YUKIO music blog

I made three more playlists. Have a listen!

Hello! It’s been a while since my last post. How have you all been? Well, I don’t think anyone is actually reading this blog, so I’m just writing freely.

Now, the reason I decided to post an update after so many months is that I’ve created new playlists on Spotify for my music—three of them, in fact!

So, what kind of playlists are they? I made one for English-speaking listeners, one for French-speaking listeners, and one for Spanish-speaking listeners. You might think, “Isn’t that just three playlists matching the three versions of the YUKIO MUSIC blog?” And you’d be absolutely right! I simply created these playlists to align with my blog.

Honestly, it was probably a mistake to create English, French, and Spanish versions of my blog to match my homepage. I’ve already been struggling to update my blog in my native language, Japanese, and trying to maintain three additional blogs in foreign languages is just exhausting. I can’t even speak these languages, yet here I am, stuck with them. There’s no turning back now—what’s done is done. Lately, I’ve been feeling worn out because of this, but I made up my mind and pushed through! I worked hard and created these English, French, and Spanish playlists.

Why did I even start these blogs in languages I can’t speak? Well, I’ve mentioned this before, but when I first created my homepage, I wanted to share my music with the world, not just Japan. So, I asked a friend who was good at languages to translate for me. I could have gone with Chinese or Korean as well, but that friend happened to be studying English, French, and Spanish, so that’s how it happened.

At first, things were going well, but then I lost contact with that friend. So now, when I update the blogs, I have no choice but to rely on Google Translate. Maybe this time, I’ll try ChatGPT instead.

As for the playlists, I’ve chosen different songs for each language group. For the English-speaking audience, I selected my more hard rock-style songs. For the French-speaking audience, I focused on tracks that use “cliché” (a musical term). And for the Spanish-speaking audience, I picked songs with a Latin-inspired rhythm—more or less. Honestly, I just chose them randomly.

Would you like to give these playlists a listen? They’re fun! And if you send me your thoughts after listening, I’d be really happy. Though, I doubt anyone will.

Please enjoy my original Japanese songs—music like this doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world!

I am a mole

Available for download and purchase, with plenty of previews! Give it a listen! If you like it, you can purchase it through credit card or PayPal.

YUKIO　Fifteen songs with guitar accompaniment and vocals
YUKIO PIANO　Thirteen piano accompaniment with vocals songs
COCOLO　Thirteen band-formatted songs
SUN　Thirteen band-formatted songs　
MOON　Ten band-formatted songs
AOMORI　Mini album of 5 songs
STORY　Thirteen band-formatted songs

I’m distributing my music on various platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Line Music, and Amazon Music. I recommend listening to my work through these platforms. CDs are also available for purchase

YUKIO Morning Walk Playlist

Hello. It’s been a while. I wonder when was the last time I wrote this blog? If you check my previous post, you’ll see that I wrote one in February and three in July. If I write only a few posts a year, no one will read it. Lol

So, what should I write this time? If you look at my previous post, you’ll see that I wrote about making a playlist on Spotify, so I’ll talk about that again this time. Last time, I reported that I made a live set list for Inokashira Park, where I sing several times a month, but this time I would like to report to everyone that I have also created a monthly set list of songs that I hum every morning while taking a walk.

Yes, I love walking. Lol. Whether it’s raining, the sun is shining brightly, or my calves are sore from walking too much, I don’t care at all, and I go for a walk in a nearby park every morning. I always post the footage on my Instagram, and I distribute it as a video with my own original songs as background music.

I created a playlist on Spotify that compiles my original songs by month. Since it is by month, it will be updated every month. I just changed the playlist to the order of the songs in October. Why not give this playlist a listen?

It is updated every month, so you may discover something new! Thank you.

YUKIO Morning Walk Playlist

Available for download and purchase, with plenty of previews! Give it a listen! If you like it, you can purchase it through credit card or PayPal.

YUKIO　Fifteen songs with guitar accompaniment and vocals
YUKIO PIANO　Thirteen piano accompaniment with vocals songs
COCOLO　Thirteen band-formatted songs
SUN　Thirteen band-formatted songs　
MOON　Ten band-formatted songs
AOMORI　Mini album of 5 songs
STORY　Thirteen band-formatted songs

“YUKIO Inokashira Park Live – Performance List” and “Ozora Umi”

I mentioned last time that I created two playlists on Spotify. Now, I’d like to tell you that I have made two more playlists. Haha.

