Friday Five: Timothy Monger, Jojo Engelbert, Fred Thomas, Josh Woodward, Latimer Rogland

MUSIC FRIDAY FIVE

Cover art for the albums and singles featured in the Friday Five.

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

This week features a music video by Timothy Monger, pop-punk by Jojo Engelbert, a reissue from Fred Thomas, jazzy folk-pop by Josh Woodward, and ambient by Latimer Rogland.

Friday Five: Martin Babl, KUZbeats, MEMCO mixes, Tried, Erin Zindle & The Ragbirds

MUSIC FRIDAY FIVE

Cover art for the albums and singles featured in the Friday Five.

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

This week features keyboard and synth explorations by Martin Babl, cinematic composition channeled via KUZbeats, two MEMCO dance mixes, melodic hardcore by Tried, and a country-tinged rocker by Erin Zindle & The Ragbirds.

Friday Five: Marc Taras & "Cuban Fantasy," Kat Steih, DJ FLP, Cowgirl, Mike C521

MUSIC FRIDAY FIVE

Cover art for the albums and singles featured in the Friday Five.

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

This week features a tribute to WEMU radio host Marc Taras, punky rock by Kat Steih, electronica from DJ FLP, Americana via Cowgirl, and hip-hop by Mike C521.

Friday Five: Deniz Tek

MUSIC FRIDAY FIVE

Deniz Tek stands in the door frame for Motown's Studio A. Photo by Anne Tek.

Deniz Tek stands in the door frame for Motown's Studio A. Photo by Anne Tek.

Friday Five is a weekly column that highlights music by Washtenaw County-associated artists and labels.

 

Ann Arbor produced one of the world's first punk guitarists, a person who channeled the speed and chaos of the I-94 rush-hour drive and influenced ax-wielders around the world.

And while The Stooges' Ron Asheton also fits this description, I'm talking about Deniz Tek.

The Ann Arbor born and raised Tek took everything he learned about Motor City rock 'n' roll in the late 1960s and brought it to Australia in the early 1970s when he moved to Sydney for his studies. There, he co-founded Radio Birdman, perhaps the greatest exponents of proto-punk mayhem this side of his buddies in The Stooges and another all-time Australian band, The Saints.

Over the past 50 years, Tek has continued to pound away on his guitar like a metal-stamping machine, producing steely riffs that draw on bluesy rock 'n' roll but played with linear propulsive power—like Chuck Berry playing a surf song on a buzzsaw.

Tek, now 70, has played in Ann Arbor many times since he left, but it feels especially fitting that he's the key act for this year's Fuzz Fest, the eighth annual celebration of the primordial punk sound the guitarist was essential in co-creating.

As always, Fuzz Fest takes place at The Blind Pig, and this year's edition runs Thursday, August 3 to Saturday, August 5, with Deniz Tek headlining the Friday, August 4 show. (See the full lineup below.)

If you're not familiar with Tek's career, this Friday Five will give you a tiny taste of the man's prolific output in a variety of bands.

But this is a bonus edition of the Friday Five, so in addition to my selections, Chris "Box" Taylor also weighs in.

Taylor, the main man behind Fuzz Fest and a member of Mazinga, will be holding down the bass for Tek at The Blind Pig gig—perhaps even playing some of the face-melting torchers he picked as some of his favorites.

Friday Five: Allan Harris, Gvmmy, Fantishow, Othercast, Choke Uno & Foul Mouth with Tru Klassick & J-Classic

MUSIC FRIDAY FIVE

Friday Five cover art

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

This week features jazz vocalist Allan Harris, hyperpop hip-hop by Gvmmy, electro-IDM by Fantishow, spooky trip-hop by Othercast, and hip-hop by Choke Uno & Foul Mouth featuring Tru Klassick & J-Classic.

Friday Five: Miller Twins, Adam J. Snyder, Studio Lounge, Vitamin TI, Dykechow, Bubu

MUSIC FRIDAY FIVE

Cover art for the albums and singles featured in the Friday Five.

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

This week features modern classical / exploratory jazz / power pop by Benjamin and Laurence Miller, folk by Adam J. Snyder, quirky pop by Studio Lounge, retrowave by Dillan Pribak, and dance mixes by Vitamin TI, Dykechow, Bubu for the ongoing Immaculate Conception and MEMCO series.

Friday Five: Eve Machines, Juliet Freedman, NewBassoon Institute, The Regenerate! Orchestra, Pepperoni Wilson

MUSIC FRIDAY FIVE

Cover art for the music featured in this Friday Five.

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

This week features indie-folktronica by Eve Machines, folk-pop by Juliet Freedman featuring Ben Wood, and site-specific performances and/or compositions by the NewBassoon Institute, Pepperoni Wilson, and The Regenerate! Orchestra.

Friday Five: Same Eyes, Mike Vial, Brendan Ige, The Only Love Gods, Squid General vs. Otherseas

MUSIC FRIDAY FIVE

Cover art for the albums and singles featured in the Friday Five.

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

This week features new wave by Same Eyes, folk-rock by Mike Vial, tuba/euphonium art song by Brendan Ige, an Ann Arbor Civic Theatre cast recording of original songs for Much Ado About Nothing, and the latest MEMCO mix by Squid General vs. Otherseas.

Friday Five: Erin Zindle, Gvmmy, BigPlanet, BPasta, Ayla

MUSIC FRIDAY FIVE

Art for the albums and singles featured in this week's Friday Five.

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

This week features alt-country by Erin Zindle, hip-hop electronica by Gvmmy, rap by BigPlanet, and dance mixes by BPasta and Ayla.

Friday Five: Golden Feelings, Duane Pitre, X-Altera, Benjamin Miller, Lloyd Cole

MUSIC FRIDAY FIVE

Cover art for the albums and singles featured in the Friday Five.

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

This week features chakra-aligning ambient from Golden Feelings, just intonation explorations by Duane Pitre, industrial-tinged techno by X-Altera, sparse experimental jazz by Benjamin Miller, and a synth-pop song about Iggy Pop by Lloyd Cole.