Gray's Ongaku Go For August 2020

Continuing from Ken and Luna’s lead with another month down from 2020, we at Ongaku to You would like our readers to know what was filling our ears for the past month. Each track is available across all digital music streaming platforms with Apple Music being featured on this site. Here we go!

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“Blue” by LUCKY TAPES

This is such a great and wonderful song. The vocals of Kojikoji are done really well in this number and the lead vocalist Kai has a pretty solid rap game. He rarely breaks out and you get to hear it here in this track. It also has this nice laid back feel to it. My only gripe is that I wish it was longer as I feel like it ends too soon but the artist is in a good place when the biggest problem with their song is it is too short.

Check out “Blue” here along with the music video below!

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“I Believe…” by Hiragana Kamiyado

This is the last song on Hiragana Kamiyado’s freshman album HRGN. This is a slower number designed to show off the vocals of the group. The track does an excellent job giving each girl a moment to shine and the chorus has some really great harmonization. The song convinced me to check out their album and I’m was not disappointed.

Check out “I Believe…” here along with the music video below!

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“Tokyo Skip” by Koudai Yoshida

Here is a small preview for an upcoming music corner I plan on doing. This is the first track on Yoshida’s latest album, 0(Zero), that came out earlier this year. This song comes out of the gate swinging with a fun and unique sound. Yoshida has left a strong impression on me and this is just a small taste of what he has to offer.

Check out “Tokyo Skip” here along with the music video below!

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“In The Summer” by ARASHI

There is something about this song that keeps pulling me back to it. Its got a great medium tempo flow to it with a nice hook and sticks a good blend of the western and Japanese music managing to straddle the line between both. This is a fantastic addition to their discography and I encourage everyone to check out.

Check out “In The Summer” here along with the music video below!

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“Ayumi” by Yu-Ta from IVVY

From the moment the listener hears the opening piano keystrokes they know they are going to be in for one hell of a song. The vocal performance by YU-TA complements the melody very well. I didn’t know it was YU-TA himself who actually also did the piano work on this song and he is very talented. The music video that recently dropped shows off his skills and gave me a newfound respect for his vocal talent. Kento.i was my favorite member until I heard “Ayumi” and now YU-TA is easily my new favorite.

Check out “Ayumi” here along with the music video below!

Luna's Ongaku Go for August 2020!

Continuing from Ken’s lead, we at Ongaku to You would like our readers to know what was filling our ears for the past month. Each track is available across all digital music streaming platforms with Apple Music being featured on this site.

“Poison (feat NENE)” by Awich

With Awich making her major label debut with the album “Partition” on August 21st, it brought me back to her “Kujaku” album that released in January of this year. “Kujaku” has many stand out tracks, lately “Poison (feat. NENE)” has been catching my ear lately from its opening guitar moment to Awich and NENE showing off their rapping skills. Out of all of the tracks on “Kujaku”, this is one that still stands out the most due to the composition and I cannot get enough of this style. Awich and NENE blend their rap together with flawless vocal work, making for an everyday listen.

Check out Poison (feat. NENE) here along with the music video below!

“Turning Up” by ARASHI

Earlier this month, ARASHI released their latest digital single “IN THE SUMMER”, which brought me back to one of my favorite songs by them from last year “Turning Up” and it happened to be the first digital single of their career. This track is the perfect summer pop tune that makes you want to dance. It has a fun catchy beat and chorus that you not only want to dance to but you can’t get out of your head once you hear it. “Turning Up” has been a joy to listen to all month and has kept my spirits up with those funky Jpop beats.

Check out “Turning Up” here along with the music video below.

“Night D” by eill

“Night D” is the newest digital single by eill and it immediately caught my ear with its 80s vibe. The opening of this track reminds me of the montage scenes in 80s movies and I cannot get enough of it. It’s not just the music, it has a very catchy chorus as well. “Night D” has the perfect mixture of Japanese and English in its lyrics and eill pulls it off perfectly switching between both. This is a track I easily listen to in a loop as it flows from beginning to end superbly.

Check out “Night D” here along with the music video below!

“Campanella” by Kenshi Yonezu

With the release of Kenshi Yonezu’s latest album STRAY SHEEP earlier this month (and our Artist Spotlight episode on Kenshi), Campanella has caught my ear and moved up on my top Kenshi songs. I absolutely love how the opening of Campanella starts out as it draws you right in. Kenshi’s vocals flow excellently with the style and it adds a catchy chorus. Campanella is an interesting track and its difficult to express in words the uniqueness it holds for me.

