2006年末に設立された東京のレコード・レーベル。
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
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
SEE FULL LIST
©FLAU
CAT No. FLAU85
Release Date: 2020-03-04
Format: CD/DIGITAL
その名の通り、Drift はリスナーをサウンドの海へと誘うアルバムです。チェリストの徳澤青弦とピアニストの林正樹が、９年の月日をかけてじっくりと練り上げたその作品は、スタイルとスタイルの間を漂流し、あらゆるトレンドとは別の場所で、彼らの音がドラマと夢の柔らかな衝突にあることを証明します。
ダイナミックな相互作用と洗練を見せる導入〜ハーモニクスから嵐のようなチェロとピアノへと半回転するオープニング・トラック「Elect」、律動するストラヴィンスキー風の 「Einstein Effect」 〜 から二人のパートナーシップは始まります。まだ見ぬ記憶の扉を開け、霧深い森や幻想の中を航海するように、想像のひだを刺激する。響きの余白とアルペジオを使って幽玄なサウンドスケープを描く「In The Early Morning」、春の田園風景の中で、その名の通り虫たちの目覚めを表現するかのような「Keichitsu」、The Velvet UndergroundやSquarepusherのカバーを含めた全12曲には、深い躍動と静謐さが同居するシネマティックな音像美が貫かれています。
まるでフレームを超えた空間の広がりを音が想起させるように、二人の個性、即興とテーマとが継ぎ目なくエスカレーションし、古典的なデュオの新しい調和の形をアップデートする。柔らかくリズミカルに波打つピアノ、低音とリードを等しく果たす端正なチェロが時に重なり、散らばり、まろやかな残響がメタフォリカルに映像世界を喚起する、エレガントなデビュー作です。
Originally, they have the attitude to cut out today’s world without concern for fashion. For example, they think that something particularly interesting, such as the tide of Tango and Bossa, will happen when something is mixed with other cultures, and they always want to aim for such a thing. Their backgrounds, skills etc are completely different. they enjoys drifting the soft clashes of that intercultural thing each others. The music should be able to see the visual.
True to its name, Drift is an album that casts the listener off into a sea of sound. Aptly “drifting” between styles and between themselves, the two artists behind this collaborative effort — cellist Seigen Tokuzawa and pianist Masaki Hayashi — have ensured that their sound is a soft clash of drama and dreaming, with no concern for fashion.
One thing the pair find particularly interesting is how cultures mix and mingle together, historically creating genres like tango and bossa nova; with their different backgrounds and different skills, their aim is to create such a mix themselves.
From first tracks ‘Elect’, flipping halfway from harmonics to a storm of cello and piano, and the half-locomotive, half-Stravinsky-esque ‘Einstein Effect’, Drift displays a dynamic partnership: not post-classical, not jazz, not ambient, but music the listener can almost see visually. ‘In the Early Morning’, for example, paints fantastical audio scenery with its negative space and arpeggios; ‘Keichitsu’ — a seasonal term referring to early March, literally meaning “awakening of insects” — feels like a springtime idyll.
Drift also contains unexpected covers of artists as varied as The Velvet Underground and Squarepusher, not only showing the artists’ strengths by injecting contemporary relevance into the duo of cello and piano, but also highlighting both artists’ influences in their choice of cover.
With Hayashi’s piano by turns surging and soft, rhythmic and virtuoso, Tokuzawa’s cello equally plays the role of bass and lead melody, making for perfect match of organic sound, a seamless excursion of interplay and musical themes.
