February 20, 2021

Miyuu Sings Of Rainbows In New Album!

February 20, 2021/ Luna

Singer-songwriter and music corner alumni, Miyuu announced her second full length album will be titled La La Rainbow and is slated for to be released on March 24! La La Rainbow follows up Miyuu’s first full length album, BLUE S LOWLY, that released February of 2020 and will include her latest digital singles “love you in blue,” “my friend feat. Michael Kaneko,” and “summer together” for a total of 12 tracks. Singer-songwriter Michael Kaneko will be taking a role in producing La La Rainbow. This was all announced at two different events, the first being on the program MUSIC ON! TV「ZOOM UP! ～Chill Out～」and the second event was during Miyuu’s 「Miyuu Monthly Online Live ～Over The Rainbow Vol.7～」that was on January 24, where more details were announced for La La Rainbow.

La La Rainbow is being released in two editions: a CD plus Blu-ray Limited edition and a CD-only standard edition. The Limited edition will include the music videos and excerpts from the event Miyuu Monthly Online Live ～Over The Rainbow Vol.1 - 7～, a A3 sized poster, a sticker, and will come housed in a digipak packaging. Both editions include a postcard with the first press edition only! Check out the track listing, cover artwork, pre-order links, and latest music video “yellow light tonight” below!

Limited Edition

Standard Edition

Miyuu「La La Rainbow」

CD:

Introduction～over the rainbow～
love you in blue
my friend feat.Michael Kaneko
yellow light tonight
indigo night
step it (pray)
fly
summer together
red
shine on you
purple
Reprise～red～

Blu-ray:

fly (Music Video)
yellow light tonight (Music Video)
はなうたの鳴るほうへ
ながれぼし
Over The Rainbow Vol.1～Vo.7 (Digest)

Ongaku to You's Songs and Artists of the Year for 2020

January 01, 2021/ Ken

2020 was a very interesting year for the Japanese music industry and we at Ongaku to You would like to praise the songs and artists that helped us traverse this amazing year. Each member broke down the year in three categories, Song of the Year, New Artist that we discovered in 2020, and lastly our Artist of the Year. We hope that 2021 will bring many surprises to the Japanese music industry like we received in 2020!

Luna’s Top Song and Artists of 2020!

Song of the Year: “XXKK” by Koda Kumi

“XXKK” felt like a comeback song to me. Koda Kumi always does great songs, but “XXKK stuck out from her more recent songs as it brought you back to her early-middle career mixed with her current music career. The chorus is catchy, and the lyrics ring true to me as she is my queen. This is the perfect celebratory track of her 20th-anniversary career and it shows who she is now while incorporating her old self as well.

New Artist of the Year: Miyuu

Miyuu was an artist that I discovered randomly on Spotify. I remember that from the moment I heard that first track, "Southern Waves," I was hooked. This track moved me to the point I began checking out all her other music and discovered so much by Miyuu. Her voice is beautiful and despite her having the "girl with guitar" theme like many others, Miyuu gives a breath of fresh air to the industry with her light voice and how it matches with all her composition perfectly.

Artist of the Year: Awich

Awich has had an amazing year - starting off with the release of Kujyaku in January, then releasing her first major label release, Partition in August. Both releases were amazing and I fell in love with how real her music is, her rap style, her lyrics, and just everything about her. Awich brought something new to the Japanese Hip-Hop scene to me and she stuck out in a good way. She caught my ear with so many tracks this year. Her Kujyaku album was a masterpiece in how it was put together and Awich did not disappoint in Partition. She ended the year with a cover of a famous Christmas song and by being featured in the remix of AI's latest single "Not So Different.” Awich was a "hit" with me all year and has kept me looking forward to anything new from her.

Gray’s Top Song and Artists of 2020

Song of the Year: “Ayumi” by YU-TA of IVVY

I still remember the day I discovered these guys and I always knew they would be at the top of my list. For the longest time it was "Alice" which was the first song I ever heard by them, but then I heard "Ayumi" and knew immediately that it would be my number one for the year. I absolutely love the piano that is in this song. Played expertly by YU-TA, he also carries the track vocally, with the rest of the group joining him only on the chorus. YU-TA’s vocals are on point for this track. The whole song just comes together and I fall in love with it each time I hear it. IVVY has put out a lot of great songs for the year but this one is their best. Even if you are not into boy groups, this one is a must listen.

New Artist of the Year: IVVY

I still remember the day I first discovered IVVY and I've been listening to them ever since. I just love their ability to harmonize and they have a bunch of catchy songs. They just dropped their first album and I'm looking to pick it up soon. This past year will be the year of boy groups for me. There have been a few that I've discovered that I've quite enjoyed, but, of all the artists I've heard over the year, these guys are still my favorite. I look forward to hearing more music by them. My number two song is "Alice" which is just a showcase of how you take a generic song and make it memorable with awesome vocal work and fantastic rap at the end.

