Born Zachary Shigeto Saginaw, the Michigan DJ, producer, and jazz school dropout is a lot like his hometown label Ghostly, started in Ann Arbor in 1998, in the sense that his music hosts a wide range of influences. With a refreshing mix of production and live instrumentation on drums, Shigeto puts forth a performance rivaled by few in a digitally driven genre populated with artists who can get away with pressing play. Saginaw has sought a higher benchmark and is in good company with fellow Ghostly artists Tycho, TOBACCO, and Com Truise, among others. His Intermission EP is another layer in a discography that now features four EPs and three full-length albums and is the first material heard from Shigeto since 2013’s No Better Time Than Now.
Intermission is a web of sound catching all that flies through it, whether electronic, hip-hop, jazz, or anything else floating around in the mind of Saginaw. The project begins with the easily palatable, patchwork production of “Pulse” that casually entrances you right from the beginning. Next, Shigeto took an opportunity pick up where he left off on “City Dweller” with syncopated, swaying percussion and cascading, melodic expressions. The danceable and buoyant “Do My Thing” follows later and also pleases. Shigeto’s listeners won’t complain about the brevity of this release, however its title implies Saginaw may be appeasing fans until something larger surfaces.
“Intermission grew out of the idea that I have all of these places I want to go; even though I’m not there yet, these are six little signposts along the way,” said Saginaw in his Ghostly artist profile.
After the minimalist, submerged sounds of “Deep Breathing,” Intermission finishes with “Need Nobody,” a track laced with vibraphones and light shakers. The song spins to a close and features more developed production and song structure than other tracks. Shigeto continues to be a tastemaker in electronic music and fans of Saginaw would be hard-pressed to predict what he may be devising in the future.
Recommended If You Like: Flying Lotus, Prefuse 73, Com Truise, IAMNOBODI
Recommended Tracks: 6 (Need Nobody), 1 (Pulse), 2 (City Dweller)
Do Not Play: None
Written by Harrison Hipp on 11/02/15