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
ever-reliable – Bandcamp
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. FLAU102
Release Date: DIGITAL: July 29th / LP August 12th, 2026
Format: LP/DIGITAL
環境や記憶に集まる「光」をアコースティック楽器のカラフルなサウンドスケープで表現した前作 Gathering The Light から５年。広島のギタリスト中島基裕が、人間の精神の在り方を静かに問いかける最新作 Sea of Thought を発表します。今作の核心にあるのは、「環境破壊と資本主義の終焉」という重層的なテーマ。現代生活の営みが生む矛盾と無力感、そして意識の深淵へ沈みゆくプロセスが、10の楽曲からなる終わりなき思考の旅として構築されています。
前作同様、中島のギターのフィンガー・ピッキングを中心をしながら、ロバート・フリップが用いたことで知られるカセットデッキを用いたフリッパートロニクスのざらついた質感や、自作の特殊楽器を導入し、実験的なアプローチを深化させました。ARAKI Shinによる金管楽器と巧みなアレンジメント、Kumi Takaharaによるストリングス、先行シングルでフィーチャーされた marucoporoporoといったゲスト陣の演奏が、絶望の果てに漂う儚い美しさを引き立てます。 世界が壊れゆくその先、暗い深海の底で最後に触れる人間の本質とは何か。前作の優美な光からディープな精神世界へと深化を遂げた、モダンクラシカル・フォークの極致です。
Following the luminous textures of Gathering The Light, which explored the traces of light gathered within landscapes and memory through acoustic instrumentation, Japanese guitarist and composer Motohiro Nakashima returns with Sea of Thought, an album that turns inward to confront the fragility of the human condition.
At the centre of the record lies a meditation on environmental destruction and the limits of capitalism. Across ten interconnected pieces, Sea of Thought considers the contradictions and quiet helplessness embedded in contemporary life, drawing the listener into an increasingly introspective state where thought itself begins to dissolve.
Built around Nakashima’s distinctive fingerpicked guitar, the album expands its sonic vocabulary with the worn, unstable character of cassette based tape looping inspired by Robert Fripp’s Frippertronics, alongside a collection of self built instruments that further extend his experimental approach. Performances by ARAKI Shin, Kumi Takahara and marucoporoporo introduce additional layers of restraint and subtle tension, revealing moments of fragile beauty within the album’s otherwise sombre atmosphere.
Where Gathering The Light sought illumination, Sea of Thought descends into darker emotional and psychological territory. It is a work that asks what remains of our humanity when the systems that shape the modern world begin to fail, offering Nakashima’s most uncompromising and deeply reflective statement to date.
1 River Water Will
2 Fault
3 Sea of Thought4 If
5 Cycle
6 Lighthouse
7 Plume
8 In Dim Light
9 Watershed
10 Like Touching a Stone in the Deep Sea
CAT No. FLAU102
Release Date: DIGITAL: July 29th / LP August 12th, 2026
Format: LP/DIGITAL
1 River Water Will
2 Fault
3 Sea of Thought4 If
5 Cycle
6 Lighthouse
7 Plume
8 In Dim Light
9 Watershed
10 Like Touching a Stone in the Deep Sea
環境や記憶に集まる「光」をアコースティック楽器のカラフルなサウンドスケープで表現した前作 Gathering The Light から５年。広島のギタリスト中島基裕が、人間の精神の在り方を静かに問いかける最新作 Sea of Thought を発表します。今作の核心にあるのは、「環境破壊と資本主義の終焉」という重層的なテーマ。現代生活の営みが生む矛盾と無力感、そして意識の深淵へ沈みゆくプロセスが、10の楽曲からなる終わりなき思考の旅として構築されています。
前作同様、中島のギターのフィンガー・ピッキングを中心をしながら、ロバート・フリップが用いたことで知られるカセットデッキを用いたフリッパートロニクスのざらついた質感や、自作の特殊楽器を導入し、実験的なアプローチを深化させました。ARAKI Shinによる金管楽器と巧みなアレンジメント、Kumi Takaharaによるストリングス、先行シングルでフィーチャーされた marucoporoporoといったゲスト陣の演奏が、絶望の果てに漂う儚い美しさを引き立てます。 世界が壊れゆくその先、暗い深海の底で最後に触れる人間の本質とは何か。前作の優美な光からディープな精神世界へと深化を遂げた、モダンクラシカル・フォークの極致です。
Following the luminous textures of Gathering The Light, which explored the traces of light gathered within landscapes and memory through acoustic instrumentation, Japanese guitarist and composer Motohiro Nakashima returns with Sea of Thought, an album that turns inward to confront the fragility of the human condition.
At the centre of the record lies a meditation on environmental destruction and the limits of capitalism. Across ten interconnected pieces, Sea of Thought considers the contradictions and quiet helplessness embedded in contemporary life, drawing the listener into an increasingly introspective state where thought itself begins to dissolve.
Built around Nakashima’s distinctive fingerpicked guitar, the album expands its sonic vocabulary with the worn, unstable character of cassette based tape looping inspired by Robert Fripp’s Frippertronics, alongside a collection of self built instruments that further extend his experimental approach. Performances by ARAKI Shin, Kumi Takahara and marucoporoporo introduce additional layers of restraint and subtle tension, revealing moments of fragile beauty within the album’s otherwise sombre atmosphere.
Where Gathering The Light sought illumination, Sea of Thought descends into darker emotional and psychological territory. It is a work that asks what remains of our humanity when the systems that shape the modern world begin to fail, offering Nakashima’s most uncompromising and deeply reflective statement to date.
Dec 1st, 2021
福山出身のギタリスト12年ぶりのニューアルバムは、暗闇の中の光、憂いの中の美を求める普遍的な気持ちを表現したという多幸感溢れるカラフルなサウンドスケープ。フィンガーピッキングのギターが紡ぐ豊かな旋律に、ゲストのARAKI Shinが手が……
