Luna's Ongaku Go For July 2023!

With Summer currently sizzling on, it's that time of the month for July’s Ongaku Go! We at OTY 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 featured on this site, along with our Spotify playlist here!

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“Summer Escape” by RIEHATA

As the title states “Summer Escape” lives up to its title, as it’s the perfect song for your ears to escape to in this heat. RIEHATA has smooth vocals that immediately get you hooked. The composition is a fun fresh beat that imbodies the summer feelings and the lyrics match with it to a T. The transition from English to Japanese is so flawless that you don’t even realize RIEHATA is switching. Whenver I heat “Summer Escape” I just want to groove and sway with the beat. It’s a great way to beat the heat.

Check out “Summer Escape” by RIEHATA here and the live choreography video below!

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“Lonely Night” by 7co

I discovered 7co’s “Lonely Night” while browsing Apple Music and just fell in love with the upbeat composition that has a dance vibe. The lyrics and chorus also make “Lonely Night” an easy listen and relatable song that resonates with you. Despite hearing “Lonely Night” back in late May, it has made it heavily into my July rotation as it offers a fresh sound that helps cool the heat down in my mind. Nanako’s vocal’s make “Lonely Night” such a treat with her smooth sound mixed with RYUJA’s unique composition making this a memorable song for that summer night.

Check out “Lonely Night” here and the sound video below!

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“Tequilla Sunrise” by Hiromi

With the release of Hiromi’s new digital single, “246”, it brought me back to listening to her discography and as its summer, “Tequilla Sunrise” has made it into my summer playlist. “Tequilla Sunrise” has a poppy R&B composition that gives off a beachy vibe. Hiromi’s vocals are smooth and sulty leaving you soaking it all in. “Tequilla Sunrise” makes me not only want to have the very summery drink, but sit out on a beach or a boat with a drink and enjoy the beauty of the season and this song.

Check out “Tequilla Sunrise” by Hiromi here and the music video below!

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“Lovely Day, Lovely Place.” by HIRAIDAI

HIRAIDAI always releases amazing summer tracks and “Lovely Day, Lovely Place.” is one of those tracks. It not only has the summer vibe but that island feel HIRAIDAI is known for. The lyrics make you feel so good inside and the composition matches that good feeling with it’s poppy guitar sound. In some instances, “Lovely Day, Lovely Place” also gives you a little country vibe as well. On a hot summer day or a cool summer night, this track just makes envision you are in your happy place no matter where you are.

Check out “Lovely Day, Lovely Place” by HIRAIDAI here and the music video below!

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“Ready4summer” by CREAM

CREAM dropped their new album Chapters back in at the end of June and its been one of my heavily rotated albums this month. The track “Ready4summer” has made it onto several playlists as tis the season. This is an absolute jam with its upbeat composition and lyrics that describe how this summer has been so far. “Ready4summer” might not have the catchiest of “Banana” chorus wise, but the versus’ are lit and easy to sing-a-long and rap with. Staxx-T’s rap is very chill in this and flows with Minami’s vocals flawlessly. It’s the perfect summer jam.

Check out “Ready4summer” by CREAM here and the video clip below!

Ken's Ongaku Go for July 2023!

As the fireworks filled the month of July shoots on by, this means it’s time for this months Ongaku Go! We at OTY 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 featured on this site along with our Spotify playlist here!

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“Honomekashi feat Se So Neon” by Kirinji

Kirinji keeps the hits on coming with this release. A more laid back and low key composition was used with this track featuring soothing vocals by both Takaki Horigome and guest vocalist Se So Neon. Hearing the tracks that Kirinji has put out through the year has made me very excited for their 2023 and hopefully a new album in the horizon. While my love for Horigome’s solo project will always be a bit bias, I can’t help but to keep adding more of his tracks to my Ongaku Go.

Be sure to check out “Honomekashi” here!

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“Fujisawa Loser” by Asian Kung-fu Generation

With the release of the Surf Bungaku Kamakura Complete album that came out earlier in the month I can’t help but go back to the original album as it’s one of my favorites and I think it marks the peak of Asian Kung-fu Generation. While the 2023 remastered version is alright, the heavy riff of the guitar that was added was such a huge turn off that I had to go back to original. I do think that it is important to improve now what you had on a “remastered” version, it’s just difficult to improve on what was a near masterpiece in the first place.

Check out the music video for “Fujisawa Loser” below, along with the track here!

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“Byebye feat Foi” by Ghost like girlfriend.

