AU Experimental / Alternative In the year's time since last leaving off with his self-titled, beautifully accomplished debut, Au (pronounced 'ay you') architect Luke Wyland has made tremendous strides beyond the warmly retiring sensibilities that marked so much of Au—stepping (wisely) outward, and into the less insular confines of community. In practical terms, this mostly meant acquiring a proper band—the core of which consisting of mutual multi-instrumentalists Johnathan Sielaff and Mark Kaylor—but in a vaguer sense, it meant opening up to Portland's considerable creative resources. Consequently, Verbs is padded out with contributions from nearly thirty collaborators, a list which includes featured vocalists Sarah Winchester (track 6; of Team Love recording artists A Weather) and Becky Dawson (tracks 2 and 4; of Ah Holly Fam'ly, Saw Whet), as well as members of Yellow Swans, Parenthetical Girls, and Evolutionary Jass Band, among many others—inadvertently resulting in a strange and singular snapshot of a very particular corner of the city's famously sprawling musical community. Reviews AU - Verbs (7 out of 10) Erick Mertz Artist Website AU - Official Website