Another day, another Portland band. This one’s more of a guest-laden one-man project though; Au (say the letters, pronounce the name — Ay you) is the work of Luke Wyland, a multi-instrumental nomad who’s buckled down in Oregon and begun to hone his wandering, sprawling psych-folk. On “Sum,” Luke starts with bright, breezy bells and a throwaway ukulele spurt, before singer Zoë Wright starts with a gentle Concretes-ish vocal. At about 2:30, it sounds as though Animal Collective’s Geologist gets his manipulative mitts on the cut — which is to say, it begins to sound rather awesome.
More of a Grizzly Bear vibe to this one, particularly with Luke’s Droste-styled melody — though in the end it’s in line with “Sum”‘s sunny-day windstorms.
Au’s MySpace says “It once was just one, now it is three,” so we’re thinking live conspirators Jonathan Sielaff and Mark Kaylor are now official. Maybe. Anyway, Au is out 6/26 on Aagoo/Oedipus Records. And clearly, they’ve got their heads in the clouds about it.
You Might Also Like
 AU – “Solid Gold” |
 |
 |
sum is tasty.
yeah. pretty good. it’s nice to see that Sterogum still does music reviews.
This is really fantastic.
Wow this stuff is amazing. I’m buying one for all my friends!
jeez louise, this gets me turning!
Excellent. and it gets better with each listen.
i think that “nice to meet au” could have been a good pun too
I can only listen to this when I’m falling asleep or really stoned, otherwise this, and many other “psych folk” artists suck. What ever happened to rock and roll? Now bands only care about making crazy noises thus deeming them intellectual depth or something. Bring on the Andrew WK and lets party, bro.
wow. Such a good sound.
yeah, this is growing on me
This music makes me remember that I am filled with circulating blood. Seattle loves you personally and we better see you soon.