Vowels... where would we be without them? In a world without vowels, this sentence would look like a text message a 14-year-old frantically wrote in the middle of history class. Similarly, Au’s name would be pure silence. And I thought Women was hard enough to Google.
Thankfully, we live in a world rich with vowels, and to celebrate, Portland’s avant-folksters Au are releasing a new EP called Versions on October 8. The six-song EP follows up last year’s grammatically focused Verbs (TMT Review). If you’ve heard that record, some of the song titles on Versions should be familiar: the EP contains reworkings of Au tracks from Verbs and their self-titled debut (TMT Review), along with the completely new track “Ida Walked Away.” An MP3 of the the new song is available here.
Simply releasing a new EP isn’t going to be quite enough to get all that vowels-based excitement out of their system, though. To spread the mighty word of the vowel across the world, Au is doing an impressive amount of touring this fall: first, a short Midwest tour, then a European jaunt, and finally a huge U.S. tour. On this final part of the tour, they will be joined by downbeat anticon. crew WHY? (and I thought Au and Women were hard enough to Google). Hopefully, those WHY? guys learn a thing or two from Au’s love of the English language. A question mark in a proper name? Sounds like someone was sleeping in class.
Vrsns trcklst:
1. Ida Walked Away
2. RR vs. D
3. Are Animals
4. All Myself
5. Death
6. Boute (digital only)
Au fall tour:
08.29.09 - Nampa, ID - Flying M Coffee Garage
08.31.09 - Denver, CO - House Show
09.01.09 - Kansas City, MO - Pistol Social Club
09.02.09 - Bloomington, IN - The Bishop
09.08.09 - Oslo, Norway - Klubbscenen / Chateau Neuf
09.09.09 - Bergen, Norway - Phonofestivalen / Hinsides
09.10.09 - Stavanger, Norway - Numusic Festival
09.11.09 - Ramsgate, UK - Belgian Cafe
09.12.09 - Brighton, UK - The Freebutt
09.13.09 - Wiltshire, UK - End of the Road Festival
09.14.09 - Leeds, UK - Brudenell
09.15.09 - Manchester, UK - Islington Mill
09.16.09 - London, UK - Cafe Oto
09.17.09 - Nancy, France - Le Clou
09.18.09 - Utrecht, Netherlands - Theater Nikker
09.19.09 - Tilburg, Netherlands - Incubate Festival
09.20.09 - Dunkerque, France - Mon Inouie Symphonie Festival
09.29.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Hall
10.01.09 - Cambridge, MA - Middle East %
10.02.09 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church %
10.03.09 - Pittsburgh, PA - Assembly Room, William Pitt Union (free!) %
10.04.09 - Ann Arbor, MI - The Blind Pig %
10.05.09 - Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge %
10.06.09 - Madison, WI - UW Madison Terrace %
10.07.09 - Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock %
10.09.09 - Denver, CO - Bluebird %
10.10.09 - Salt Lake City, UT - In The Venue %
10.13.09 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios
10.15.09 - Seattle, WA - Jewelbox Theater
10.17.09 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall %#
10.20.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex %
10.23.09 - Phoenix, AZ - Modified Arts %
10.24.09 - Tucson, AZ - Club Congress %
10.26.09 - Denton, TX - Hailey’s %
10.28.09 - Birmingham, AL - Bottletree %
10.29.09 - Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle %
10.30.09 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle %
10.31.09 - Atlanta, GA - Lenny’s %$*
11.02.09 - Orlando, FL - The Social %
11.03.09 - Gainesville, FL - Common Grounds %
11.04.09 - Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder %
11.06.09 - Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon %
11.07.09 - Houston, TX - Walter’s On Washington %
11.08.09 - Austin, TX - Venue TBA (Fun Fun Fun Fest After Party)
11.10.09 - Lawrence, KS - Jackpot Music Hall %
11.11.09 - St. Louis, MO - Freebird %
% Why?
# Mount Eerie
$ Islands
* Jemina Pearl
