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

This edition features jazz by the Nick Collins Sextet, synth-pop by Same Eyes, experimental jazz by microplastique, grunge by Good Man's Brother, and twinkling math rock by Pluot.

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

This edition features hip-hop by Gostbustaz, atmospheric folk by Rabbitology, fuzzy power-pop by Pet TV, outsider folk by Do We Have a Problem?, and live jazz-world fusion by The Missing Cats.

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

This edition features indie-gaze by The Nuts, post-everything by Post-Ford, modern classical by Carlos Taboada, remixes of Annie Bacon songs, and electro-pop by Lovepark.

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

This edition features emo-tinged punk by Geranium Red, yoga music by Golden Feelings, electronica by Evan W, improv and electronics by Panto Collapsar & Cyrus Pireh, and indie-tronica by Ness Lake with DJ FLP.

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

This edition features three electronica artists from the Sunbabe Records stable—Magoose, Caly3r, and Billion Dollar Mind—along with R&B from Vonsiwel and more electronic beauty via Otherseas.

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

This edition features punk rock by Sex Change, electro-prog by The Strange Theory of Light and Matter, space rock by Tomorrowland, Americana by Wells & the Outfit, and distorted beats by Foreign Carnivals.

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

This edition features Irish-American fiddle folk by Hannah O'Brien & Grant Flick, original electronica courtesy of MEMCO, drum 'n' bass by Indigo Virus, country-folk by Kathy Wieland, and a Phil Collins cover by Chris DuPont.

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

This edition features prog-post-noise rock by Lunch, electro-screamo by Oblivion Heirs, emo-indie by Fawn, dark electronics by Model No. 1021999, and live jams by Chirp.

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

This edition features jazz by the Alex Anest Organ Trio, sadcore by Hubbard Lake Baking Club, dark ambient by Paper Petals, jungle by Duburban, and live jams by Stormy Chromer.

Sometimes it takes something small to make you notice something big.

On the first night of the Ann Arbor Art Fair, I was in the outdoor seating area of The Ravens Club on Main Street, with my back to vendors who lined the road. I leaned back in my chair, looked to my right, and scanned the restaurant and bar's red-brick building, admiring the two levels of black metal balconies unique to its facade. 

My eyes then drifted left to the adjacent building, composed of large gray-white bricks and featuring a tall tower on the corner of Main and Washington. The words First National Building appear above the tall arch of the tower entrance, with decorative cornices above the text. As my eyes glided up, I noticed the two first two levels of windows were arched, but the next four floors were rectangular. The arches return for two of the final three rows of windows, and four carved lions’ heads jut out at the top of the building between the three window rows.

All of this looked familiar. But it’s not because I’ve walked by the First National Building hundreds of times, or because I’ve sat at this approximate spot at The Ravens Club dozens of times.

The familiarity came from my having just seen Melissa Dehner’s drawings for the Bicentennial Blocks that the Ann Arbor District Library commissioned.