FLAU

ABOUT

FLAU is a record label based in Tokyo, Japan, was founded in December 2006. curated by Yasuhiko Fukuzono aka aus.

2006年末に設立された東京のレコード・レーベル。

 

CONTACT

General Information: flau at flau.jp
Press: press at flau.jp
Booking (for FLAU artists only): booking at flau.jp
Music Promos (for Radio): promos at flau.jp

 

NEWSLETTER

ENGLISH
JAPANESE (日本語)

 

DEMO POLICY

We are only accepting demos in digital form. Please email demos at flau.jp with links to audio files (but NO email attachments), SoundCloud, and Dropbox etc.
We are not releasing Japan only edition or CD only edition. Please do not send us demos that already have a record contract.

 

PRESS

the nation’s premier label for hushed music – Pitchfork

Flau releases are sonically quite diverse, from acoustic folk to dream pop and complex drum experiments. And though eclectic, never before has a label’s oeuvre come together to so closely sound the way a cherry blossom looks – The FADER

one of the biggest names in the world of really small sounds…the perfect soundtrack to a Sunday evening – Timeout Tokyo

consistently impressive – XLR8R

Flau has associated itself with a signature sound…association with Flau suggests a superior level of pop craftsmanship…What’s remarkable about Fukuzono’s project, which launched at the end of 2006, is that he’s achieved quality control without uniformity – exclaim!

Flau has shown that sometimes silence beats flashiness – METROPOLIS Magazine

flau seem to have a magic touch; everything they put out..has a celestial, positively glowing aura about it that has us longing for more..sonically the label is incredibly diverse, but what its releases share in common are a playful curiosity, an unmatchable quality and a genre-bending commitment to evoking time and space within their sounds – DUMMY

Flau label casts its net across a worldwide community of artists with a particular affection for fragile arrangements and microscopic songwriting…A reliable resource for all the finest, quirkiest exploratory electronic pop music – Boomkat

it combines genuine emotion with a sense of playfulness – Fluid Radio

everyone’s favourite Japanese label and, of course, we make no exception – Going Solo

constantly surprising, consistently stunning – Dummy

un monde de l’infiniment fragile et doux – Ondefixe

one of our favourite labels – Textura

Flau are one of those unassuming labels, which since 2007 have been quietly making their way in the world releasing a diverse range of high quality albums…their roster of international artists blend field recordings, acoustic instruments, microsounds, and voice, in a sound that has become truly synonymous with the label – Furthernoise

worth finding – Foxy Digitalis

grow, pushing boundaries and releasing gems – Drifting, Almost Falling

An inner experience and pure fascination to little things concept and microscopic sounds. FLAU is the latest Label Of The Moment – Otsechka

the Tokyo label’s dreamy and cinematic aesthetic seems tailor-made for two favourite hobbies: idleness and letting the imagination run wild – Solar Flares

This label collects very particular artists from all over the world all under one roof that eclectically holds them together. Each artist is so unique, that you would like to read a whole book about them – PonyDanceClyde

 

FLAU NIGHT

2008-09 London, Cafe OTO
2009-09 Melbourne, Toff In Town
2010-08 Berlin, Altes Finanzamt
2012-05 Malaysia, Black Box Map
2012-05 Macau, LMA
2012-05 China Tour Beijing-Shanghai-Hangzhou
2012-06 Tokyo, Fujimigaoka Church & VACANT
2012-06 Kyoto, Metro
2013-04 London, Cafe OTO
2013-04 Berlin, Antje Øklesund
2013-12 Tokyo, VACANT
2016-03 Tokyo, VACANT

SCHEDULE

marucoporoporo

10/10（木）名古屋・live & lounge vio w/ Suso Saiz, The Pyramid & more

aus

10/20（日）東京・Wall & Wall w/Efterklang
10/27（日）東京・UNIT DOME FESTIVAL
11/4（月・祝）渋川・原美術館ARC

