hibi(original by Re:Lilly)

Enjoy

Life Is Short

LuLu

flau.jp/releases/56.html

"Farewell" is worldwide debut album of Taiwanese female fronted chamber ensemble Cicada who played with Olafur Arnalds, Rachel Grimes, Balmorhea.
“Farewell” described how someone who went through the cycle of a relationship. It’s about breakup, facing the future alone and also reveals the teenage girls inside us. Cicada selected 14 songs from “Over the Sea /Under the Water”, “Pieces”, and “Let’s Go” With the new recording and production, together they told a story.

Cicada - Lake's End

Title : Dance
Artist : Marihiko Hara & Polar M
Cat # : mnc017
Release Date : September 2016
Format : CD / Digital
Genre : Post-Classical / Instrumental Pop 

01. Duo
02. The Season Changes
03. Ray of Light
04. Monologue
05. Dance
06. Ocean of Night
07. Beryl
08. Asia
09. Gone Gone Gone
10. On The Silent Way 

“Laughing, singing, dancing
Laughing, singing, and dancing
Howling, sobbing, shouting
Howling, shouting, sobbing
Laughing, singing, and dancing

Dancing.”

After releasing their critically acclaimed debut album “Beyond”, Kyoto-based Marihiko Hara and Polar M (Masumi Muranaka) have embarked on a series of live performance around Asia region, including Korea, Malaysia and many places in Japan. Each time they performed together, the sense of how their individual sounds complement each other grew stronger. And with these live performances, their interweaving sounds have underwent subtle refinement – they become even more profound and exquisite, and far more interconnected.

While touring, the duo was also actively collaborating with dance choreographers. In early 2016, the duo was again commissioned to compose new pieces for a dance performance. It was during that time, their brand new 2nd album “Dance”, was conceived.

Through their interactions with the talented dancers across Asia, these two very gifted musicians started to explore the meanings of “dance”. Gradually, they have come to realised that, everything in our daily life can be regarded as “dance” – the rhythm of the changing seasons, the subtle movement of time, the weight of words, the shifting of emotion, the cycle of life, all parts that form our lives, are indeed in themselves – a “dance”. And in this gorgeous new album, using their ever delicate sounds, the duo graciously illustrated this aesthetic interpretation of “dance”.

Musically, the duo picked up where they left off in their very successful debut album - traces of refined post-classical, melodic folktronica, floating ambient, and glimpses of jazz, continued to be found in this 2nd album. What is more apparent in this new album is that the guitars had taken a more prominent role. As such, the sound textures and melody movements have become much richer and more diverse, which impeccably reflect the refinement that underwent for the musical style of Marihiko and Masumi.

The duo’s good friend, Mia Cabalfin - a renowned contemporary dancer from Philippines, who lent her wonderful voice in the debut album, continued to feature in this album by performing the hauntingly beautiful spoken words in the album title track. This album is tastefully mastered by Tokyo’s renowned musician and sound engineer, Chihei Hatakeyama, and features photo by Ken Furudate, and design by Seitaro Nishioka. In addition, the artist management for the duo is supported by the excellent people from Kyoto’s label and event organiser NightCruising. 

Credits:
composition, arrangement & mixed by Marihiko Hara & Polar M
track 5 : spoken words by Mia Cabalfin

mastering: Chihei Hatakeyama
photo: Ken Furudate
design: Seitaro Nishioka

To enquire about distribution, please kindly email us at info(a)mu-nest.com. Thank you. 

DANCE / Marihiko Hara & Polar M (album preview sample)

A raw acoustic piano recording of "temporal" 《浮》for my new album to be released under Kitchen. Label next year. This track is just the piano recording and does not represent the completed track. It will also feature Natalie Soh on violin...

Inspired by the photography of light by Foo Aiwei

PHOTO: Foo Aiwei

temporal [raw piano recording]

Released on 6th June 2016, five years after his previous album, a new album “MOMENTARY: Memories of the Beginning” featuring Nagi Yanagi and Devendra Banhart has attracted many music listeners as one can swim freely across the ocean of pops composed by Akira.  After three months later, on 9th September, he have released another album “One Day”, a recording of him playing an old piano improvisationally at his parent’s home has amazed many fans.

“Our Own Picture”, is the last release from the label for the year 2016, includes few tracks composed with his feeling about this few years’ changing environment.  “You” is a song dedicated for his new born boy and his wife, “Out of the Solitary Mind” is a reflection of the changes in his feeling from his solitary time to his time sharing with a family, and a solo piano version of “Joy” which was originally release in 2013, will end this album with the melody of happiness.  It’s a collection of heartwarming piano sketches.

