FLAU

ABOUT

FLAU is a record label based in Tokyo, Japan, was founded in December 2006. curated by Yasuhiko Fukuzono aka aus.

2006年末に設立された東京のレコード・レーベル。

 

CONTACT

General Information: flau@flau.jp
Press: press@flau.jp
Booking (for FLAU artists only): booking@flau.jp
Music Promos (for Radio): promos@flau.jp

 

NEWSLETTER

ENGLISH
JAPANESE (日本語)

 

DEMO POLICY

We are only accepting demos in digital form. Please email demos@flau.jp with links to audio files (but NO email attachments), SoundCloud, and Dropbox etc.

 

PRESS

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

 

FLAU NIGHT

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

SCHEDULE

ARTISTS

SEE FULL LIST

©FLAU

Rayons The World Left Behind

CAT No. FLAU49
Release Date: Japan - September 2nd / Overseas - September 18th 2015
Format: CD/Digital

Buy for japan

Buy for overseas

ミニアルバム「After The Noise Is Gone」が話題を呼んだ音楽家・中井雅子のソロプロジェクトRayonsが記念すべきファーストアルバムをリリースします。フルート、クラリネット、ヴァイオリン、ヴィオラ、チェロなど様々な楽器をエレガントにまとめ上げ、70年代のフランス映画のサウンドトラックを現行のポスト・クラシカル・マナーで発展させたかのような、鋭い美しさを讃える全10曲。盟友Predawnが４曲で参加し、すでに彼女のライブでも披露されている「Waxing Moon」や「It Was You」ではドラマティックなピアノ四重奏でPredawnのボーカルの新たな魅力を引き出しています。感情をダイレクトに揺さぶる情熱的なピアノソロ、気品に満ちたストリングスの調べ。閉じられた世界をテーマに、そこに生きる人間のピュアネスを凛とした力強さと繊細さで表現したファーストアルバムです。

The World Left Behind is the first full length album from Japanese composer Masako Nakai’s moniker Rayons. Recorded in the cold of winter over two days in a european style hall, the ten songs combine piano, flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello and voice in an elegant style, evolving as if the soundtrack of a ‘70s French movie in a current post-classical style.

Her friend and collaborator Predawn contributes vocals to four songs including ‘Waxing Moon’ and ‘It Was You’, which they have also performed live together. Rayons’ dramatic piano arrangements bring out a new and unique quality in Predawn’s voice and her emotional piano performance is powerful and full of grace. The World Left Behind expresses the purity of a girl with delicate femininity and commanding strength, a complete and closed world.

KEEP READING

Track List

01 Playground For Birds

02 Frozen Forest

03 Dancing Under The Filtered Sun

04 Waxing Moon

05 From Paradise Past

06 Can't See Through The Fog

07 It Was You

08 Impression

09 Immortal Island

10 Atarashii Hito (a letter from nowhere)

Press Quotes

A highly enjoyable release…For all it’s sweet aspects this is surely the place to be, as it offers variation, insight and delight – Vital Weekly

A very pretty collection…no words are needed to convey the enticing quality of Rayons’ music – Textura

This is the most dramatic she’s ever been, moving from a hushed confessional tone to something approaching Bjork – Make Believe Melodies

the heart, styles, and splendor of Tokyo at night – Impose Magazine

heavily melancholic melodic structures – Norman Records

アカデミックな作曲の和声感覚や構成への眼差しと、シンガー・ソングライターがギターで紡ぐ様な情感をダイレクトに感じる旋律が同居する – Intoxicate

触れた瞬間、崩れ落ちてしまいそうなほど張り詰めた緊張感と、どこか懐かしく大らかな雰囲気が不思議と調和している – Dacapo

寒さの中にこそ本当の暖かさがあることを気づかせてくれる…クラシックと現代音楽が融合する美しさ – TOWER RECORDS

Rayons The World Left Behind

CAT No. FLAU49
Release Date: Japan - September 2nd / Overseas - September 18th 2015
Format: CD/Digital

Buy for japan

Buy for overseas

Track List

01 Playground For Birds

02 Frozen Forest

03 Dancing Under The Filtered Sun

04 Waxing Moon

05 From Paradise Past

06 Can't See Through The Fog

07 It Was You

08 Impression

09 Immortal Island

10 Atarashii Hito (a letter from nowhere)

ミニアルバム「After The Noise Is Gone」が話題を呼んだ音楽家・中井雅子のソロプロジェクトRayonsが記念すべきファーストアルバムをリリースします。フルート、クラリネット、ヴァイオリン、ヴィオラ、チェロなど様々な楽器をエレガントにまとめ上げ、70年代のフランス映画のサウンドトラックを現行のポスト・クラシカル・マナーで発展させたかのような、鋭い美しさを讃える全10曲。盟友Predawnが４曲で参加し、すでに彼女のライブでも披露されている「Waxing Moon」や「It Was You」ではドラマティックなピアノ四重奏でPredawnのボーカルの新たな魅力を引き出しています。感情をダイレクトに揺さぶる情熱的なピアノソロ、気品に満ちたストリングスの調べ。閉じられた世界をテーマに、そこに生きる人間のピュアネスを凛とした力強さと繊細さで表現したファーストアルバムです。

The World Left Behind is the first full length album from Japanese composer Masako Nakai’s moniker Rayons. Recorded in the cold of winter over two days in a european style hall, the ten songs combine piano, flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello and voice in an elegant style, evolving as if the soundtrack of a ‘70s French movie in a current post-classical style.

Her friend and collaborator Predawn contributes vocals to four songs including ‘Waxing Moon’ and ‘It Was You’, which they have also performed live together. Rayons’ dramatic piano arrangements bring out a new and unique quality in Predawn’s voice and her emotional piano performance is powerful and full of grace. The World Left Behind expresses the purity of a girl with delicate femininity and commanding strength, a complete and closed world.

KEEP READING