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

This edition features psych-rock by Cloudburst, R&B by Sam Watson, synth-pop by Same Eyes, techno-rock by Michael Skib, and dreamy balladry by Chris DuPont.

Journalists are the white blood cells of democracy, and their ability to report news and share opinions without repercussions is one of the best measures of a free society's hardiness.

The right to employ comedy and satire freely is another solid assessment of a democracy's health, and the Clements Library's online and in-person exhibition An Ungentle Art: Pat Oliphant and the American Tradition of Political Satire is a compelling reminder of illustrative journalists using humor to make a point.

The University of Michigan exhibition—produced with the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum and loaned original art from the Wallace House Center for Journalists—ties into a multi-event program this semester on how the arts interact with presidential politics during this election year.

“I think using Clements Library materials to help people think about the democratic processes in the country, and how we have historically talked about elections is important,” says Paul Erickson, the director at Clements. 

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

This edition features neokraut psych-rock by fling ii, folk-pop by Lily Talmers, ambient from Othercast, experimental soundscapes by Ben Zucker, and glitchtronica by Scoops Lively.

I don’t have a ton of specific fears, but if pressed to name a few, I’d go with snakes, climate change, overdrafting, mass shootings, and the epically baffling big novels of James Joyce.

So kudos to the University Musical Society (UMS) for helping me confront that last fear this past Sunday, via the Elevator Repair Service’s stage adaptation of Ulysses, which was at the Power Center in Ann Arbor on October 19-20.

The much-studied, fever-dream doorstop of a novel—clocking in at nearly 800 pages—unfolds almost entirely within the confines of June 16th, 1904 (reportedly the date of Joyce’s first sexual encounter with future wife, Nora). Since the book debuted in 1922, Joyce’s life and work have been celebrated annually on June 16th, a day called Bloomsday, named for the character at the center of Ulysses, ad man Leopold Bloom.

When a stage musical’s inspired by a campy, 1990s tabloid story about a half-human, half-bat boy who’s discovered in a West Virginia cave—I mean, you just go in expecting a weird show, right?

But nothing can truly prepare you for the level of weird achieved by Bat Boy, staged October 10-20 by U-M’s musical theatre department at the Encore Theatre in Dexter.

With music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe, and a book by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming, Bat Boy follows the titular character as he’s housed, and socialized by, a local veterinarian’s family. Buttoned-up wife and mother Meredith Parker (Aquila Sol) is the first to emotionally connect with Bat Boy (Aaron Syi), naming him Edgar and teaching him to speak. Teen daughter Shelley Parker (Stephanie Reuning-Scherer) is initially disgusted by Edgar but comes to love him, too, while her father, Dr. Parker (Jamie Martin Mann), jealously watches his emotionally distant wife lavish maternal love upon Edgar. 

The show, particularly the first act, has been somewhat streamlined (a good thing) since I first saw it many years ago, but its high body count, black tragicomedy core—think Heathers crossed with a bewildering nature documentary—remains intact. 

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

This edition features techno by Dr. Pete Larson, power-pop by The Rabbit Sons, indie-folk by Kylee Phillips, hip-hop by Gostbustaz, and flannel-flying punk by Normal Park.

If there is a timeliness prize for art gallery exhibitions, the latest offering from the Ann Arbor Arts Center (A2AC) is a shoo-in for a podium finish.

Weeks before the 2024 presidential election, A2AC's Obama: An Intimate Portrait displays some of the best photographs by Pete Souza, a veteran photographer who reached the pinnacle of his career by serving as President Barack Obama’s photographer.

After Obama left the White House, Souza sorted through approximately 1.9 million photos to select 300 from his eight-year tenure at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for a 2017 book called Obama: An Intimate Portrait. He then selected 50 for a traveling show, which started making the rounds in 2019 thanks to Souza’s exhibition coordinator Hava Gurevich, an Ann Arbor artist.

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

This edition features indie rock by The Nuts, drum 'n' bass by Kodama, grunge by Tension Splash, another chiptunes comp courtesy of Battle of the Bits, and a moody indie rocker by Skinned Knees.

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

This edition features a double album by Fred Thomas, demos from Studio Lounge, power-pop by Jonathan Killstring, spooky season synths by G.B. Marian, and chiptunes on the Battle of the Bits compilation.

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.