Round Table feat. Nino

Round Table is one of those groups that will always feel strange to write about.

Not just because this is my first article on en que 'pera (yay!), and not because there isn't much to say, but because their music is so tied to feeling.

To certain seasons, places, people, and moments that become harder to explain and further to take hold of the closer you get to them.

Their story is also, in a way, two stories: the loose, restless music they made before Nino, and the brighter, more bittersweet world they created after she arrived.

Early Days

Before Nino, Round Table, comprised of Katsutoshi Kitagawa (vocals, guitar, and bass guitar) and Rieko Ito (vocals and keyboard) was fundamentally different then what they would become.

Tracks weren't as catchy or 'poppy' since the group was lacking someone who could write and perform in the way Nino could (even though Kitagawa and Ito were really great vocalists in their own right) and it is easy to see.

However, this isn't at all to say that the music they were making during this time is a step down from their more popular and well-known works with Nino

Their music during this time had pace. It had groove. It was free and had real feet to run and be full of entropy compared the more lyric-focused stuff that would be to come.

Albums like World's End and Big Wave 71' are my favorites from this era of the band, with Windy (World's End) and Jazz on a Holiday (Big Wave 72') being to great tracks to start with.

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Before moving on, we of course should talk about what genre or type of music the group made and would go on to make with Nino, but this is actually easier said than done.

I hate to do this, but for now, we'll just throw them into Shibuya-Kei even though I'd argue they (like other Shibuya-Kei groups) pull from so many varying genres that it's hard to be scientific about a label.

I'll probably write an article eventually about Shibuya-Kei since it and its influences all have a special place in my heart. Check out Orange Glider on YouTube if you're interested though; he makes immensely thought-out and detailed videos about this world of music.

Enter Nino

Ninomiya, or, as we know her, Nino, would change everything.

Nino was a college student living near Kitagawa. She had some adjacent friends/collaborators with Kitagawa and Ito, and one day, she was asked to sing on a track called "Let Me Be With You".

If you've had any intro to Round Table prior to reading what I have to say about them, then I'm sure you know this one.

After the recording, an engineer staff found out that Nino wasn't a member of Round table and recommended that she work with the group.

This is how Round Table feat. Nino (RTfN) came to be.

Spring... April is Here

Is the feeling of wanting to return to some special moment that is long in the past good or bad?

Does it even matter if the moment itself was good or bad?

April, Nino (the album), and most of (if not all of) Round Table feat. Nino presents these mystifying feelings/questions so unexpectedly.

The hopeful(lest?) strings and punchiest kicks feel like your favorite spring day; the spring day that you dream about all winter (and maybe even in the other seasons).

So why do I feel so off now that it's here?

Now that I'm back, why don't I feel the same?

(I think) because it's different now. It's not and never will be the same spring.

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Careful, often emotionally ambiguous reflection is a motif that I've found to be really interesting in the group's music.

I was considering writing about a number of tracks that stick out to me in this way, but there are quite a lot, (Let Me Be With You, Stay With Me, ...) so I think I'll just mention one here: Natsukashii (なつかしい)

Natsukashii is often translated to English as nostalgic, but as is often the case, the Japanese meaning, and RTfN's interpretation, goes beyond simple nostalgia.

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Track 4. Nino.

The swelling strings at the opening remind me of someone I know but haven't seen in a while and everything just comes rushing back with full force.

The chorus is so eerily happy and deeply sad; I see that person, that time, that place ... but why is it making me feel this way?

I think this is the heart of why this song is so special - it just makes you feel so bittersweet - and whether it's more bitter or more sweet honestly depends on the day I'm listening.

From what I've gathered online, Natsukashii has a more positive connotation, but this song just has so many movements and these very quiet ripples of some kind of yearning that i cant help but feel like the definition of the word is in limbo.

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My favorite section goes:

...

The color of the wind brushing across my cheeks
頬をかすめていく 風の色が

Someday it will signal the beginning of summer
いつか夏のはじまりを告げる

...

Maybe one day the colors you see will make you feel that you're finally ready for summer. Ready to forget (or at least accept) that spring is gone.

Maybe another you'll feel something else. That spring can come back, or, that it can/should stay forever.