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
白昼夢の世界を音像化したというシネマティックなデビュー作「Sivutie」を経て、北海道出身のアーティストNoahが４年ぶりとなる新作ミニアルバム 「Thirty」をリリースします。
都市世界への入り口のように神秘的に広がる１曲目から、80年代の香港ポップスのミニマリズムが心地よく鳴り響く先行シングル「メルティン・ブルー」まで、Noahの最新作にはまろやかな大陸の風が吹いています。映像で見てきた中華街の未来的な光景と雑然とした街のエネルギー、相反する飾り気のない生活は、彼女が３年前に移り住んだ東京のイメージの縮図となり、この作品の大きなインスピレーションとなりました。
東京は北国生まれのNoahにとって全く異なる世界であり、どこか退廃的な蒸気の波に彩られた荘厳さと華やかさで満たされていますが、同様にたくさんの夢が散らばる場所でもあります。「像自己」に代表されるアナログ感あふれるエレクトロ・ディスコ・サウンド、ゲーム・ミュージック的な8bit感、存在感を持って放たれる急速なハイハットが都市生活を十分に呼び覚ます一方で、過剰なまでのネオンサインや深夜のロマンスに彩られたピアノ（「夢幻泡影」）、ゆっくりと朽ち果てていくビートとシンセサイザーのコラージュ（「風在吹」）は、実体の見えない希望と生温かい欲望を映し出し、Noahの東京への関心は、日常の華やかさと儚さの両面で描かれています。
幾重にも折り重ねられたNoahの幻想的な歌声は、あらゆるものを織り交ぜながら、彼女が住みたいと思っていた東京の物語を見せます。耳を奪われるドラム・マシーンとLo-Fiなシンセサイザーに浸された歌の数々が、この街が見せてくれる混沌と郷愁の日記を伝えてくれるのです。
Tokyo is big. Tokyo is messy. Tokyo is futuristic. Tokyo is everything all at once. It’s this image of Japan’s capital that Noah draws inspiration from for her latest album, Thirty.
From the sweeping, mystical feel of the intro – like a portal into the world of the city – to tracks like ‘メルティン・ブルー’ that clank deliciously with ‘80s Hong Kong pop minimalism, Noah’s tracks also feature a mellow Chinese taste.
Following a trip to Chinatown, she noticed the bustling feel of the place, its life and its noise, and for her it became a microcosm of Tokyo: an associated image. Thirty is named for the age around which Noah was making these tracks and is a culmination of three years living in Tokyo.
Noah is originally from the snow and ice of Hokkaido. Tokyo is another world for her, somewhere that clinks with decadent vaporwave majesty and glitz, but equally somewhere cluttered with people and their dreams. Urgency runs through Thirty, whether it’s the panic of ‘愛天使占’, the analogue electro-disco feel in ‘像自己’, or the rapid-fire hi-hats that typify many of the tracks, sufficiently summoning city life.
But, like the faded neon of the past and vaporwave of inspirations, the draw to Noah’s Tokyo is idealised, both in its grit and in its glamour—take the late-night romance of ‘夢幻泡影’, for example, or the slow, decayed collage of beats and synth in ‘風在吹’.
With her ghostly vocals weaving their way through everything, Noah tells us the story of the Tokyo she wanted to inhabit with a diary of lo-fi, synth-soaked songs pockmarked with drum machines and all the chaos and nostalgia the city has to offer.
1 intro
2 像自己
3 夢幻泡影
4 18カラット 5 メルティン・ブルー6 愛天使占
7 シンキロウ
8 風在吹
9 像自己 alternative ver.
