AU

Another week, another Mercury music section to cling on to for dear life, as you drown in the abject terror/sorrow/disgust that comes from learning the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s only chance for fiscal survival is this guy.

AU‘s new record Both Lights is perhaps the closest the Portland group has come to their ecstatic, transcendent live shows. It didn’t come easy, though, and it required bandleader Luke Wyland building a tiny room inside of drummer Dana Valatka’s garage.
LISTEN:

AU – “Solid Gold”

Wait, the dude from Cloud Nothings is only 20? And the magnificent Attack on Memory is the group’s third record? Ugh. When I was 20 I still thought Twisted Tea was a classy beverage.
LISTEN:

Cloud Nothings – “No Future/No Past”

PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY ANDREW W.K. PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY
LISTEN:

Andrew W.K. – “Party Hard”

Plus a party-hearty stack of Up and Coming shows.

Ned Lannamann is a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon. He writes about film, music, TV, books, travel, tech, food, drink, outdoors, and other things.

One reply on “This Week’s <i>Mercury</i> Music Section”

  1. A typical symphony orchestra has about 100 or so players. When you consider that the financial barrier of entry to see a band of four or five people is generally at least five bucks, then extrapolate, then consider the economic state of Detroit, it’s kind of a miracle that their symphony orchestra still exists at all. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see ’em continue and thrive, but Detroit’s basic infrastructure challenges trump the state of its cultural institutions at this point.

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