Artist of the Year: Da-ICE

Man, I wasn't expecting to fall in love with Da-iCE the way I did, but I'm glad I took the plunge. It all started with Sota's song he did with Beverly, "Endless Love". I just fell in love with his performance in that song and I was encouraged to go back and check out Da-iCE because I had seen them around but never felt like looking them up. So, I checked out their album Face, which came out in April, and I've had that album on repeat ever since. Sota is my favorite mostly due to how I discovered the group, but all the guys are fantastic. They really bridge the idea of vocals and dance-heavy so well. They have a ton of songs, so it's hard to just sit there and listen to them without getting up to dance your butt off. I've been busted in public dancing to Da-iCE a few times, and this in a year when I'm not getting out as much as normal. I'm so glad I checked these guys out. I'm hoping to pick up Face physically soon and I'm super excited for Six which is due to come out close to my birthday. Da-iCE has really made my 2020, and to me there is no other group I could imagine taking this spot for me.

Ken’s Top Song and Artist of 2020

Song of the Year: Stinging Spica by Polkadot Stingray

Honestly, this track was going to be my number one since March or so. I loved this track and it was the small ray of hope that kept me going throughout the year that was 2020. Its simple composition is something that I can get lost in hours on end, and in fact, I’ve done exactly that while doing articles. The guitar work done by both was something that just intices me even more to the track every time.

New Artist of the Year: Daichi Yamamoto

Honestly, for New Artist of the Year this was a very easy choice for me to make, as listening to Yamamoto has been a treat for the eyes and ears for a genre that I only listen to once in a while. His various demos on his YouTube channel is what won me over, to be honest. The Tokyo Drift remix is absolute fire and really shows his range and diversity. That one spark of “Blue Berry” ignited a passion for me to dive deep into his discography.

Artist of the Year: Polkadot Stingray

Now. for overall Artist of the Year, this was another easy pick as Polkadot Stingray, as a whole, had a very sold year for me with three digital singles, one mini-album and one full album that were, in my opinion, just hit after hit even in this horrible year that was 2020. Polkadot was also one of the first groups to transition to streaming concerts back in June, when the ongoing pandemic was reaching in Japan, and proved that artists with big labels backing them can make this successful. With the release of their album, Nanimono, in December, the band has no plans on backing down for 2021 and I can’t wait to see what they have in store for fans.

Miyuu Celebrates Her Birthday With YouTube Live!

May 29, 2020/ Luna

Japanese pop singer-songwriter Miyuu brought in her birthday on May 8th with a special YouTube live. She began the live singing “Happy Birthday”. This special live took place in her home and featured just her and her guitar. This was a great showcase of Miyuu’s talent both vocally and musically. Some of the songs she sang in this were from her first debut album BLUE・S・LOWLY and also included were some of her older tracks as well. Check out this amazing birthday live below and help Miyuu celebrate it all month! Included alongside her Miyuu Birthday YouTube Live is information on BLUE・S・LOWLY and where to grab your copy to support her!

BLUE・S・LOWLY

CD + DVD edition

CD standard edition

introduction ～on the road～
no one
Sing Love Song
sea
two of you
someone's tune
Restart
very merry Xmas
Southern Waves (Acoustic Studio Session)
Try (Acoustic Studio Session)
outroduction ～very merry Xmas demo～

DVD

no one (Promotional Video)
COME COME ONEMAN vol. 2

May 22, 2020

Music Corner 46: Miyuu

May 22, 2020/ Luna

Miyuu is a Japanese pop left handed singer-songwriter from Osaka. She got her start in 2016 by doing covers and videos of American songs such as Maroon 5’s “Payphone”, “Sugar”, and Bruno Mars “Just the way you are”. In these videos she showcased the lovely sights of Kyoto such as the temples, shrines, nature, and streets. In September 2016 she debuted her first single “Southern Waves”, which was a digital release only. That same year, she would go on to release her first EP “Where we’ll be” and in 2018 she would get signed with Avex and release her first mini-album “COME ONE, COME ALL”. Despite girls with guitars pop music being a dime a dozen, Miyuu stood out with her smokey gentle vocals, lyrics, relaxing catchy melodies, combination of Japanese and western style, and wholesome sound.

Miyuu’s “Southern Waves” is a beautiful track that draws you in with her sweet smokey vocals, wonderful guitar work, and simple yet catchy melody and chorus. The combination of her guitar and vocals drew me in as the sweet smokey sound of vocals fit the flow perfectly with the melody. Miyuu’s song “no one” showcases her guitar work and vocal range. It has a nice relaxing sound that puts you in a mood that hooks you in with its catchy chorus. “Where we’ll be” is an upbeat guitar heavy track that matches up perfectly with Miyuu’s sweet smokey vocals and immediately grabs your attention with the opening versus. By the time the chorus chimes in, you are already tapping your feet and wanting to sing-a-long. Miyuu’s ballad “closer again” is a beautiful track that is full of emotion that gives you feeling in your heart and connect with. The track “You got the love” has a great guitar beat that makes you feel good and want to get up and move to it. Miyuu’s vocals show off her sweet wholesome style that makes you fall in love with her voice.

Miyuu currently has nine digital singles, one physical single indie EP (“Where We’ll Be” from 2016), two mini albums (“COME ONE, COME ALL” from 2018 and “HERE COMES THE SOUND” from 2019), and just released her first debut album in February 2020 titled BLUE・S・LOWLY.

Check out Miyuu’s official website along with her Twitter and Instagram! Grab your copy of BLUE・S・LOWLY!

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