faded neon homage to Tokyo – Boiler Room 4:3
softly glowing, neon-hued synthesis of vaporwave and Japanese city pop – Gorilla vs Bear
real, fantasied and dreamed – Aaron Byrd, KCRW
encapsulating its kinetic energy with synth-streaked, lo-fi electronics and hazy late-night vocals – The Line Of Best Fit
sweeping, intricate sound-art – Nothing But Hope And Passion
subtle and addictive – The 405
Thirty takes her away from the grim-weird urban neo-soul she pursued, deep into a newly imagined Japan of the eighties, in the sweet-sweet synthpop, vaporwave and analog Electro-boogie make a splendid synthesis – Groove
‘Thirty’ is shaping up to be quite the stunner – Colors x Studios
mystical ’80s pop minimalism meets glitzy vaporwave – Bandcamp (New & Notable)
stanning bit of minimalism – Otaquest
retro-futuristic, narcotic – Autumn Roses
I’m not immune to Noah’s magic – Porcys
strangely lush and lovingly lilting – Sunday Experience
it is diverse in that way, moving from walking to pacing, strolling to dancing, reflecting the chaotic/calm balance of life in Tokyo – Rodeo
a hazy-eyed love letter to the city that combines rhythmic electro-pop with her captivating vocal abilities – Live Eye TV
Noah takes a dreamy, futuristic electronic pop polaroid of the madness, magic, hustle & bustle of her new Tokyo – The Slow Music Movement
Japanese vapor wave with neon synths and flecks of City Pop – Teases And Dares
beautiful Bjork meets Grimes album – When The Horn Blows
まるで現実から自分だけが取り残されていくような感覚 – ele-king
1 intro
2 像自己
3 夢幻泡影
4 18カラット 5 メルティン・ブルー6 愛天使占
7 シンキロウ
8 風在吹
9 像自己 alternative ver.
白昼夢の世界を音像化したというシネマティックなデビュー作「Sivutie」を経て、北海道出身のアーティストNoahが４年ぶりとなる新作ミニアルバム 「Thirty」をリリースします。
都市世界への入り口のように神秘的に広がる１曲目から、80年代の香港ポップスのミニマリズムが心地よく鳴り響く先行シングル「メルティン・ブルー」まで、Noahの最新作にはまろやかな大陸の風が吹いています。映像で見てきた中華街の未来的な光景と雑然とした街のエネルギー、相反する飾り気のない生活は、彼女が３年前に移り住んだ東京のイメージの縮図となり、この作品の大きなインスピレーションとなりました。
東京は北国生まれのNoahにとって全く異なる世界であり、どこか退廃的な蒸気の波に彩られた荘厳さと華やかさで満たされていますが、同様にたくさんの夢が散らばる場所でもあります。「像自己」に代表されるアナログ感あふれるエレクトロ・ディスコ・サウンド、ゲーム・ミュージック的な8bit感、存在感を持って放たれる急速なハイハットが都市生活を十分に呼び覚ます一方で、過剰なまでのネオンサインや深夜のロマンスに彩られたピアノ（「夢幻泡影」）、ゆっくりと朽ち果てていくビートとシンセサイザーのコラージュ（「風在吹」）は、実体の見えない希望と生温かい欲望を映し出し、Noahの東京への関心は、日常の華やかさと儚さの両面で描かれています。
幾重にも折り重ねられたNoahの幻想的な歌声は、あらゆるものを織り交ぜながら、彼女が住みたいと思っていた東京の物語を見せます。耳を奪われるドラム・マシーンとLo-Fiなシンセサイザーに浸された歌の数々が、この街が見せてくれる混沌と郷愁の日記を伝えてくれるのです。
Tokyo is big. Tokyo is messy. Tokyo is futuristic. Tokyo is everything all at once. It’s this image of Japan’s capital that Noah draws inspiration from for her latest album, Thirty.
From the sweeping, mystical feel of the intro – like a portal into the world of the city – to tracks like ‘メルティン・ブルー’ that clank deliciously with ‘80s Hong Kong pop minimalism, Noah’s tracks also feature a mellow Chinese taste.
Following a trip to Chinatown, she noticed the bustling feel of the place, its life and its noise, and for her it became a microcosm of Tokyo: an associated image. Thirty is named for the age around which Noah was making these tracks and is a culmination of three years living in Tokyo.
Noah is originally from the snow and ice of Hokkaido. Tokyo is another world for her, somewhere that clinks with decadent vaporwave majesty and glitz, but equally somewhere cluttered with people and their dreams. Urgency runs through Thirty, whether it’s the panic of ‘愛天使占’, the analogue electro-disco feel in ‘像自己’, or the rapid-fire hi-hats that typify many of the tracks, sufficiently summoning city life.
But, like the faded neon of the past and vaporwave of inspirations, the draw to Noah’s Tokyo is idealised, both in its grit and in its glamour—take the late-night romance of ‘夢幻泡影’, for example, or the slow, decayed collage of beats and synth in ‘風在吹’.
With her ghostly vocals weaving their way through everything, Noah tells us the story of the Tokyo she wanted to inhabit with a diary of lo-fi, synth-soaked songs pockmarked with drum machines and all the chaos and nostalgia the city has to offer.
