2006年末に設立された東京のレコード・レーベル。
General Information: flau@flau.jp
Booking: booking@flau.jp
Press: press@flau.jp
Event: event@flau.jp
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. FLAU91
Release Date: 2021-05-07
Format: DIGITAL/LP
東京のシンセディオ、クリスタル５年ぶり2枚目のアルバムは、相変わらずの80sなフィーリングながらもフューチャーファンクとテクノ歌謡のフレイバー強めな大注目作。近年はクラブ寄りのかっこいい路線の曲も多かったものの、きわどい曲を作るというコンセプトに立ち返り、YMO、1986オメガトライブ、米米クラブ、一風堂などを思わせる歌ものにも果敢に挑戦。変わらない過剰なシンセと前作よりも少し肉体的なリズム感で迫ります。
Late 2020 saw the release of CRYSTAL’s Ecco Funk EP, inspired by 1992 Sega Megadrive classic Ecco the Dolphin. And hot off the back of those small-scale synth explorations, the duo kick things off in 2021 with their second full-length release, Reflection Overdrive.
The scene is set with YMO-inspired ‘Disco na Koi’, a bouncy track that also takes melodic cues from John Lennon’s ‘Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him’. Between the phasing chords and kalimba synth, Ryota Miyake (vocals, composition) stretches out his voice with lines about microbes dancing in a forest.
CRYSTAL has always been experimental, but this album sees the duo returning to their roots — taking a retro-futurist approach to synth but refitting it with bold, modern sensibilities. But inspiration also seeps into the release via ‘90s pop outfits like KomeKome Club, WINK and Ippu-do, further solidifying the duo’s unique sound that steers clear of city pop revivalism.
True to form, frenetic basslines rip through the album: tracks like the ‘Phantom Gizmo’, strewn with MIDI, and the album reworking of Ecco Funk’s titular single. Elsewhere, Matias Aguayo lends his talents to ‘Kimi wa Monster’, complete with its angular, collage construction, and Vincent Ruiz playing bass on the frantic ‘Taxi Hard’, which sounds something akin to a cosmic racetrack.
But CRYSTAL’s latest outing isn’t always about breakneck speed. It also takes time to sit and reflect. One moment you’re swimming through space age undersea soundscapes in the form of ‘The Golden Disc’ — a nod to Sheila E. — the next you’re in the midst of Gorillaz-esque melancholy in ‘TV Fuzz’, featuring Julián Mayorga on vocals.
With influences taken from far and wide, Reflection Overdrive is true to its name: a mirror held up to music, styles and artists that have come before, all reflected through a magnifying lens of boundless creativity for a true journey of an album.
beautiful addiction – Iggy Magazine
wonderful Japanese playfulness – Beatrader
CAT No. FLAU91
Release Date: 2021-05-07
Format: DIGITAL/LP
東京のシンセディオ、クリスタル５年ぶり2枚目のアルバムは、相変わらずの80sなフィーリングながらもフューチャーファンクとテクノ歌謡のフレイバー強めな大注目作。近年はクラブ寄りのかっこいい路線の曲も多かったものの、きわどい曲を作るというコンセプトに立ち返り、YMO、1986オメガトライブ、米米クラブ、一風堂などを思わせる歌ものにも果敢に挑戦。変わらない過剰なシンセと前作よりも少し肉体的なリズム感で迫ります。
Late 2020 saw the release of CRYSTAL’s Ecco Funk EP, inspired by 1992 Sega Megadrive classic Ecco the Dolphin. And hot off the back of those small-scale synth explorations, the duo kick things off in 2021 with their second full-length release, Reflection Overdrive.
The scene is set with YMO-inspired ‘Disco na Koi’, a bouncy track that also takes melodic cues from John Lennon’s ‘Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him’. Between the phasing chords and kalimba synth, Ryota Miyake (vocals, composition) stretches out his voice with lines about microbes dancing in a forest.
CRYSTAL has always been experimental, but this album sees the duo returning to their roots — taking a retro-futurist approach to synth but refitting it with bold, modern sensibilities. But inspiration also seeps into the release via ‘90s pop outfits like KomeKome Club, WINK and Ippu-do, further solidifying the duo’s unique sound that steers clear of city pop revivalism.
True to form, frenetic basslines rip through the album: tracks like the ‘Phantom Gizmo’, strewn with MIDI, and the album reworking of Ecco Funk’s titular single. Elsewhere, Matias Aguayo lends his talents to ‘Kimi wa Monster’, complete with its angular, collage construction, and Vincent Ruiz playing bass on the frantic ‘Taxi Hard’, which sounds something akin to a cosmic racetrack.
But CRYSTAL’s latest outing isn’t always about breakneck speed. It also takes time to sit and reflect. One moment you’re swimming through space age undersea soundscapes in the form of ‘The Golden Disc’ — a nod to Sheila E. — the next you’re in the midst of Gorillaz-esque melancholy in ‘TV Fuzz’, featuring Julián Mayorga on vocals.
With influences taken from far and wide, Reflection Overdrive is true to its name: a mirror held up to music, styles and artists that have come before, all reflected through a magnifying lens of boundless creativity for a true journey of an album.