Check out “Campanella” here along with the music video below!

“MY NAME” by CHANMINA

With the anticipated release of CHANMINA’s single “Angel” releasing on September 6th, I have been going back and revisiting all of her work. “MY NAME” is one of the tracks I always go back to as this is the song that got me to fall head over heals for her. CHANMINA’s rap is outstanding and shows how talented of a rapper she is along with being a vocalist. One of the other reasons I love this track is how theatrical the composition sounds at the beginning and when her rap comes in - it all fits together perfectly. This is also a great song to play in the car and the volume turned up.

Check out “MY NAME” here along with the music video below!

Ken's Ongaku Go for August 2020!

Another month down from 2020 and we at Ongaku to You would like our readers to know what was filling our ears for the past month. Each track is available across all digital music streaming platforms with Apple Music being featured on this site.

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“Blueberry” by Daichi Yamamoto

Missing that western R&B/ Rap music I get during my morning work, in-d was the initial step to Daichi Yamamoto. He had a lot of impressive tracks off of his latest EP Elephant in My Room but “Blueberry” scratched that itch that I needed for western style. It’s beautiful yet haunting composition is something that needs to be heard. Yamamoto’s rap skill is nothing to sneeze at and goes above Music Corner alum Sorane’s skill and I put him high in that regard in the Japanese music industry.  Yamamoto left a great first impression on his style and cadence from this track and I can’t wait to dive into the rest of his discography.

Check out “Blueberry” here along with the music video below!

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“Free” by Polkadot Stingray

While released back in July, I didn’t get a chance to listen to it during our whole ordeal with Kenshi, however, I had high expectations for this song due to their previous track “Stinging Spica” already being in the race for song of the year. While not reaching the top parse, it reaches that bite size goodness a solid pop-rock band needs to be. That one simple act will always make me go back to tracks like this all too often. 

Check out “Free” here along with its music video below!

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“Your Love” by SIRUP

Continuing from my R&B/ Hip-Hop trance that I was put into this month, SIRUP was an artist that I kept going back to. From my rotation last month, “Your Love” was always that second pick from his discography. The craft and skill SIRUP has shown in this song was just absolutely fantastic and shows that he’s enjoying every bit of it. From the high energy and simplistic composition to going above and beyond with his vocal range, it’s a track that needs to be heard.

Check out the music video for “Your Love” along with the track here!

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“Blue” by LUCKY TAPES feat. Kojikoji

I was absolutely ecstatic about this collaboration as I’ve been high on LUCKY TAPES for years since starting the podcast. Kojikoji was an up-and-coming vocalist that I’ve been keeping my eye on since the abundant of collaborations that she as already done with similar artists. One of the things that I just love about this track is that the vocalist Kai doesn’t do anything dance while the track keeps the composition simple and not overbearing. From that one simple act, it puts both his and Kojikoji’s vocals into the forefront and entices you to keep listening. The track had gone above and beyond my expectations and was the main reason I did a Music Corner about them in the first place. 

Check out the track here along with the lyric video below!

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 “Fireworks” by Daoko and Kenshi Yonezu

Due to our podcast doing an Artist Spotlight about Yonezu last month, one of his tracks was going to bleed over into my heavy rotation. “Fireworks” was one of the first songs I honestly fell in love with from Yonezu that I didn’t know it was from him originally. Its beautiful composition brings out the best of both vocalists. While the solo versions of the song were just ok, the original duet version is absolutely fantastic and in my opinion the best work that both Daoko and Yonezu have done.

Check out the music video along with the song here!

Gray's Ongaku Go For July 2020

Continuing from Ken’s and Luna’s lead, we at Ongaku to You would like our readers to know what was filling our ears for the past month. Each track is available across all digital music streaming platforms with Apple Music being featured on this site.

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“Ayumi” by Yu-Ta from IVVY

This song is a very recent addition to my playlist but upon hearing it I cannot stop listening to it. IVVY has been releasing digital singles for each member and while all of them are really good, “Ayumi” stands above the rest with a gripping vocal performance and wonderful melody. This song is just absolutely amazing and one I highly recommend.

Be sure to check out “Ayumi” here

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“work it out” by lol

It’s a running joke at this point how much I love lol, but they are an amazing group that I find to be really talented. 2020 so far has not been a highlight with them. Their lightning album was okay with only a few stand out tracks so I was starting to worry about the future of the group but then they released “work it out” and I have to say this is their best song in quite a while. “work it out” has a great hook and wonderful melody that is both inspiring and uplifting. This group of five is so talented and “work it out” once again proves how well they work together. The vocal work done here is amazing and the harmonization is great. Honaka’s rap really pulls the song together and the song becomes a recommendation for everyone. 