I’ll admit I haven’t listened to a whole lot of Ghost like girlfriend recently, however this latest collaboration with Foi had me turning. I absolutely loved this release in everything that Ghost like girlfriend did. The compositions with the keyboard was fantastic as is the trading of main. The trailing vocal was a nice choice as it adds to the effect that two people are saying good bye to each other. This track had restored my faith in Ghost like girlfriend, and will be looking forward to his next release.

Be sure to check out the song here!

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“Blue” by Organic Call

This amazing duo is a recent addition as they just brought something that I had loved in alternative rock. While not turning the wheel on what this genre can do per se, they bring this energy that infected my ears with this composition. The whole mini-album of Yumeyogu Kgui no Yukue was fantastic as well, but nothing grabbed me like how “Blue” did. I don’t know if this will lead into a full blown album for the duo, but I for one can’t wait for their next release.

Be sure to check out “Blue” here!

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“sad girl” by brb. and Sirup

With another Sirup release, I can’t help myself to bring myself to not add this to my list. brb. does amazing work throughout this song as they are the main attractions, but Sirup is no sneeze when he does eventually join in on the fun in the track. The track is very simplistic but clocking under two and a half minutes I can truly forgive it. While this is the first time I heard of bnb. I knew that they are going to be a group that I’ll keep my eye on for future releases.

Check out the music video for “sad girl” below, with there track here!

AmPm, CARTOON and YELLOCK team up with Indonesian diva singer Icazahra for new summer anthem ‘Summer Drive feat. Icazahra’, out today!

Popular masked production duo AmPm have teamed up with tech-house DJ and producer CARTOON and virtual human artist YELLOCK, along with Japan-based singer-songwriter and Indonesian diva singer Icazahra, on the new song ‘Summer Drive feat. Icazahra’, released today, August 4.

The new track is a collaboration born from the popular music show ‘Unknown Studio’ broadcast in Japan by ABC TV. The song combines the beautiful singing voice and melodies of Icazahra with AmPm’s deep and chill sound design, intertwined with house elements courtesy of CARTOON and YELLOCK, resulting in a house music gem.

Be sure to check out this summer smash for a refreshing escape from the rising heat here!

Icazahra

Icazahra is an Indonesian singer-songwriter based in Japan. She studied classical music in junior high school with the aim of becoming a violinist, and began her career as a singer in Indonesia in 2010. She moved to Japan in 2014 to study, and in 2015 she was the winning contestant on the Nippon TV show ‘Nodojiman The World’. Then in 2019, while managed by a Japanese talent agency, she made her debut in Japan, releasing a single and album under the name ICA. She is now performing as an independent artist under the name Icazahra, as well as posting her own covers of popular anime songs on YouTube. In 2020 she released the single ‘We Are Not In Love Anymore’, followed by the 2021 EP ‘Restless’, which featured lyrics in three languages.

AmPm

AmPm are a masked production duo from Japan who made a major global impact with their March 2017 debut track, ‘Best Part of Us feat. Michael Kaneko’. The same year, they were the only Japanese artist to perform at Spotify On Stage, a festival in Indonesia hosted by Spotify. In 2018, they dominated stages around the world, from ULTRA Miami, ULTRA Korea and ULTRA Japan to a headline concert in New York. In addition to releasing their own original music, AmPm have remixed tracks by popular overseas artists such as Afrojack, R3HAB and Nicky Romero, along with remixes for renowned Japanese artists like Gesu no Kiwami Otome (‘Black Parade’) and MONKEY MAJIK (‘Tokyo Lights’), and production for Ken Hirai’s track ‘Holic’. Collaborating with a plethora of dance-music vocalists, they have released more than 40 tracks to date. In March 2019, they were recognized at the Digital Contents of the Year 2018 / 24th AMD Award, winning the Special Jury Award. In June 2019, they produced the V6 track ‘All For You’. With a large fan base overseas, AmPm are currently one of the most popular Japanese artists on the global stage.

CARTOON + YELLOCK

CARTOON + YELLOCK is a unit formed by CARTOON, a tech-house DJ who was the first Japanese artist to sign with the respected New York-based dance music label Ultra Records, and YELLOCK, a drum’n’bass “digital twins” artist who is both a real person and a virtual human. In 2022, they performed on the main stage at ULTRA JAPAN, and their track ‘nox’, which was released around the same time, was featured on the official ULTRA JAPAN playlist and other top dance music playlists on multiple streaming services. In early 2023, they hosted a club event in Shibuya, Tokyo, with the theme “Web3×MUSIC”, pulling a crowd of over 1,000 excited dance music lovers.

RIKIMARU flexes his skills as choreographer and performer with new single ‘TALKIN’BOUT’, from upcoming first full album ‘CLOWN OR CROWN’!