01 Elect
02 Einstein Effect
03 Iambic 9 Poetry04 In the Early Morning
05 The South Downs
06 Quarter
07 Drift
08 Soramame
09 Keichitsu
10 Utsuroi
11 Venus in Furs
a musical kūki o yomu (reading the air) that ensures harmony in the sound – Japan Times
expert musicianship and attention to compositional detail. You’ll be impressed at first, and then increasingly enthusiastic with subsequent listens – Moderns
beautifully, disruptively and demanding…penguin-café-like fusion composition and Brian Eno or Harold Budd’s old-school atmosphere is great cinema, a class in itself – Groove
Despite the minimalist solitariness of only two instruments, Drift frequently sounds far larger. It can be haunting and miserable, embracing and momentous. It’s always really, truly gorgeous – Tokyo Weekender
the duo are unafraid of making music of pure beauty…glassy, but intimate sound – Drifting, Almost Falling
..i due musicisti giapponesi applicano ai loro strumenti una serie di segmentazioni e decostruzioni, dal peculiare dinamismo – Music Won’t Save You
静寂のなかに浮かびくる泡沫のような音楽…丁寧に整えられた作品の匂い、空間の残響、楽曲の隅々まで美しい作品 – JJazz.Net
リズミカルに躍動するピアノと深遠さを湛えたチェロ – Music Magazine
躍動と静謐さ、そして緊張の中にこそ生まれる美 – Intoxicate
CAT No. FLAU85
Release Date: 2020-03-04
Format: CD/DIGITAL
01 Elect
02 Einstein Effect
03 Iambic 9 Poetry04 In the Early Morning
05 The South Downs
06 Quarter
07 Drift
08 Soramame
09 Keichitsu
10 Utsuroi
11 Venus in Furs
その名の通り、Drift はリスナーをサウンドの海へと誘うアルバムです。チェリストの徳澤青弦とピアニストの林正樹が、９年の月日をかけてじっくりと練り上げたその作品は、スタイルとスタイルの間を漂流し、あらゆるトレンドとは別の場所で、彼らの音がドラマと夢の柔らかな衝突にあることを証明します。
ダイナミックな相互作用と洗練を見せる導入〜ハーモニクスから嵐のようなチェロとピアノへと半回転するオープニング・トラック「Elect」、律動するストラヴィンスキー風の 「Einstein Effect」 〜 から二人のパートナーシップは始まります。まだ見ぬ記憶の扉を開け、霧深い森や幻想の中を航海するように、想像のひだを刺激する。響きの余白とアルペジオを使って幽玄なサウンドスケープを描く「In The Early Morning」、春の田園風景の中で、その名の通り虫たちの目覚めを表現するかのような「Keichitsu」、The Velvet UndergroundやSquarepusherのカバーを含めた全12曲には、深い躍動と静謐さが同居するシネマティックな音像美が貫かれています。
まるでフレームを超えた空間の広がりを音が想起させるように、二人の個性、即興とテーマとが継ぎ目なくエスカレーションし、古典的なデュオの新しい調和の形をアップデートする。柔らかくリズミカルに波打つピアノ、低音とリードを等しく果たす端正なチェロが時に重なり、散らばり、まろやかな残響がメタフォリカルに映像世界を喚起する、エレガントなデビュー作です。
Originally, they have the attitude to cut out today’s world without concern for fashion. For example, they think that something particularly interesting, such as the tide of Tango and Bossa, will happen when something is mixed with other cultures, and they always want to aim for such a thing. Their backgrounds, skills etc are completely different. they enjoys drifting the soft clashes of that intercultural thing each others. The music should be able to see the visual.
True to its name, Drift is an album that casts the listener off into a sea of sound. Aptly “drifting” between styles and between themselves, the two artists behind this collaborative effort — cellist Seigen Tokuzawa and pianist Masaki Hayashi — have ensured that their sound is a soft clash of drama and dreaming, with no concern for fashion.
One thing the pair find particularly interesting is how cultures mix and mingle together, historically creating genres like tango and bossa nova; with their different backgrounds and different skills, their aim is to create such a mix themselves.
From first tracks ‘Elect’, flipping halfway from harmonics to a storm of cello and piano, and the half-locomotive, half-Stravinsky-esque ‘Einstein Effect’, Drift displays a dynamic partnership: not post-classical, not jazz, not ambient, but music the listener can almost see visually. ‘In the Early Morning’, for example, paints fantastical audio scenery with its negative space and arpeggios; ‘Keichitsu’ — a seasonal term referring to early March, literally meaning “awakening of insects” — feels like a springtime idyll.
Drift also contains unexpected covers of artists as varied as The Velvet Underground and Squarepusher, not only showing the artists’ strengths by injecting contemporary relevance into the duo of cello and piano, but also highlighting both artists’ influences in their choice of cover.
With Hayashi’s piano by turns surging and soft, rhythmic and virtuoso, Tokuzawa’s cello equally plays the role of bass and lead melody, making for perfect match of organic sound, a seamless excursion of interplay and musical themes.