The first one is called “YUKIO Inokashira Park Live – Performance List.” As the name suggests, this playlist follows the setlist of my live performances at Inokashira Park. At Inokashira Park, I perform acoustic guitar solo singing, mostly featuring songs from my guitar solo album “YUKIO.” However, I also perform many songs that are streamed in a band arrangement. For the guitar solo songs, I remember most of the lyrics, so I sing without a music stand. For the band arrangement songs, I sometimes don’t remember the lyrics, so I use a music stand with a notebook of lyrics, resulting in a two-part performance with and without the stand.

I upload one song from these performances to YouTube every two days, but since I sing around 30 songs in one live session at Inokashira Park, it takes about two months to show a full live session on YouTube with around 15 songs per month. Because YouTube only shows parts of the performance, I came up with the idea of this playlist to show the full setlist.

Unlike the previous two playlists I mentioned, which are static, this “YUKIO Inokashira Park Live – Performance List” will be updated continuously with the latest setlist from my live performances. Just like this blog, I believe that constant updates are essential for attracting attention online. Moreover, although I perform with an acoustic guitar in the park, the playlist features the band arrangement versions, offering a unique listening experience. Please check out this playlist, “YUKIO Inokashira Park Live – Performance List.”

YUKIO Inokashira Park Live – Performance List

The second new playlist is called “Daikuukai,” which is an extensive collection of 27 of my original songs, spanning approximately 2.5 hours. The reason I created this playlist is that I originally intended to compile my albums “Tsuki,” “Aomori,” and “Monogatari” into a three-CD set.

These three albums were recorded around the same time, with the first song being “Sora” and the last song being “Umi.” I initially planned to title the three-CD set “Kuukai.” However, due to the high cost of producing a three-CD set, I split them into the three separate albums, “Tsuki,” “Aomori,” and “Monogatari.”

People live on the land between the sky and the sea, so I thought it would be interesting to randomly insert human stories—songs—between the songs “Sora” and “Umi.”

Recalling this initial idea, I realized that in this digital age, I can achieve my vision without splitting it into three CDs by creating a single playlist. Last night, I listened to the entire playlist myself and felt that it was quite chaotic, but I believe that without this volume, I wouldn’t be able to express what I wanted to convey. I feel that this chaos is a representation of life itself. Since I revived this idea in playlist form, I decided to add “Dai” (meaning “great” or “grand”) to the original “Kuukai” and named it “Daikuukai.” Haha.

I’d be delighted if you could listen to this playlist as well. Even if no one does, I have no regrets!

Daikuukai

Available for download and purchase, with plenty of previews! Give it a listen! If you like it, you can purchase it through credit card or PayPal.

YUKIO　Fifteen songs with guitar accompaniment and vocals
YUKIO PIANO　Thirteen piano accompaniment with vocals songs
COCOLO　Thirteen band-formatted songs
SUN　Thirteen band-formatted songs　
MOON　Ten band-formatted songs
AOMORI　Mini album of 5 songs
STORY　Thirteen band-formatted songs

I made two playlists on Spotify.

Hello! I usually write this blog on Sundays, but today is a weekday, and it’s the end of the rainy season, so it’s raining outside.

Now, there’s a reason why I decided to write today. I created two new playlists on Spotify, and I wanted to introduce them to you.

The two playlists are “ラテンなYUKIO-YUKIO Latin” and “ハードロックなYUKIO-YUKIO Hard Rock”. They feature my original songs with Latin rhythms and hard rock vibes, respectively.

In the past, I’ve made several playlists as part of my music streaming service strategy, but I always felt unsure about the purpose of making them. I ended up creating a lot of random playlists without a clear motive. However, I believe these two new playlists are quite good.

Previously, I focused on creating albums, aiming to convey my world view through the entire album. While that hasn’t changed, I realized that creating playlists offers a different way of experiencing my music.

