After a couple of years helping to promote his friends' electronic dance music nights in Washtenaw County, Evan Oswald started thinking about ways to grow the local EDM scene. An avid dancer and sometimes DJ, Oswald saw an opening for a regular weeknight happening that didn't take away from what others were already doing well. After some trial and error, he settled on Gear Lords, a monthly Wednesday night series focused on live music production where genre is less important than the means of production; Gear Lords performers create electronic music using hardware—sequencers, synthesizers, samplers, drum machines, etc.

"I was talking about live sets. People that would plug a bunch of pieces of equipment into each other—a bunch of wires and knobs and stuff," Oswald says.

While he admittedly didn't know much about how the music was made at first, and many people told him why it wouldn't work, Oswald pushed ahead as promoter and recruited friend and musician Javan Cain (AKA "OMO") as Gear Lords' resident artist. A year and a half later, Gear Lords has hosted around 30 events at a handful of venues around Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, building a regular community of performers and patrons along the way. 

"I really just wanted more going on in my neighborhood, and I didn't want to copy other people or step on other people's toes," Oswald says.

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

This edition features electronica by Doogatron, instrumental rock by Mickey Richard, tribal hypnosis by simulatent, outsider music by Klobur, and classic college rock by Suburbo.

When film auteurs Joel and Ethan Coen were writing the script for the 1998 caper comedy The Big Lebowski, they listened to the sort of groovy artists they imagined would be adored by the main character, The Dude: Kenny Rogers and The First Edition, The Eagles, and Creedence Clearwater Revival in particular.

Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski, as played by Jeff Bridges, is a slacker with the same name as a millionaire, and this case of mistaken identity plays out across Los Angeles and a bowling alley. With his long locks and penchant for robes, The Dude looks like the sort of chilled-out guy who knows all the great tunes.

When producer T Bone Burnett was asked to suggest more artists for The Big Lebowski soundtrack, he kept one thing in mind: “Since the Dude was high all the time, he would have to have incredible taste in music," the music archivist told Rolling Stone in 1998.

Rootsy music by Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, and Nina Simone sits next to avant-garde songcraft by Meredith Monk, Captain Beefheart, and Moondog, which dances alongside exotica from Yma Sumac and Henry Mancini. Those initial inspirations of Kenny Rogers and The First Edition, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Gipsy Kings' cover of "Hotel California" also appear. Carter Burwell, who did the original soundtrack music, added his noir-inspired compositions to flesh out the ambiance, and there are many more songs in the movie that didn't make the official album by the likes of ZZ Top, Santana, Booker T. & the MGs, Eagles, The Monks, and more.

The Dude Revue is a now-annual sonic tribute to The Big Lebowski, with core members James Bourland, Jordan Otto, and Connor Otto bringing together friends to perform music featured throughout the movie as well as act out scenes. This second edition takes place on Saturday, April 26, at The Blind Pig in Ann Arbor.

I asked guitarist-singer Bourland about how The Dude Revue came together to honor this cult classic.

After a tumultuous period, Kyle Rasche prefers to pause and reflect.

The singer-songwriter and guitarist ponders heartbreak and growth after experiencing many life changes on Take It Easy.

“These songs were born in a period,” said Rasche, who performs as Kyle Joe, about his latest indie-folk album.

“There was a lot of heartbreak, and there was a lot of really beautiful love, too. And then as the writing went on, I started leaning into more of the lessons I was learning along the way and trying to make the music represent those moments instead of just the heartbreak.”

In those vulnerable moments, Rasche rediscovers himself and his sense of purpose across seven tracks. Collectively, they demonstrate the resiliency that comes from weathering a divorce, loving yourself, and finding kindred spirits.

“I hope more than anything that people hear the hope,” said Rasche, who hails from Alto, a small town about 20 miles southeast of Grand Rapids. “It can get pretty dark … but there’s some light in there.”

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

This edition features a Kraftwerk-like electronic tune by French Ship, orchestral indie by Racing Mount Pleasant, jazzy fusion by The Missing Cats, rap by J-Classic, and soulful emo-tronica by Sacha.

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

This edition features art songs by Black composers courtesy of Louise Toppin and Darryl Taylor, a meditative Gifts of Art compilation, experimental organ/keyboard/electronics by Latimer Rogland, Americana by Matt McCleskey, and singer-songwriter tunes by Lauren Blackford.

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

This edition features big band prog-jazz fusion by Elliot McConnell, jazz-rock by Punto de Fuga, country-folk jazz by Maddy Ringo, moody indie by Dick Texas, and two new drum 'n' bass releases on the AGN7 label.

In 2019, George Mashour aspired to make a psychedelic rock album.

The anesthesiologist and neuroscientist had just turned 50 and wanted to step outside the medical world to pursue a musical project.

“I was reflecting on what I wanted to do in the next phase of my life … and [I’d] been writing all these songs—sometimes just in my head—some of them [were] decades old,” said Mashour, a University of Michigan researcher who studies consciousness and has been dabbling in music over the years.

“For my 50th birthday, my wife got me a gift certificate for studio time at Big Sky [Recording], which was cool, and in retrospect I’m really glad she did that.”

Later that year, he became chair of U-M’s Department of Anesthesiology, and then COVID hit in early 2020.

“I was super busy, and of course, everything was shut down,” Mashour said. “And yet I still had that physical gift certificate for eight hours of studio time … so it was just always on my mind. And then it was 2023 when I said, ‘You know what, I’m going to do this,’ so I got in touch with Geoff [Michael], who’s the owner of Big Sky.” 

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

This edition features Persian fusion by Babak Soleimani, electronica by Broomway, hip-hop by Blaine Nash, singer-songwriter soul by Jeff Karoub, and synth-pop by Same Eyes.

The party was going on too late, with people milling inside my Ypsilanti group house way past when my roommates and I wanted them there. Gentle prods of "Time to go home" and "Get the hell out" were unheeded by the bad-beer masses, so it was going to take a sonic bouncer to clear the joint.

That's when we played Devo's "U Got Me Bugged" at energy-dome-shattering volume, utilizing the CD player's repeat function for the maximum annoyance we could wring out of a song that runs 2 minutes and 49 seconds. I don't recall how many times we played "Bugged"—a modular-synth squelch-fest revealed on the then newly released Hardcore Devo: Hardcore Devo: Volume Two, 1974-1977, which collected demos and experiments from the Akron, Ohio surrealists who were still years away from the mainstream success of 1980's "Whip It."

But I do remember "Bugged" worked like a can of Raid made from waveforms, making our unwanted guests (and perhaps some wanted ones) scurry off into the night.