Ken's Ongaku Go For April 2021
/With April blown by, it is now time for a brand new 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.
“Mixtape” by Tomita Lab
This one is kind of a cheat as it is a 10 minute long track but can be broken up into four or five depending on where you break it. It plays like one traditional mix tape with several genre shifts in its runtime and really flexes on Tomita Lab’s thought and creative process. While some might feel that it’s long and conjoined very weirdly with no real theme, I feel like that’s the point as each break feels like a fresh breath of air and drew me in with every transition. I had previously known Tomita Lab’s previous work with another vocalist I hold to the highest regard, Naz, but with “Mixtape” I’ll definitely be looking toward to more of his work in the future.
Be sure to check out a snippet of the track in a preview video below along with the track in its entirety here!
“PIECE” by TENDRE
I knew this was going to be on my Ongaku Go just after me first listen and what a way to make his major label debut with Universal. While not changing too much of the norm of what I expect from a Tendre song, its lyrics really brought me in along with the composition that is just out of this world. “PIECE” is an amazing major label debut and I have no doubt that TENDRE will have several releases planed for the year, but with tracks like this I can’t wait to see what he has in store for the future.
Check out the music video for “PIECE” below long with the song here!
“ad meliora” by THE CHARM PARK
Inspired by our interview we did with this amazing artist, I played this track on a loop along with his album Bedroom Revelations. I have loved the chill vibe and slow composition that this track had and it reminded me why I had THE CHARM PARK as one of my favorite artists a couple years back. I look forward to any work that this artist releases and “ad meliora” wasn’t any different.
Be sure to check out our lyric video for “ad meliora” below along with the track here!
“Saikai” by KIRINJI
I was surprised by how fast KIRINJI would drop another release due to it becoming more of a music project for Takaki Horigome instead formally being a band. I had my trepidation about it at first, but after just listening to the first 30 seconds my fears were quickly alleviated. With Horigome’s vocals on point and not missing a beat with this track, it just takes the listeners on a magical wonderland of sounds of city pop infused flavor. The composition is something else that really stands out for me as it doesn’t sound like traditional KIRINJI, yet still holds that nostalgic feeling at times. I have already listened to “Saikai” a dozen times over and it shot to my top five of the year already, and will likely stay there.
Check out the lyric video for “Saikai” below along with the track here!
“JELLY FISH” by SHE IS SUMMER
Butting into my boys only club of artist for this month of Ongaku Go, we have SHE IS SUMMER who was riding high with both the release of her brand new album DOOR and celebrating Mico’s fifth anniversary with this project. “JELLY FISH” brings out the best of Mico’s vocal work and range and had reminded me why I fell in love with her in the first place. Its unique composition is superb with a trance like beat that listeners can get lost in. Although Mico had just released this, I expect more releases to celebrate her anniversary and I can’t wait to hear more in the future.
Check out “JELLY FISH” here!
