Ken's Ongaku Go for November 2022!
/With the color changing month of November passing us by thats means a brand new Ongaku Go is upon us. 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.
“Colorful Raindrop” by Mime
This past month was a rough one with catching Covid and dealing with the effects of that for the first half of November. But if there is nothing that did change it’s that how much Mime has been absolutely amazing and their latest single “Colorful Raindrop” is exactly what I needed. The overall composition is incredible as it’s not overbearingly complicated nor does it carry that simplistic style of melody that we are used to Mime having. Hakari’s vocals absolutely work and made me fall with it all over again. I can’t wait to see with Mime has for the next year as 2022 was just fantastic for them overall.
Be sure to check out the track here with the lyric video below!
“JUST DANCE!” TRAVIS JAPAN
We had a debuting Johnny’s group, but more importantly we had a debuting Johnny’s group that made their debut digitally as well. While I do wish their more modern groups will make the transition internationally as well, I can really appreciate Travis Japan’s effort in this. As a debut it shows how much this group can succeed as this song is sung entirely in English. For a track that is titled “Just Dance”, they don’t fall into the traps that more modern groups are doing with their dance beats and actually makes it danceable for a normal person. I don’t what the future holds for Travis Japan, but I can’t wait.
Check out the music video below along with track here!
“Subtitle” by OFFICAL HIGE DANDISM
In my mind this is their best song since “I Love” a couple years back. While we did have this stigma about OFFICAL HIGE for trying to clout chase “Pretenders” for the longest time, I think they are finally hitting their stride and producing some of the most interesting tracks that I heard, with hits like “Cry Baby’ and “Mixed Nuts” in the months prior “Subtitle” is the cherry on top of their latest resurgence. While I might not want to hear songs like “Subtitle” by OFFICAL HIGE being released all the time, when they do go back to them, it makes it feel like a gem that is waiting to be found. This is easily a track that will be in my top 5 of the year.
Be sure to check out the music video below along with the song here!
“AISHITA HARERUKANA” by Emi Noda
Now Emi Noda is a new artist that had exploded on to the scene. With the advent of Aimyon and such it is expected that this genre of the girl with the guitar will be touched upon time and time again. While I don’t like to mainly focus on that as a genre as being the main thing that drives the Japanese Music Industry as a whole, in moderations it’s fine. Originally sung by the amazing Keisuke Kuwata, Noda brings a frailness and more emotionally driven take to the piece that most others haven’t tried before. Her vocals were the first thing that really attracted me to this rendition which had led me to going back to it again and again throughout the month. I’m very excited to see how Emi makes her mark in the industry.
Be sure to check out the performance of the song below with it also here!
SOS by Okkaa
Okkaa is an artist that I had my eye on for a while and I know he’s not going to be an artist for everyone with his more artistic takes for composition. However, SOS is something I ended up really liking due to his more naturalistic view of sounds which I ended absolutely loving throughout. Okkaa’s vocals might not be the strongest, but he has that sense of being able to hook you into a song and makes the listener be able to continue listening. While I might be bringing up his achievements all too much, I honestly can’t wait to see how he’ll do in the next year.
Check out the video below along with the track here!