Iretsu

Portland trio Iretsu did put out an EP back in 2003. After recording The Moon And Stars... they went on to create music for a show based on the life of Nazi German's propaganda film ace director Leni Riefenstahl. Mitlaufer was performed live a number of times (as well as recording it). The Moon And Stars... is a collection of 11 tracks clocking in at near 46 minutes. Arcade Fire has been dropped as a reference, except that Iretsu have got a more loungy, jazzy feel to their music. They're also more into some electronic, experimental stuff. Elegant chamber pop and exciting indie pop, neat arrangements, a fine mix of male/female vocals, strings, banjos, etc. "Avant-everything", as they've been labelled. A fine balance of experimental and more 'regular' pop it is.
This could be the right album for all the dissapointed Arcade Fire fans who got turned off by their second album. A great album that is growing during every new spin.
-Michael Henaghan - Havard Oppoyen

Ryan Cross, Joel Holly, and Glen Schiedt — the trio that is Iretsu — may be our city's most talented unsigned and self-produced band. Yes, I said it. And I say this because when trying to count how many instruments they're able to play I lose track. Iretsu is a band that provides Stumptown music snobs with something more than music, even more than a good show — they give you a full-on deliberate cabaret of "avant-everything."

Sometimes it's sound that evokes feeling. Other times it is, in fact, feeling that calls to mind a sound. But we usually can differentiate between the two. Yet, when I listen to Iretsu, it's a game of "which came first, the chicken or the egg?"

"There's a strong humor aspect to Iretsu," lead singer/guitarist/jack-of-all-instruments Cross says. "And we're just really creative with all of our influences."
-Christopher J. Miller
- St. Johns Sentenial

Portland trio Iretsu did put out an EP back in 2003. After recording The Moon And Stars... they went on to create music for a show based on the life of Nazi German's propaganda film ace director Leni Riefenstahl. Mitlaufer was performed live a number of times (as well as recording it). The Moon And Stars... is a collection of 11 tracks clocking in at near 46 minutes. Arcade Fire has been dropped as a reference, except that Iretsu have got a more loungy, jazzy feel to their music. They're also more into some electronic, experimental stuff. Elegant chamber pop and exciting indie pop, neat arrangements, a fine mix of male/female vocals, strings, banjos, etc. "Avant-everything", as they've been labelled. A fine balance of experimental and more 'regular' pop it is.
This could be the right album for all the dissapointed Arcade Fire fans who got turned off by their second album. A great album that is growing during every new spin.
-Michael Henaghan - Havard Oppoyen

Iretsu is making journey music.  On their new EP, each of the three tracks takes numerous twists and turns, going past the soft/loud formula into territory like groovy-chaotic/lullaby-lament.  This music, more than simply presenting dichotomies, is about traveling from one state of mind to another, and the end of each song sounds very little like its beginning- another clue that this band is packing an album's worth of new material into each finely tuned song. 
-Jacob Coleman
- Akenokoru

As its name suggests The Moon and Stars Remain in the Morning Sky is a folding of once separated elements into a single exquisite composite. The album manages to distil the core elements of chamber pop, folk, indie pop and rock and pours the result into a whole new mould.
With intricate, complex melodies woven into impeccable arrangements Iretsu have managed to paradoxically create an album that is both stripped back and at the same time bursting with an undeniable energy and complexity. All within one track minimal pop suddenly breaks out into an anthemic hook laden epic with strings cart wheeling over biting guitars, arpeggiated banjos and male/female chorales.
- Hidden Shoal Records

Iretsu is making journey music.  On their new EP, each of the three tracks takes numerous twists and turns, going past the soft/loud formula into territory like groovy-chaotic/lullaby-lament.  This music, more than simply presenting dichotomies, is about traveling from one state of mind to another, and the end of each song sounds very little like its beginning- another clue that this band is packing an album's worth of new material into each finely tuned song. 
-Jacob Coleman
- Akenokoru

A somewhat tangential release for Portland avant-everything Iretsu. It was originally composed as the score for an interactive (anti-)stage performance of the same name by Fever Theater. Given that, and given Fever Theater's tendency toward going over the top, this accompaniment makes perfect sense. Charging off in about 30 directions in the course of its 21-song length. Lounge? Yep. Prog-rock? Aplenty. Krautrock? Sure.
-Michael Byrne - Willamette Weekly

"Building the most perfect and complex stage presentation possible, with three instrumentalists from across the stylistic spectrum interacting through choreographed movement and vocal harmonies to create a music spectacle that would make both Richard Foreman and Lionel Hampton proud."-Noah, The Someday Lounge - Someday Lounge

A somewhat tangential release for Portland avant-everything Iretsu. It was originally composed as the score for an interactive (anti-)stage performance of the same name by Fever Theater. Given that, and given Fever Theater's tendency toward going over the top, this accompaniment makes perfect sense. Charging off in about 30 directions in the course of its 21-song length. Lounge? Yep. Prog-rock? Aplenty. Krautrock? Sure.
-Michael Byrne - Willamette Weekly

“Whether they're rocking on guitars or glockenspiels, local electro-pop consortium Iretsu truly knows no bounds”-Portland Mercury - Portland Mercury

“Whether they're rocking on guitars or glockenspiels, local electro-pop consortium Iretsu truly knows no bounds”-Portland Mercury - Portland Mercury