Kazumichi Komatsu

10/19-20（土・日）相模原DAICHI silent river： By This River

ARTISTS

SEE FULL LIST

©FLAU

aus

 

 

東京出身。10代の頃から実験映像作品の音楽を手がける。早くから海外で注目を集め、NYのインディーズ・レーベルよりデビュー。レコードショップOTHER MUSICに「現代のエッジと甘美さ、印象的な歌心をこれほど日本的な方法で融合させたアーティストは他にいない」と評される。身近に存在する音を再発見し、再構築を繰り返すことによって生まれる彼の音楽は「自然に変化を加えることによって新しい自然を生み出す」と自身が語るように、テレビやラジオから零れ落ちた音、映画などのビジュアル、言葉、長く忘れ去られた記憶、内的な感情などからインスピレーションを受け、世界の細かな瞬間瞬間をイラストレートする。これまでにヨーロッパを中心に世界35都市でライブを行い、国際的にも注目されるレコード・レーベルFLAUを主宰。
長らく自身の音楽活動は休止していたが、昨年Seb Wildblood主宰All My Thoughtsより久々となるシングル「Until Then」をリリース、４月にはイギリスの老舗レーベルLo Recordingsより15年ぶりのニューアルバム「Everis」をリリース。同作のリミックス・アルバムにはJohn Beltran、Li Yileiらが参加した。Craig Armstrong、Seahawksほかリミックス・ワークも多数。

aus is the solo project of Tokyo-born composer and producer Yasuhiko Fukuzono. Fukuzono has gained attention through his skillful and delicate sound production, exquisitely combining cinematic strings and electronics with sounds from everyday life.
With a passion for rediscovering and reinventing the very nature of sounds around him, inspiration is acquired from all corners of his mind: captured movie images; stumbled upon words or conversations; nomadic dreams; long lost memories; and indefinable inner feelings.
Being born and bred in Tokyo, the city is an indisputable reflection of the loud-and-quiet dynamics that permeate Fukuzono’s sound. The city is noisy, carved with canyons of commerce and sonic chaos. But a step away from the main thoroughfares lies a warren of residential lanes painted in semi-silence.
Fukuzono tends toward such spaces in his music, where he plays with the sweetness and pathos inherent in the sonic landscape he inhabits.
It’s a quality that may have been imbibed as a child as Fukuzono’s mother is a teacher of both ikebana (the art of flower arrangement) and shodō (calligraphy); two aesthetic pursuits that require equal attention to what is there and what is not. With this sensibility and a myriad of other elements firing his musical mind, music laced with charisma and intrigue naturally follows.
As well as his commercial compositions, Fukuzono also creates sound design for exhibitions; works on music production for experimental cinema; and as label owner at the FLAU imprint – which Pitchfork described as  “the nation’s premier label for hushed music” – has released a multitude of artists from both within and outside Japan.
Having released his first album proper back in the mid-2000s, it was the second long player (Lang) that garnered attention for Fukuzono, in Japan, it becoming one of the best-selling electronic albums of the new century. However, it is with the new album Everis that aus really demonstrates his ability to discern and manipulate the sonic minutiae of daily routine, providing loudness when necessary and fragility when not.
Shows at the Sonar, Summer Sonic and Mori Michi Ichiba festivals and being championed by KEXP, FADER, Dummy, i:D – through his FLAU label mixes – and by BBC Radio 1 via Ross From Friends / BBC Radio 3 by Olafur Arnalds / NTS Radio via Loraine James & Upsammy, mean that with this new record aus is now perfectly poised to exhibit the sonic parallels between his home city of Tokyo and the dynamics of his magical musical output.

