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. FLAU92
Release Date: DIGITAL: 2020-11-11 / LP: 2021-10-15
Format: DIGITAL/LP
Madeggとして活動を行なっていた小松千倫によるKazumichi Komatsu名義での1stフルアルバム。Madegg名義でのリリースを含めれば、2015年の「NEW」以来およそ5年ぶりのアルバムリリースとなる。本作は過去4年の間に作業されたEP、インスタレーション作品、映像作品、ファッションショー、パーティー、レイヴ等の実験の中から将棋の棋譜を読み返すようにして見つけ出されたものを基礎としている。全体で30分にも満たない本作は、再生とともに現象してしまう音源のファンダメンタルな側面を強調しつつ、情報やイメージのヴェイピングに対する様々な反応を身体において再構成することが意図されている。ハウスやアンビエントが誘き寄せる半意識的な状態への契機とともに、抵抗が意図されており、インプットへのある種の免疫を作り出そうとする。コミュニケーションの戯図のなかで、フィクションはハッシュタグやジャーゴンといった冗長に圧縮されていく。それらはフォークロアの話素にもなる。ルドンダンスを組み合わせたフォークソング集。マスタリングにはRecitalを主宰するSean McCann。
‘Emboss Star’ is the new album by Kochi-born, Kyoto-based artist Kazumichi Komatsu, the first to be released under his own name following a prolific run of material as Madegg.
Informed by a range of earlier work including EPs, installation works, video works, as well as live appearances at fashion shows, parties & raves, the material collected on ‘Emboss Star’ has been prepared and refined over the past four years, its final collation described as like arranging the pieces on a chess board; every piece strategically placed.
In its entirety ‘Emboss Star’ is intended to emphasize the fundamental aspects of sound, and its relation to the material processes of playback; the grain of a rough recording, the jump and skip of a needle, the backwards gargle of a rewind. Individual parts shift suddenly, mirroring the abrupt transitions of everyday life. In this Komatsu attempts to reconfigure our response to sound, and the associations it often evokes; to reconsider the exchange of information and image, to alter perceptions.
Inviting a state of subconscious reverie – a mood often linked with ambient music but rarely matched as it is here – Komatsu adds an element of resistance to ‘Emboss Star’, as if depicting the tranquility of a dream, as well as its inevitable disturbance.
With creativity now compressed into a form of contemporary communication often ruled by vanity, redundant hashtags and tiresome jargon, Komatsu navigates the noise, recognizing technological ennui yet finding beauty, folklore & imaginative possibility.
‘Emboss Star’ is a collection of folk songs for lost connections. A vivid form of refuge.
Mastered by Sean McCann.
03 Ace One
04 Skip
05 Orca06 Sleepy Alexa
07 Lipsynch
08 Followers feat. Cristel Bere09 Weight of Smoke
10 Come In
it’s a beautifully otherly soundscape of fine glitch, expansive washes, piano, the human voice; eerie, pristine and exploratory; deep listening – Backseat Mafia
Emboss Star is an examination of the way that sound effects memory and emotion when it is played back over itself and layered to generate a sense of acoustics resonating through space…What I think works well about Emboss Star is not just the skill with which it is weaved from the fabric of dreams, but the straightforward way it approaches its mission. The album acknowledges that all pop music intends to evoke a reaction from its audience, that when it succeeds, it is capable of manipulating mood and memory through sound – I Thought I Had Sound
Emboss Star goes beyond the simple fact of being an ambient album, sprinkled with aerial folk and dreamlike deviations, hiding in its interior the pleasure of appreciating the sound for what it is: a personal moment…acting as a catalyst for emotions and openness to others…Magical – Silence and Sound
airy, captivating and pretty to the finest detail – Tokyo Weekender
beautifully glitchy, warm, experimental – ORGAN
