Ann Arbor electronic-music producer Jack Withers turns sadness into sound on his new album, "The Price of Beauty"

Wed, 09/14/2022 - 11:00am by christopherporter

How does an artist alchemize sadness into something beautiful?

Ann Arbor producer Jack Withers ponders this question on his third album, The Price of Beauty.

Agent Audio: Ypsilanti label AGN7 runs a stealth operation dedicated to drum 'n' bass music

Mon, 08/29/2022 - 12:00pm by christopherporter

Scrolling through Bandcamp’s releases tagged “Ypsilanti,” it won’t be long before you find a mysterious label called AGN7 Audio that's releasing top-notch new drum 'n' bass songs and albums—along with some techno and dub—by artists from around the world.

Founded in 2015, AGN7—pronounced “Agent"—is one of the few modern labels to focus so deeply on d 'n' b, also known as jungle, which started in the early '90s U.K. rave scene and is characterized by fast, skittering breakbeats and a dystopian-funk vibe.

Local skateboard lifestyle brand Drive Thru launches with a trick-filled short film

Thu, 08/18/2022 - 3:00pm by christopherporter

The Fine Art of Music: Cece June's lovely, emotional songs are the result of listening and looking

Tue, 06/14/2022 - 4:00pm by christopherporter

Cece Duran was born and raised in Barcelona, where she is currently spending her summer.

Interdimensional Transmissions’ No Way Back party was 14 hours of transformational bliss

Fri, 06/03/2022 - 9:45am by christopherporter

Resident Advisor, one of the most important websites covering electronic music, previewed Interdimensional Transmissions' annual No Way Back event as "the kind of party that can change your life if you let it."

Feel Good Friday the 13th: UMMA's monthly series offered no bad luck, just great music

Tue, 05/17/2022 - 10:00am by christopherporter

The University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) showed that Friday the 13th doesn’t have to be an unlucky day.

Five Minutes of Bravery: The Moth GrandSLAM returned to The Ark after a three-year break

Tue, 05/17/2022 - 9:00am by christopherporter

Leaping out of indecision, or into a new love, or over a chicken coop—these were some of the jumps storytellers shared at The Moth’s GrandSLAM championship on May 12 at The Ark in Ann Arbor.

In the first Ann Arbor GrandSLAM since 2019, nine storytellers who were previous winners of the regular StorySLAM events each received five minutes to tell a true personal story, without any notes to guide them. Three groups of judges—naming themselves Quantum, The 229s, and The Bullfrogs—secretly rated each story, not even revealing the scores after a winner was determined. Amir Badghdadchi, a past GrandSLAM winner, was the host and kept the energy high. 

U-M's Basement Arts theater troupe used "The Visit" to explore the dangers of group-think

Wed, 03/02/2022 - 11:15am by christopherporter

It doesn’t take a genius—or a grand performance on stage—to reveal how people will do anything for money.

Singer-songwriter Allison Russell brought her "Outside Child" and open book to The Ark

Mon, 02/28/2022 - 12:00pm by christopherporter

Singer-songwriter Allison Russell seeks out what she calls the “hidden canon” of the oral tradition: the songs, stories, lore passed on through time, primarily from and for women. Ann Arbor's The Ark is one of those places where the hidden canon has been voiced frequently for a very long time, and Russell’s concert there on February 25 felt like the perfect place to carry on that tradition.

U-M's modern-leaning production of "Antigone" explores grief in the pandemic age

Mon, 02/21/2022 - 9:00am by christopherporter

Sam White, founder of Shakespere in Detroit, guest directed the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre, and Dance’s recent production of Antigone (February 17-20). She felt the weight of the pandemic while conceiving of the staging and decided that rather than putting on a play written in 441 BCE as some sort of separate escapism from our current world, the two can interact and help one another.

The driving tragedy of the play, Antigone’s search for justice for her brother, is translated into our pandemic world of family members dying alone, funerals unable to happen, and a general lack of closure for many loved ones.