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

This edition features sample-heavy electronica by Obsolete Aesthetics, fuzz-fi by Lantern Lens, Irish-steeped instrumentals by Kitty Donohoe, multigenre pop by Andrés Soto, and an experimental jam by Laserbeams of Boredom.

Not a lot of marriages reach the 50-year mark, and even fewer bands do.

But Ann Arbor-based folk group Mustard’s Retreat has always blazed its own path, weathering changes and challenges across an astonishing five decades.

To celebrate this milestone anniversary, the group has scheduled a handful of concerts— including one at The Ark on March 28—featuring all three original members, who started playing together at the Heidelberg’s Rathskeller in 1975.

David Tamulevich remembers auditioning there as a solo act when he’d only done some open mics previously and was working as a cook at the Brown Jug. Libby Glover, who would later become part of the original trio, was tending bar there when her boss asked what she thought of Tamulevich.

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

This edition features worldly improv-rock by Jesse Stiles and Bombici, healing ambient by Golden Feelings, political metalcore by Loss of Life, hyper-pop emo by Sacha, and electronica by Delphine Delight.

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 flannel-flying punks Normal Park, which has had three concerts documented by Punkbedfilms; the debut clips from Camera Cowboy's Trailside Tunes, featuring live performances by Cowgirl and Adam J. Snyder; a concert recording of the Dave Sharp Worlds Quartet; three new dance-floor mixes from MEMCO; and trumpeter Mark Kirschenmann performing melodic excerpts from his new album.

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

This edition features hip-hop from Dre Dav, drumcentric world-music jams by Muruga-Sikiru-Trance Tribe, noise-rock by Horse Bomb, big-synth music by Orka Veer & Zakoor, and chamber-pop by Cedar Bend.

London Beck doesn’t hesitate to share what’s on their mind.

The singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer sings about reclaiming their power and undergoing a personal transformation on Vengeance Be Mine.

“When I started to put together this album, this was a way for me to say … I’ve gotten to a place where if [something] is really bothering me, I’m not going to keep that secret because I’m protecting somebody else,” said Beck about their latest album, which features infectious elements of R&B, soul, house, dance, and hip-hop.

“Someone very close to me said, ‘You’re going to worry yourself to death and then you’re going to pass away. And the things that are happening that are grieving you will continue to happen whether you’re here or not. So why are we going to hold that in and keep that in?’”

Beck followed that advice after recently experiencing an illness, a vocal cord injury, and the death of their grandmother. They channeled those struggles into 17 bold tracks about identity, growth, and heartbreak on Vengeance Be Mine. 

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

This edition features folktronica by Rabbitology, disco-house by John Beltran, soundtrack grooves by KUZbeats, synth-pop by Same Eyes, and indie by Luna Pier.

Ann Arbor's Peter Siers was born in 1961.

Ypsi's Kenji Lee graduated from U-M in 2019.

But the drummer in his 60s and the saxophonist-bassist in his 20s have teamed up for two cross-generational jazz showcases in different parts of Ann Arbor.

Siers and Lee recently started the Ann Arbor Jazz Workshop on a revolving date every month at the Elk's Lodge, 220 Sunset Road. The duo is encouraging everyone from high school students to longtime musicians to join the session, which next occurs on Saturday, March 22. Doors open at 5:30 pm, the jam starts at 6 pm, and then the Pete Siers/Kenji Lee Quartet performs at 8 pm. Cost is $10.

Just a few days later, Siers and Lee are at it again across town with a new concert series at Mothfire Brewing, 713 West Ellsworth Road. Starting March 26 and continuing every Wednesday from 5-8 pm, a local jazz group will perform at the Pittsfield Township pub known for its locally brewed IPAs, sour ales, pilsner, and dark beers as well as the food trucks that operate in its parking lot.

The first three concerts will feature: 

Brazilian pianist Heloísa Fernandes first played in the Kerrytown Concert House in 2014. She's returning to Ann Arbor for the second time on Friday, February 21, but this will be the third time she's played for the venue.

Like many clubs during the pandemic, Kerrytown Concert House hosted concerts on its YouTube page featuring artists performing at home. On July 11, 2021, Fernandes performed a solo 50-minute set from her living room in São Luiz do Paraitinga, a city in the eastern part of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The local connection that brought together Ann Arbor and São Paulo was Musica Extraordinaria, an artists' representative org run by Tree Town's Michael Grofsorean.

The video below gives you a taste of what you'll hear when Fernandes physically returns to Kerrytown for a solo concert that will serve as something of a warm-up to record her next album. Fernandes spent most of this American tour in a quartet, exploring the jazz-classical-Brazilian hybrid she's explored her whole career. But after playing in Ann Arbor, Fernandes will go to Chicago for one more concert and to record her latest solo album, Dream of the Waters, which will be a mix of older originals and a new series of works inspired by a 2023 stay she had in the Amazon forest. 

Check out her 2021 virtual Kerrytown Concert House show below: 

From the outside, Ann Arbor conjures the image of a pastoral place. It’s in the name, suggesting a shady nook of trees and hedges and daisies.

For those with ears tuned to the bellicose joys of distorted guitars, drum battalions, and the expression of unfettered frustration, however, Ann Arbor is where punk rock began. A pair of brothers named Asheton eschewed formal lessons for more physical forms of musicality back in 1967, resulting in a band called The Stooges and coloring the history of this otherwise-typical college town forever.

Countless malignant youths have tried to re-create that magic in our tiny burg ever since. Ann Arbor sired other noisy acts who put their own stamp on the form, some who broke beyond our borders and many who didn’t, but loud music remains our birthright. Since 1995, a band called Mazinga has been coming together to conjure heavy sounds out of the ether, with regular hiatuses taken to weather the vagaries of fate, negotiate the cruel realities of an underground music economy, and recharge creative batteries with outside projects.

The four townies in question include drummer Donny Blum, vocalist and lyricist Marc McFinn, guitarist Chris “Box” Taylor, and bassist and in-house graphic artist Big Tony Fero, aka Rubber Wolf. Beyond their duties in Mazinga, all of them have helped move and shake local heavy culture in other area bands. Taylor in particular doubles as mastermind of the annual punk/metal/noise pageant Fuzz Fest (the 10th installment will be this August) and served time in local acts Blue Snaggletooth, The Avatars, and Powertrane.