Emboss Star is definitely worth attention if you are not familiar with Susumu Yokota’s works. It favorably combines elements of ambient, electroacoustics, and pop – Data WV
just the right balance between inviting and unsettling – Make Believe Melodies
…lush and introspective while also interrupting those expectations to make for a sound experience that is reflective of the sensory overload we experience in everyday reality – Live Eye TV
ephemeral feel that’s reminding me of Space Afrika’s hybtwibt – Tokyo Dross
self-contained depictions of moods, peppered with field recordings and posthuman voices – Critical Popcorn
everything is fair game sonically, from acoustic and traditional-sounding plucked instruments to crafting sound out of found sound, samples, and noises – ChainDLK
Emboss Star highlights his tightrope act between jaunty dance music and more experimental passages – Otaquest
交雑性が生み出す、現代のフォークロア – 美術手帖
シンプルながら感覚を静かに刺激する、引き伸ばされたような特異な時間感覚を持った作品 – MASSAGE
歪で不意な、美しきサウンドコラージュ – Meets Regional
聴き手の身体やそこに刻み込まれた記憶に直接作用するようなプリミティヴな魅力に満ちた一枚 – TURN
古くから伝わる伝承への憧憬と現実の間を〜ゆったりと往還する半覚醒的アンビエント…「海がきこえる」のハードコアのような生々しさに胸を打たれた (9/10) – Music Magazine
CAT No. FLAU92
Release Date: DIGITAL: 2020-11-11 / LP: 2021-10-15
Format: DIGITAL/LP
03 Ace One
04 Skip
05 Orca06 Sleepy Alexa
07 Lipsynch
08 Followers feat. Cristel Bere09 Weight of Smoke
10 Come In
Madeggとして活動を行なっていた小松千倫によるKazumichi Komatsu名義での1stフルアルバム。Madegg名義でのリリースを含めれば、2015年の「NEW」以来およそ5年ぶりのアルバムリリースとなる。本作は過去4年の間に作業されたEP、インスタレーション作品、映像作品、ファッションショー、パーティー、レイヴ等の実験の中から将棋の棋譜を読み返すようにして見つけ出されたものを基礎としている。全体で30分にも満たない本作は、再生とともに現象してしまう音源のファンダメンタルな側面を強調しつつ、情報やイメージのヴェイピングに対する様々な反応を身体において再構成することが意図されている。ハウスやアンビエントが誘き寄せる半意識的な状態への契機とともに、抵抗が意図されており、インプットへのある種の免疫を作り出そうとする。コミュニケーションの戯図のなかで、フィクションはハッシュタグやジャーゴンといった冗長に圧縮されていく。それらはフォークロアの話素にもなる。ルドンダンスを組み合わせたフォークソング集。マスタリングにはRecitalを主宰するSean McCann。
‘Emboss Star’ is the new album by Kochi-born, Kyoto-based artist Kazumichi Komatsu, the first to be released under his own name following a prolific run of material as Madegg.
Informed by a range of earlier work including EPs, installation works, video works, as well as live appearances at fashion shows, parties & raves, the material collected on ‘Emboss Star’ has been prepared and refined over the past four years, its final collation described as like arranging the pieces on a chess board; every piece strategically placed.
In its entirety ‘Emboss Star’ is intended to emphasize the fundamental aspects of sound, and its relation to the material processes of playback; the grain of a rough recording, the jump and skip of a needle, the backwards gargle of a rewind. Individual parts shift suddenly, mirroring the abrupt transitions of everyday life. In this Komatsu attempts to reconfigure our response to sound, and the associations it often evokes; to reconsider the exchange of information and image, to alter perceptions.
Inviting a state of subconscious reverie – a mood often linked with ambient music but rarely matched as it is here – Komatsu adds an element of resistance to ‘Emboss Star’, as if depicting the tranquility of a dream, as well as its inevitable disturbance.
With creativity now compressed into a form of contemporary communication often ruled by vanity, redundant hashtags and tiresome jargon, Komatsu navigates the noise, recognizing technological ennui yet finding beauty, folklore & imaginative possibility.
‘Emboss Star’ is a collection of folk songs for lost connections. A vivid form of refuge.
Mastered by Sean McCann.