Our Own Picture

You - Akira Kosemura

Itoko Toma, a Pianist and vocalist, releases her second album.
Besides her piano solo works and original songs as same music style as her previous album, but also includes songs composed with chamber music style, which brings more taste in this album.
This album is created with many inspirations from ‘sea’ which she felt in her daily life.  It begins with the song “shorebird”, which you will hear a gentle voice brings a bird floating on the sea wind.  Also, a supporting piano will draw a flow of waves created with arpeggio sounds of moving from lower tones to higher tones.  With this gently played piano without any intonation will show the image very clearly of the waves flowing.  Her dreamy and feathery world is expressed in the track “fantasia”, the strings arrangements will widens up the view, and the motif played with piano brings the light as a sea splash.  “horse from parallel”, a key track of this album, features a vocal as a major role of this song and a simple chord progression helps the enhancement of melodious sounds.  “when the word and the heart will mix well”, an adagio-like composition, is wrapped with heartwarming atmosphere with the daintiness and delicate strings arrangements.  The album ends with a gentleness tune of “cantabile”, with a singing of freely played piano, which echoes deeply to bring peacefulness.

For strings arrangement, track #3 done by Akira Kosemura, who is also a producer of this album, and track #9 done by Quentin Sirjacq, a French pianist and composer, who released his album under the same label SCHOLE.  Also, Hiroshi Iguchi as a sound engineer who supports the previous releases of Akira and Quentin, and Shin Kikuchi creates MV and designed for album covers using the visuals taken from her hometown, Okayama.  The album was produced by viewing Itoko Toma’s world through a SCHOLE filter.

when the world will mix well

horse from parallel - Itoko Toma

http://flau.jp/releases/white-forest/

White Forest is dedicated to animals including whales, dolphins, coral reefs, sea turtles, as well as cats in the city and birds in the mountains. Along with “Ocean” is the series of Cicada’s work themed with marine and land.

“Dolphins Leap” proceeds with different speeds to imitate spinner dolphins and risso’s dolphins. “Used to be Home” portrayed the impact of offshore wind energy caused on white dolphin’s habitat from their point of views. “Whale Family” is about humpback whales caring and raising babies. “White Forest” starts from the dreamy coral reef spawning into their bleaching due to seawater warming. Cicada’s attempts are to describe the relationship between human and its impact on ocean and animals.

Cicada - White Forest

From album 'SUN' 

"SUN" 2019 spring release.

Waltz Vintage - Tomoya Naka

Cicada - Hiking In The Mist

FLAU is a record label based in Tokyo, Japan.

general inquires: flau@flau.jp
press: press@flau.jp

Motohiro Nakashima/Kumi Takahara/Seigen Tokuzawa & Masaki Hayashi/Kazumichi Komatsu/FEM/Spring In A Small Town/The Future Eve feat. Robert Wyatt/Same Waves/Cicada/Madegg/Henning Schmiedt/CRYSTAL/Rayons/Nemui PJ (kidkanevil & noah)/Noah/Submerse/Radicalfashion/Stefan Jós/Cuushe/Rima Kato/Machinone/Ulises Conti/Danny Norbury/Sparrows/IKEBANA/Ensemble 0/Masayoshi Fujita/El Fog/Liz Christine/Twigs & Yarn/MayMay/Cokiyu/Jean-Philippe Collard-Neven/Kanazu Tomoyuki/The Boats/Kumisolo/Novisad/aus/Dale Berning/Part Timer/Colophon(Jefre-Cantu Ledesma)/Geskia/Orla Wren/Sylvain Chauveau

events:
julia holter / ólafur arnalds / julianna barwick / sharon van etten / grouper / james blackshaw / kira kira / deaf center / rachel grimes / masha qrella / pascal pinon / ryan francesconi & mirabai peart / otto a totland / erik k skodvin / rauelsson / dustin wong / safety scissors / tape (häpna) / serafina steer / florencia ruiz / grand salvo / aspidistrafly / caroline / federico durand / f.s.blumm / springintgut / the mistys / sophie hutchings / spartak / celer / en / rachael dadd / tomi lebrero / takuji aoyagi | 青柳拓次 (kama aina) / tenniscoats | テニスコーツ / tujiko noriko / 内橋和久 | kazuhisa uchihashi / トウヤマタケオ | takeo toyama / bun / fumitake tamura / saphhire slows / shuta hasunuma / gutevolk / squares on both sides / patten / ian hawgood / smile down upon us / pan am scan / the young group / mitä kuuluu / 大谷友介（オオヤユウスケ）/ 伊藤ゴロー |ito goro / mama!milk / 石橋英子 | eiko ishibashi / 阿部海太郎 | umitaro abe / organ-o-rounge / tatsuhiko asano / kyo ichinose / miki / predawn / mmm / 曽我大穂 (cinema dub monks) / 坂田学 / popoyans / 青葉市子 / 麓健一 / 扇谷一穂 / 王舟 / 青木隼人 | aoki hayato / sawako / trico! / miko / ikebana / rayons / minakumari / カラトユカリ | karato yukari / yok / rima kato / oh' yoko / 惑星のかぞえかた / voq / 小鳥美術館 | nagisa shima /

Cicada - White Forest

FLAU

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