenaw County history, making everything from psychedelic rock, children's music, and noise to free jazz, modern classical, and new wave over the past 55-plus years. The Ann Arbor native's latest project is the 22-track My Gymnasium Museum, whose title hints at his acrobatic sonic history. Tinn Parrow is Miller's alter-ego for this mad collection, and he plays the majority of the instruments, alongside numerous Metro Detroit jazz and classical musicians, as well as his twin brother, Benjamin, on alto sax and C-tenor sax. Based on that instrumentation, you might think My Gymnasium Museum is in the spirit of the 2023 compilation by the Miller Twins, Early Compositions 1973 - 1976, which featured experimental chamber jazz and 20th-century classical music, but there's so much pop on this album—leftfield, off-the-wall, atypical, nonintuitive pop, but undeniably catchy—alongside more Dada-esque excursions.

I thought of The Beatles at their most orchestral—there's even a cover of "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" from Sgt. Pepper's as well as "Norwegian Wood" from Rubber Soul—in a collision with kaleidoscopic circus-jazz music, as on "Next Stop: Babylon Berlin." Another prime influence on My Gymnasium Museum seems to be the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, whose "The Equestrian Statue" is interpreted. The Bonzo's music-hall psychedelia, jazz background, and humorous bent are all present in these Tinn Parrow compositions, some of which date back to when Miller was 18 years old in 1972, the same year as The Ann Arbor Ozone Homecoming Parade. The Miller twins and their friend David Swain marched in the countercultural event, and My Gymnasium Museum features the track "Ozonic Reenactment" from The Ann Arbor Ozone Homecoming Parade documentary made by Terry Serris. While the song isn't streaming—the great Cuneiform Records usually doesn't post everything to encourage you to buy its releases—you can watch the documentary or the director's cut on AADL.org.

Miller's varied and prolific output makes it hard to "rank," and if you have an adventurous ear, you'll likely find something to enjoy in his vast catalog of music. But as someone who has listened to a ton of Miller's work over the past five years,  My Gymnasium Museum is at the top of the list for me. It fully captures Miller's brilliance with composition and harmony, his surrealist humor, and deeply embedded ability to balance weird hooks and controlled anarchy.

Fred Thomas, Critical Violets, Dream Erosion Pt. VII
Six weeks after his band Idle Ray released its excellent noisy indie-pop record Even in the Spring, Ypsi's Fred Thomas is back with another synthesizer record. It's ambient with an edge. Yes, there's plenty of drift sounds, but there's also a tension in many of the tracks that don't necessarily allow you to sink into the couch. 

The Evil Doings of an Intergalactic Skeleton, Metal Reindeer
This Ann Arbor artist makes pure alien electronica, using strange tunings and falling-down-the-staircase rhythms. On Bandcamp, the artist with the awesome project name states, "Another full release, and one that I'm actually kind-of proud of to boot! Please ignore songs 4 and 6. They're 'jokes' that are meant to be 'funny.'" Evil Doings should be proud since Metal Reindeer is an avant-garde banger, but the listener need not skip tracks four and six because they're solid cuts and there's quirky humor laced throughout this album.

Keif Skye, It's Complicated
Brian Walker is Keif Skye, and this looks to be his debut album. The Ypsi R&B singer collaborated with producer Ay Yo B for the nine tracks on It's Complicated, which is a vulnerable look at a relationship falling apart. The music focuses on ballads and slow grooves, and Ay Yo B has a great ear for unique sounds: There's a ton of strange details in the music swirling around Walker as he croons, his voice coated in effects that complement the lovely but distressed sonic palette. 

Mother Mushroom, "Canadian Gas"
Ann Arbor's Mother Mushroom is influenced by Latvian folk music, which is not something I'd guess from the band's recent single, "Canadian Gas." The ukulele-led tune sounds like a sweet, minimalist, twee-pop waltz. There's more music on the group's Bandcamp if you want to see where the Latvian tinge shows up, or you can see Mother Mushroom perform in person on August 2 at the North Star Lounge in Ann Arbor.

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