A different perspective from the album’s world view…

This new approach involves grouping similar songs from my original works. “ラテンなYUKIO-YUKIO Latin” includes songs with Latin rhythms, and “ハードロックなYUKIO-YUKIO Hard Rock” features hard rock songs. These playlists reflect this idea. If albums represent a vertical axis, then playlists represent a horizontal axis.

Spotify Playlist: ラテンなYUKIO-YUKIO Latin

Why did I come to this realization? It’s because I’ve been listening to similar playlists myself for years! I didn’t create actual playlists, but I selected and listened to these songs in order during my morning or lunchtime breaks. I found the sequence enjoyable. Especially in this season, “ラテンなYUKIO-YUKIO Latin” feels refreshing when listened to in the hot summer. The other playlist, “ハードロックなYUKIO-YUKIO Hard Rock”, feels intensely hot and exhilarating when listened to on a scorching summer day, like eating spicy curry or mapo tofu while sweating profusely.

Spotify Playlist: ハードロックなYUKIO-YUKIO Hard Rock

Spotify is a free streaming service, so why not give these playlists a listen? They are perfect for summer. As the creator, I assure you won’t be disappointed. If you like them, please follow me.

Spotify Artist Page: YUKIO

Available for download and purchase, with plenty of previews! Give it a listen! If you like it, you can purchase it through credit card or PayPal.

YUKIO　Fifteen songs with guitar accompaniment and vocals
YUKIO PIANO　Thirteen piano accompaniment with vocals songs
COCOLO　Thirteen band-formatted songs
SUN　Thirteen band-formatted songs　
MOON　Ten band-formatted songs
AOMORI　Mini album of 5 songs
STORY　Thirteen band-formatted songs

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Hello everyone, it’s been half a year. How have you been? I’ve been so busy practicing the piano that I haven’t had time to write this blog. Practicing the piano at my age won’t really lead to anything, but my body and mind crave it. As a result of following this feeling, I hardly had any time to write this blog. Haha.

Today is Sunday, and perhaps because I practiced in the community center’s piano room yesterday, I unusually felt like writing this blog from the morning. It’s currently the rainy season in Japan, but it’s already as hot as summer. The unique humidity in Japan makes it incredibly hot during this time of year. Despite this heat, today was the voting day for the Tokyo gubernatorial election, and I went to the polling station. Haha.

With the pandemic now over, the streets of Tokyo are overflowing with foreigners. There are Chinese, Koreans, people from Southeast Asia, white people, black people—travelers from all over the world. Sometimes, with all the different languages mixed together, I find myself wondering if this is really Japan. Recently, I’ve seen many people who seem to be living in Japan rather than just visiting as tourists.

In the park, there was a noisy parent and child playing with a remote-controlled car. When I listened closely, they were speaking Chinese, and I was surprised to realize they were Chinese. Japanese people don’t usually play with remote-controlled cars in the park, I thought. But why would a Chinese parent and child be playing in a Japanese park? People who are just visiting Japan wouldn’t leisurely play in a park, so I speculated that they might be staying in Japan for a longer period.

One night, when I went to a convenience store to buy alcohol, I saw a white man at the register paying for electricity and gas. A tourist wouldn’t be paying utility bills at a convenience store! So, I concluded that this white man probably lives nearby. During the pandemic, I hardly saw any foreigners, but in the past year or so, the number of foreigners living in Japan, or at least in Tokyo, has significantly increased.

I don’t agree with the recent news and online information calling for the expulsion of foreigners. However, for those who are going to live in a place for an extended period rather than just travel, I think they should live according to the local customs and rules. There’s a Japanese proverb that says, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” I would like to advise foreigners who have started living in Japan to follow Japanese living rules. If they do, I’m sure they’ll find Japan to be a wonderful country.

I want a friend

Original song available for download. Ample preview options! Why not give it a listen? If you enjoy it, you can purchase it via PayPal.

YUKIO　Fifteen songs with guitar accompaniment and vocals
YUKIO PIANO　Thirteen piano accompaniment with vocals songs
COCOLO　Thirteen band-formatted songs
SUN　Thirteen band-formatted songs　
MOON　Ten band-formatted songs
AOMORI　Mini album of 5 songs
STORY　Thirteen band-formatted songs