TALKIN’BOUT Jacket Cover

World-class dancer and multitalented artist RIKIMARU released ‘TALKIN’BOUT’ on Thursday, July 27, as an advance single from his upcoming first full-length album, ‘CLOWN OR CROWN’. The album is poised to reveal a new image for RIKIMARU, and show the world his dynamic and free-spirited charm. 

Through the songs on the album, the overarching concept of “ears: listen” and “eyes: see” paints a story, with RIKIMARU’s dramatic and bold performances adding impact to the senses of hearing and sight again and again.

Fans can get a taste of the unique concept of the album ‘CLOWN OR CROWN’ through the advance release single ‘TALKIN’BOUT’, out now. Through a total of 12 songs, the album traces a melancholic, absurdist view of the conflict between the “king” and the “clown”, with lyrics to some songs including acerbic takes on society and lashings of satire.

‘TALKIN’BOUT’ was created during a songwriting session with production team Tha Aristocratz and Tiyon “TC” Mack, who have produced multiple global hits, and then refined over and over again during the production and recording process. The vocals express a wide range of emotions, layered over heavy synths and basslines that vibrate down to the marrow, and drumming that packs a strong punch.

RIKIMARU participated in the entire process of producing his first solo album, from the initial preproduction stage to the completion of the project, showing his extreme commitment to creating this special work. The album includes songwriters, arrangers, lyricists and dancers from China, Japan, South Korea and the United States – all hand-picked by RIKIMARU, expanding his musical boundaries.

For ‘TALKIN’BOUT’, RIKIMARU even visited South Korea, where he created a music video together with a local creative team and dancers, creating a unique dance experience. With intense dance routines set against a video wall backdrop filled with surging dark-red waves, the video pulls viewers deep inside the atmospheric world of RIKIMARU’s upcoming album.

A concept teaser video for the album was released on July 24, and immediately began attracting attention from intrigued fans. Indeed, the story of RIKIMARU’s first full-length album ‘CLOWN OR CROWN’ truly begins with this concept teaser video, which reveals a new side to RIKIMARU and uses music and visuals to convey his reimagined appeal. 

As he further refines his expressive power as a choreographer and an artist, RIKIMARU has taken a step towards becoming a global star. There is no doubt this unique talent will attract support from music fans around the world.

Be sure to check out TALKIN’BOUT here!

Chilli Beans. provide new ‘ONE PIECE’ anime ending theme, ‘Raise’, from their 4th EP ‘for you’!

for you Jacket cover

Chilli Beans., a three-piece Japanese band featuring members Moto (vocals), Maika (bass & vocals) and Lily (guitar & vocals), will release their fourth EP ‘for you’ on August 9 – and one of the songs included on the EP, ‘Raise’, will feature as the ending theme song to the megahit anime series ‘ONE PIECE’! The news was announced today during day two of ONE PIECE DAY ’23, an event packed with content updates related to ‘ONE PIECE’. This is the first time in 17 years that ‘ONE PIECE’ has included an ending theme, and the announcement drew huge cheers from the audience.

‘ONE PIECE’ and the return of its ending theme song will be broadcast in countries and regions around the world. Ahead of the new anime season, ‘Raise’ will be released as a digital single on download and streaming platforms at midnight Japan Standard Time on Monday, August 7, so don’t miss it!

©︎ Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha, Fuji TV, Toei Animation

The band’s fourth EP ‘for you’ is so named because it is dedicated to the Chilli Beans. fans who pick it up and listen to it. The EP includes five songs, with the ‘ONE PIECE’ ending theme song ‘Raise’ alongside ‘Raise - anime edit’, TV Tokyo anime ‘Play It Cool, Guys’ opening theme song ‘you n me’, and the fan-favorite songs ‘you said’ and ‘aaa’, which had both only ever been performed live until now.

Of these tracks, ‘aaa’ will be released ahead of the EP, hitting digital services on Wednesday, July 26! The song expresses feelings of melancholy and confusion through a bright indie-pop sound.

The EP is available on CD, and the first-pressing release of the CD+DVD and CD+Blu-ray editions also includes video footage of all 18 songs from the Toyosu PIT performance that ended the band’s first headline tour, titled ‘Hi, TOUR’, which began in November last year. Which you can pre-order here!

And that’s not all. On Wednesday, August 16, Chilli Beans. will perform as the support band for Two Door Cinema Club’s show at Zepp New Taipei in Taiwan!
Date: Wednesday, August 16, 2023

Venue: Zepp New Taipei

Further information: http://twodoorcinemaclub.com/

Keep an eye on Chilli Beans. and their future adventures!