Check out the “work it out” here along with the music video below!

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“Endless Love (feat. Sota Hanamura)” by Beverly

I discovered this song one night trying to go back to sleep and was quite blown away. I forgot that this was originally a cover of a song from the early ’80s but that honestly doesn’t matter. Beverly just kills it, and Sota keeps up with her vocals which together come together to create this amazing song. Even if you’re a fan of the original, be sure to give the cover a listen. 

Be sure to check out “Endless Love” here along with the music video below!

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“Love so sweet: Reborn” by ARASHI

I know this song is pretty divisive among fans of ARASHI, and I can see why. The original is better, but I have a tendency to enjoy tracks in English being that they are easier for me to sing along to and so I find myself coming back to this version. While “Turning Up” was originally my favorite song by ARASHI, “Love so sweet: Reborn” after multiple listens now tops my #1 spot.

Check out “Love so sweet” Reborn” here along with the lyric video below!

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“Good Bye Baby” by Rude-α

One of my favorite songs of last year, this is the very first track I ever heard by Rude-α and to my joy, put it on his latest album that dropped back in March. I love the beat and melody of this song. There are some amazing tracks on thios album but this is my favorite of his and enjoy hearing it on repeat. 

Check out “Good Bye Baby” here along with the music video below!

Luna's Ongaku Go for July 2020!

Continuing from Ken’s lead, we at Ongaku to You would like our readers to know what was filling our ears for the past month. Each track is available across all digital music streaming platforms with Apple Music being featured on this site.

“BANANA” by CREAM

With the release of CREAM’s latest digital single “Go Peaches Remix feat. KOWICHI, Merry Delo”, one of the best summer songs of 2019 is catching me again this year. This tropical tune is the essence of summer with its catchy beat and chorus that makes you want to get up and dance and enjoy the summer. “BANANA” was featured on CREAM’s digital-only album (LOVE + PARTY) that released at the end of 2019 and is the most stand out track on the album. This track shows how CREAM has perfected blending MINAMI’s vocals with Staxx-T’s rap and compositions. This was one of my rare digital music purchases and has been on heavy rotation since it released.

Check out “BANANA” here along with the music video below!

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“Joyride (#SorryNotSorry Pt 2)” by BananaLemon

With the release of their dance practice video which I reported back in February, this track stuck with me immediately compared to their newest song “Slayasian”. “Joyride (#SorryNotSorry Pt 2)” draws you in immediately with Nadia starting off with her powerful vocals, followed by each member joining in the track. The chorus, composition, and each member’s voice harmonized together make this an unforgettable track that keeps drawing you back in.

Check out “Joyride (#SorryNotSorry Pt2)” here along with the dance practice video below!

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“puff” by Koda Kumi

This is Koda Kumi’s first song and digital release of 2020 and it was one of the most anticipated for me since it was announcement. “puff” did not disappoint in the least with its positive lyrics, fun summer beat, and Koda Kumi’s deep vocals. This release marks Koda Kumi’s 20th anniversary celebration and shows that she is still going strong. The lyrics bring the positivity of working hard and striving toward your goal, which has been keeping me going throughout the month.

Check out “puff” here along with the dance practice video below!

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“Bye Bye Boy” by KIRA

Earlier this month, I chose KIRA as the Music Corner for our site in celebration of her newest digital single “Lovin’ you”. Upon my daily listen, “Bye Bye Boy” is my go-to track and the first track that I ever listened to by KIRA. This song always pops into my head daily due to its catchy composition and her smoky vocals. “Bye Bye Boy” also has a summer feel to it as the video release in May of 2018 and her album “Naked” released the following month. This is my most recommended song by KIRA as it has an unforgettable melody with great vocal work that will stick with you.

Check out “Bye Bye Boy” here along with the music video below!

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“GRAB THE AIR” by milet

While promoting her debut album “eyes” from April until its release in June, milet released “GRAB THE AIR” on YouTube. This track immediately grabbed me and got me even more excited for “eyes” which was my most anticipated album release of the year. This is one of milet’s more upbeat tracks and compositions, it literally grabs you immediately. Kamikaze Boy from MAN WITH A MISSION worked as a producer and you can hear his influence mixed with milet’s in this track making it a breath of fresh air compared to her usual tracks. “GRAB THE AIR” is a track that shows that milet’s music is always a treat to look forward to.

Check out “GRAB THE AIR” here along with the music video below!