It has been the very first release of the flau catalogue back in 2007 and now the re-mastered version returns to the stores as catalogue no. 01b: ‘Mirror Flake’ by Ehime-based artist cokiyu. Besides being re-mastered the album also contains remixes by Ametsub, Geskia and Tyme now.
The genre of this work is named as ‘Japanese bedroom pop’ through various sources, including the flau label. Though I never heard of this sub-sub-genre before I somehow tend to like this description as it somehow fits to the music that is delivered with ‘Mirror Flakes’. “The album instills soft-hearted shoegaze sounds into delicately beautiful melodies which are organically mixed with the graceful use of instruments like toy piano, music box, guitar (by Ueda Takayasu), and the gorgeous whispery voice of cokiyu…” [taken from the flau website]. Outstanding pieces – not just regarding this description – are especially ‘Mirror Flake’ with its perfect mixture of melody and arrangement of accompanying sounds and the interlude-ish ‘Org’ with an also experimental sense of the music. This selection also shows a certain variety that gives the overall album a way less poppy character than one might expect regarding the album description. ‘In The Air’ also is highly notable with its ostensible affinity to its rhythmic and the beat. But it turns out to be much more interesting when it comes to the details in the background. I would even call it the most profound arrangement of the album. Before letting the guests appear with their remixes, ‘Star Takes A Rest’ closes the main album. As expected, Ametsub delivers a heavily processed remix of ‘In The Air’. Geskia’s remix – one could also have expected this – is very rhythmically orientated whilst Tyme brings some dreamy pop music back to the album – a remarkable remix of ‘Mirror Flakes’ pointing out the melody in its purest form.
Although I don’t know the first Edition of ‘Mirror Flakes’ this re-issue is already worthwile just due to the bonus remixes that have been added. The overall sound of the album is fantastic. Conclusion: recommended!
[ 4,5 / 5 ]
