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Welcome to another collection of songs for the month of October that we’ve posted on our Twitter and Facebook pages for Ni-Ongaku Spotlight! This is also the final post filed under Ni-Ongaku Spotlight, in which going forward, in an effort to shift content from solely Japanese culture interests, Ni-Ongaku Spotlight will be simply be called Music Spotlight.

Since launching the original blog in 2007, “Ni-Ongaku Spotlight” (a play on “Nihon” (Japan) and “Ongaku” (Music) in Japanese) was a way to get back in touch with my discoveries of the Japanese music scene, after being caught in the Korean Wave in 2004. Now that I’m in a place where I can catch up on the latest in Japanese, and Korean music, you can now check out more than what you can find on the Oricon charts!

Without further ado, on to this month’s Music Spotlight!

Note: this post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please read our disclosure policy: https://centakumedia.com/rules/

DA PUMP – U.S.A.

DA PUMP has made a return to the music scene for the first time in a while, and their hit single for 2018 is U.S.A., which seems to be a throwback to the style of upbeat “City Pop”.. though it seems to be more of a Italo Disco track.

Toshinobu Kubota – Dance If You Want It

I talked about this song by J-Soul artist Toshinobu Kubota briefly during my recap of Anime Weekend Atlanta, as I nearly had my hands on a copy of the album this is on–only for it to be cut short due to limited payment methods. (Pro Tip: always bring cash!) This song is the catalyst for many Future Funk tracks, as well as a favorite of Jotaro Kujo from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.

CIRRRCLE – Talk Too Much

CIRRRCLE is a trio based between the US and Japan, and have made waves on the Internet, having been feature on Spotify Japan with their most recent track, “Talk Too Much”. Note: contains mild profanity.

Buy “Talk Too Much” on Amazon.com

Yo-Sea – Dreaming City (feat. HIYADAM)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnfWRTlsz80

Thanks to Spotify, I discovered a chill Japanese R&B track by Yo-Sea. At first, it sounded like a track from Korean R&B artist of the likes of Dean or Crush. You will not be disappointed.

Buy “Dreaming City” on Amazon.com

East End X YURI – DA-YO-NE

I came across this song one day watching a video of the Top 100 Oricon Singles from 1995. This was one of the songs that caught my attention. It also inspired an acoustic cover by an online trio by the name of Goose House.

Buy “DA-YO-NE” on Amazon.com

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