Reaching that half way point of the year means a brand new Ongaku Go is here! 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.

“Tabitachi no Mae ni” by WANIMA

Honestly, WANIMA is a group that came up the last couple months in my rotations. While their release in April, “Chilly Chili Sauce”, was something I’m used to by them, what really surprised me was their next digital release of “Tabitachi no Mae ni”. While its not as high energy as previous tracks done by the band, I absolutely love the message of “doing your best not matter what obstacles are in your way”. It’s a message that, especially during this time, we all need. While I wasn’t sold on them when I first listened to them a couple years back, solid releases like “Chilly Chili Sauce” and “Tabitachi no Mae ni” in the past couple months made me really look forward to their upcoming releases. 

Be sure to check out the music video below, along with the track here!

“Love+” by Daichi Yamamoto & DJ DISK

I was honestly anticipating Whitecube that came out earlier in the month, and while I think the album is very strong as a whole, “Love+” drew me back again and again. The interesting mix of having it be a fusion reggae rap mix honestly threw me off upon first listening but enthralled me upon repeated listens. Yamamoto’s vocal range is put on center stage with this release and really shows that he can do more then that western style of rap vocals that he is known for. While I have been a fan of Yamamoto for awhile now, “Love+” really changed what I thought I knew about the vocalist and can’t wait to hear more by him in the future. 

Check out the music video for “Love+” below, along with the song here!

“Awakening” by Tokyo Jihen

Now, while I appreciate what Shinna Ringo and Tokyo Jihen have done for the industry, I’m not the biggest fan of them. So when I had heard about this upcoming release, I had little to no interested in the album, Ongaku, let alone this song. But when the music video released for this track it had peaked my interest, as most of the things that had turned me off about Ringo and this band was put to a minimum or not included at all and albeit slowly had won me over. This doesn’t mean that I’ll be hurrying to buy their next release, but I can understand why fans love her in the first place a whole lot more now with “Awakening”.

Be sure to check out the music video for “Awakening” below, along with the track here!

“PARADISE” by TENDRE

I was honestly a little afraid when I had found out that TENDRE had gotten signed to Universal via EMI RECORDS earlier in the year as sometimes studio interference is a thing with artists that don’t fit the mold of popular artists. So to hear the one two punch of “PIECE” earlier in the year and “PARADISE” of being unabashedly his style was a sigh of relief to say the least. While I had did enjoy “PIECE” upon its release as it was also in my Ongaku Go back in April, I felt like it was him holding back just a bit as it was his first major release. With “PARADISE I feel like its TENDRE being more himself with this track and its something that I absolutely love, from its amazing composition to, his vocal work with this track, its an instant listen to any fan and new-comer alike. As I look forward to his upcoming major label album in September, I won’t have to worry about this artist not being able to blaze his own trail in the music industry. 

Be sure to check out the music video for “PARADISE” below and the song here!

“Highway” by Kobore

Going down the rabbit hole of several new releases a couple weeks back led me to finding this wonderful band. Their latest EP Orange is absolutely fantastic and well roundly showed off their skills as band, however it was the lead track, “Highway” that had really sold me on them. While not shaking the pot too much, they are really solid in what they do. Their vocalist Takeshi Sato really had surprised me and harked back to a lot of early 10’s era of rock. All in all Kobore really got me interested to go back into their discography just a bit more and made me want to look forward to their upcoming release.  

Be sure to check out the track here!