There’s been a long history of amazing parings of moving images and music, but stills with sounds is a tough gambit. Thus I’m pumped when I stumble upon an visual artist who manages to fuse photos and “pop” music. Jason Lazarus has created (“kicked out”) out multiple projects (“the jams”) that leave me (“motherf**er!!!!) grinning with the same intensity and awe as the chainsaw-esque buzz of the MC5.

Lazarus’s series “Soundtrack” rocks me like a hurrican. (Ed: stet.) Lazarus photographed airshows in the Midwest, rendering the military hardware toy-like against vast expanses of grey, blue, and white sky. The pop music enters via the image titles; there’s an example here, but I’m not going to give anything else away. Go have a look at the series, and try to suppress a simultaneous smile / grimace.

Also check out his series on people’s first exposure to the music of Nirvana, and his recent portrait of Spencer Elden, one of the most famous faces of the 90’s Seattle music explosion. Never heard of him? Me neither, but I guarantee you’ll remember him.

Image: “Everybody’s Working For The Weekend,” Loverboy, from Jason Lazarus’s series “Soundtrack”