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

On the opening track of The Stellars' second album, singer Erez Levin sings, "I wish you didn't live so far away," which is the theme of this Friday Five. All the acts in this edition spent formative years in Ann Arbor before moving on, including polished indie-rockers The Stellars, soul-pop crooner Jacob Sigman, avant-gardist "Blue" Gene Tyranny, experimental pianist Kelly Moran, and sound sculptor Grant Johnson.

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

This edition features indie-gaze by Harper, jazz fusion by The Missing Cats, pop-punk by Premium Rat, trumpet jazz by the Charlie Porter Quintet, and electronica by ness lake.

The Monday Mix is an occasional roundup of compilations, live recordings, videos, podcasts, and more by Washtenaw County-associated artists, DJs, radio stations, and record labels.

This edition features sights and sounds from the Miller brothers, Far Leys, The Nuts, Cedar Bend, Grant Johnson, Djangophonique, Bob Sweet Quartet, and Pink Marlena.

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

This edition features spacey grooves by Bunkerman, alt-rock grunge by Head Full of Ghosts, improvisations by Molly Jones/Hunter Brown/Ishmael Ali, drum 'n' bass by Acid Lab, and black metal by Anteomedroma and Gnosis.

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

This edition features eclectic indie rock by ZZVAVA, singer-songwriter tunes by Mike Vial, modular synths by Notomaton, leftfield R&B hip-house by Fearless Amaretto, and groove-oriented experimental jazz by pink marlena.

On “ANFR,” the opening song of Towner’s third album, songwriter Kris Ehrig sings, “I’ll keep my secrets to the tomb.”

The statement isn’t a manifesto, but after interviewing Ehrig about the fuzz-soaked indie-rock trio’s new record, The Importance of Having a Good Time, he does keep things close to his chest. 

For the two previous Towner LPs, 2020’s This Is Entertainment and 2022’s The Lever, Ehrig shared songwriting duties with fellow guitarist CT James, who moved from Ann Arbor to Los Angeles and has since released two singles. Jason Horvath has played bass on all the albums, and drummer Eric Van Wormer joined the group for The Lever. (The first album featured programmed drums.)

With James gone, The Importance of Having a Good Time comes entirely from Ehrig’s point of view, and his songs mix self-deprecation and angst with numerous lyrical references to other songs and bands. For musical trainspotters of a certain age and sonic disposition, puzzling out all the indie-, atl-, and punk-rock references feels like a game. 

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

This edition features some vintage odds and sods that I've wanted to write about in some form or fashion, including psychedelic jams by Wild Boys (1973), soulful rock by Brat Axis (1975), sludgy grunge by Möl Triffid (1990), art punk by Monster Bait (1991), and stadium new wave by The Iodine Raincoats (1988).

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

This edition features synth-pop by Same Eyes, folk-pop by Maddy Ringo, retrowave by Rosary, video-game music by Mathew A. Jacqmin-Kramer, and black metal by Sumeus and Anteomedroma.

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

This edition features a trio of Fred Thomas-associated bands including indie-pop by Mighty Clouds, hypnotic jams by Winged Wheel, and even more hypnotic jams by Dr. Pete Larson and his Cytotoxic Nyatiti Band as well as indie-rock by Great Arm and electronica by XiNNiW.

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

This week features modal jams from Dave Sharp Worlds Quartet, genre-defying sounds by KUZbeats, metal by The Biscuit Merchant, indie-gaze by The Nuts, and new music by Carlos Taboada.