AU is a Portland, Oregon experimental pop group established by multi-instrumentalist Luke Wyland. Wyland started AU in 2005 while completing a degree at the Massachusetts College of Art. He later moved cross-country to Portland and established a base in its music community. Now a working live band, AU features an ever-changing roster of players, recently including Jonathan Sielaff (Parenthetical Girls, Nick Jaina) on guitar, clarinets and saw; and Dana Valatka (Jackie-O_Motherfucker, Mustaphamond) on drums. Contributors to AU's recordings included Mark Kaylor (Hamor of Hathor, CexFucx), Becky Dawson (Saw Whet, Ah Holly Fam’ly), and Sarah Winchester (A Weather).
Its self-titled debut album was praised by such media centers as Pitchfork and Stereogum, and was named #2 Portland Album of 2007 by The Portland Mercury, which said AU “manages to erase the high art/low art boundary between American contemporary classical music and American pop music, blending them into a simple, compelling, verse-chorus celebration... (and) is the rare band that can reinvent its songs live and still manage to match their recorded quality."
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