“Iretsu’s new album was written in four improvised sessions, but Fang isn’t a quartet of burly, extended compositions. Rather, it’s a string of 14 brief, interconnected songs, which bear pop hooks over an experimental foundation. Electric piano and guitar drive the majority of the tracks, and Iretsu harness full-throttle rock on ‘Humbuzzer,’ with slice-and-dice guitar riffs and a relentless drumbeat. Elsewhere, ‘Sexy, No?’ flirts with a funk strut, ‘Hey You’ makes use of found dialogue by a woman who sounds like Jane Fonda, and the title of ‘Nuclear Whistles’ is more or less what it sounds like—high-pitched drones whooshing before a guitar riff drives it into the following track, ‘Waves.’ Iretsu has evolved capably over the past eight years, embracing a number of guises. With Fang, they’ve made some of their most approachable material yet, balancing it perfectly with some of the weirder shades in their palette.”

Portland Mercury

Late last week German blog Shalgrenzen indulged in our catalog. Releasing a bunch of mini reviews from a few of our artists, including reviews on  recent releases from the likes of Boxharp, Iretsu and Markus Mehr and also taking a step back to last year looking at Hotels with Where Hearts Go Broke. Each review was beautifully treated take a read here or for those who aren’t fluent read the (roughly translated) except here.

Excerpt: “The Australian indie label with a focus on ambient, instrumental post-rock and has a publication frequency, constant as a metronome….

Humbuzzer is the first single from the forthcoming album “Catch” (from) the band Iretsu. I had heard (little) so far by the Quartet of Portland…. “Catch” is already the third album and the music is of poor parents. These parents are, as so often, the most sustainable and fruitful music era, namely the good old 80s. (Iretsu’s Music) goes between the poles of Experimental indie pop and driving post-punk New Wave, the clear direction for the here and now.

The Australian label picks out the (from the) world little-known music pearls to match the portfolio. Among other things, Markus Mehr, a native of Germany multi-instrumentalist who has determined a lot Klaus Schulz and Tangerine Dream records are in the closet. Atmospheric, flat and sounds that waft…. Soon, the album Lava from which comes the song Hubble.

The American duo Boxharp from North Carolina is that to much snappier and exhilarating. Light footed by Wendy Allen and Scott Solter’s minimalism, electronic and pop together,  their music sounds like (the) bell-like voice of spring mixed with dancing snowflakes on a sunny winter day. Good humor is a must. The song The Green is (available for) free, the eponymous album is (to be) released soon. We also recommend the Loam Arcane EP, which was released a few weeks ago as a purely digital publication…. the duo was praised in the end by David Bowie himself.

Quite (a) different sound (is boasted) from Seattle’s Hotels. It is a rather strange mixture of Wave, Shoegaze, and surf music. Surf music, this strange phenomenon of crazy long believed dead, hawaiihemdiger instrumental guitar music from California. While one can not really (define) Hotels give their mixture a dark, thrilling note. Lo-Fi and Film Noir are the keywords. The music of Hotels, (is a) soundtrack for a thriller in black and white. Released last year via Hidden Shoal album Where Hearts Go Broke.”

Excerpt: “Yesterday I knew nothing about the existence of Iretsu. Today I’m anxiously awaiting May 27, when I can hear the rest of their new album. This track reminds me of how music used to sound when I was 18 and everything was new to me… it just sounds fresh compared to most of the things I’ve been hearing for a while”

You Ain’t No Picasso