DISCOGRAPHY

ALBUMS

Sonorapid (music related, 2006)
Lang (preco, 2006)
Curveland (moteer, 2007)
After All (flau, 2008)
Everis (lo recordings, 2023)

SINGLES/EPS

Until Then (all my thoughts, 2023)
Layland with Ryosuke Nagaoka (enndisc, 2023)

COMPILATIONS / REMIXES

Lang Remixed (preco, 2008)
Antwarps (preco, 2008)
Light In August, Later (someone good, 2009)
ReCollected (plop, 2013)
Revise (lo recordings, 2023)

PRESS QUOTES

I can’t imagine another artist that blends modern edginess with sweetness and effective song-y-ness in that Japanese way as well. Its kind of an update on the delicate balance reached on Nobukazu Takemura’s very first Child’s View album – OTHER MUSIC

he’s cultivated a world of hushed, understated beauty – The Japan Times

The music of aus is the music of dreams. Good dreams. If only every day could be so pleasurable – Jon Tye (Seahawks/Ocean Moon/MLO)

aus combines rich in detail,sensibly constructed arrangements with wonderful melodies that evoke feelings of melancholy and optimism at the same time – Ulrich Schnauss 

great Japanese producer – Loraine James

incredibly talented – Memoryhouse

consistently enthralling artist – Boomkat

…Sehr fein und noch viel leiser – Thaddi Herrmann, De:Bug

A master not only of taste but of exquisite sound production – the 405

unwavering elegance and painstaking meticulousness – Brainwashed

an innocent child’s imagination – Piccadilly Records

thoroughly engrossing – XLR8R

one of Japans most impressive young artists…A powerful display of minimalist manoeuvres  – Tokafi

all just beautiful painted like a delicate watercolour of sunlight playing on a sea scape,with all the grace of spring blossom fall – Musique Machine

Music for a modern living room – Vital Weekly

a supremely good electronic artist – Smallfish

Fukuzono has a keen sense of structure to keep things moving, not to mention an abundance of melodic ideas – Arcana.FM

PRESS QUOTES

I can’t imagine another artist that blends modern edginess with sweetness and effective song-y-ness in that Japanese way as well. Its kind of an update on the delicate balance reached on Nobukazu Takemura’s very first Child’s View album – OTHER MUSIC

he’s cultivated a world of hushed, understated beauty – The Japan Times

The music of aus is the music of dreams. Good dreams. If only every day could be so pleasurable – Jon Tye (Seahawks/Ocean Moon/MLO)

aus combines rich in detail,sensibly constructed arrangements with wonderful melodies that evoke feelings of melancholy and optimism at the same time – Ulrich Schnauss 

great Japanese producer – Loraine James

incredibly talented – Memoryhouse

consistently enthralling artist – Boomkat

…Sehr fein und noch viel leiser – Thaddi Herrmann, De:Bug

A master not only of taste but of exquisite sound production – the 405

unwavering elegance and painstaking meticulousness – Brainwashed

an innocent child’s imagination – Piccadilly Records

thoroughly engrossing – XLR8R

one of Japans most impressive young artists…A powerful display of minimalist manoeuvres  – Tokafi

all just beautiful painted like a delicate watercolour of sunlight playing on a sea scape,with all the grace of spring blossom fall – Musique Machine

Music for a modern living room – Vital Weekly

a supremely good electronic artist – Smallfish

Fukuzono has a keen sense of structure to keep things moving, not to mention an abundance of melodic ideas – Arcana.FM

aus

JAPAN

東京出身。10代の頃から実験映像作品の音楽を手がける。早くから海外で注目を集め、NYのインディーズ・レーベルよりデビュー。レコードショップOTHER MUSICに「現代のエッジと甘美さ、印象的な歌心をこれほど日本的な方法で融合させたアーティストは他にいない」と評される。身近に存在する音を再発見し、再構築を繰り返すことによって生まれる彼の音楽は「自然に変化を加えることによって新しい自然を生み出す」と自身が語るように、テレビやラジオから零れ落ちた音、映画などのビジュアル、言葉、長く忘れ去られた記憶、内的な感情などからインスピレーションを受け、世界の細かな瞬間瞬間をイラストレートする。これまでにヨーロッパを中心に世界35都市でライブを行い、国際的にも注目されるレコード・レーベルFLAUを主宰。
長らく自身の音楽活動は休止していたが、昨年Seb Wildblood主宰All My Thoughtsより久々となるシングル「Until Then」をリリース、４月にはイギリスの老舗レーベルLo Recordingsより15年ぶりのニューアルバム「Everis」をリリース。同作のリミックス・アルバムにはJohn Beltran、Li Yileiらが参加した。Craig Armstrong、Seahawksほかリミックス・ワークも多数。

