Au's Luke Wyland
Au's appearance at TBA's The Works last night was an exciting celebration of music for music's sake, in front the requisite TBA crowd of art snobs and culture scenesters. Au's 2008 album Verbs has already garnered heaps of critical acclaim, but to see its multi-part compositions performed live--with a drum corps and 20-piece choir, no less--confidently redefined what may have become familiar to listeners. What made Au so vitally refreshing to me after four long days of MusicfestNW was that its sound was entirely enjoyable on its own terms. It had me imagining the excitement of a cathedral mass in the days before recorded music, when choirs and mammoth organs would rock congregations on a weekly basis.
Read the full review on the Mercury's TBA blog.