aus is the solo project of Tokyo-born composer and producer Yasuhiko Fukuzono. Fukuzono has gained attention through his skillful and delicate sound production, exquisitely combining cinematic strings and electronics with sounds from everyday life.
With a passion for rediscovering and reinventing the very nature of sounds around him, inspiration is acquired from all corners of his mind: captured movie images; stumbled upon words or conversations; nomadic dreams; long lost memories; and indefinable inner feelings.
Being born and bred in Tokyo, the city is an indisputable reflection of the loud-and-quiet dynamics that permeate Fukuzono’s sound. The city is noisy, carved with canyons of commerce and sonic chaos. But a step away from the main thoroughfares lies a warren of residential lanes painted in semi-silence.
Fukuzono tends toward such spaces in his music, where he plays with the sweetness and pathos inherent in the sonic landscape he inhabits.
It’s a quality that may have been imbibed as a child as Fukuzono’s mother is a teacher of both ikebana (the art of flower arrangement) and shodō (calligraphy); two aesthetic pursuits that require equal attention to what is there and what is not. With this sensibility and a myriad of other elements firing his musical mind, music laced with charisma and intrigue naturally follows.
As well as his commercial compositions, Fukuzono also creates sound design for exhibitions; works on music production for experimental cinema; and as label owner at the FLAU imprint – which Pitchfork described as  “the nation’s premier label for hushed music” – has released a multitude of artists from both within and outside Japan.
Having released his first album proper back in the mid-2000s, it was the second long player (Lang) that garnered attention for Fukuzono, in Japan, it becoming one of the best-selling electronic albums of the new century. However, it is with the new album Everis that aus really demonstrates his ability to discern and manipulate the sonic minutiae of daily routine, providing loudness when necessary and fragility when not.
Shows at the Sonar, Summer Sonic and Mori Michi Ichiba festivals and being championed by KEXP, FADER, Dummy, i:D – through his FLAU label mixes – and by BBC Radio 1 via Ross From Friends / BBC Radio 3 by Olafur Arnalds / NTS Radio via Loraine James & Upsammy, mean that with this new record aus is now perfectly poised to exhibit the sonic parallels between his home city of Tokyo and the dynamics of his magical musical output.

 

 

NEWS

Sep 30th, 2024

IKAHO SURROUNDING
＃aus＃soundtrack＃event＃exhibition

いかほサラウンディング／アンビエント音泉 万葉の時代から歴史を持つ群馬の伊香保温泉、8つの旅館・ホテルのためにausが音楽を制作しました。 伊香保の街に耳を澄ませながら、特別な入浴をお楽しみいただける音泉音浴……

Apr 11th, 2024

LAYLAND is #1 of Best EPs OF 2024 Q1 by SMALL ALBUMS
＃aus＃review

Apr 8th, 2024

aus supports Whatever The Ever/Loraine James Japan Tour 2024
＃aus＃live

2022年の初来日公演が各所で絶賛され、2023年にLoraine James名義でHyperdubからリリースした最新作『Gentle C...

Sep 26th, 2020

aus got into a new compilation by audiounion
＃aus

Feb 2nd, 2020

FLAU interview by Drifting, Almost Falling
＃aus＃interview＃flau＃review

音楽ブログDrifting, Allmost Fallingのインタビューを受けました。レーベルの始まりからアーティスト、今後のリリースまで...