Shigeto

Lineage is another really beautiful bit of melodic electronica from the Chicago label, Ghostly. Shigeto is Zach Saginaw, a drummer, jazz student and self-taught electronic composer, originally from Michigan. Before Lineage, he had two EPs, a full-length (Full Circle) and an album of remixes under his belt (Full Circle Remixes). He has also remixed tracks for other artists including Tycho, Mux Mool and Shlomo.

Shigeto's new mini LP offers eight tracks of luminous, subtly beat-driven atmospherics...a cerebral, introspective meander through imagined landscapes that somehow feel like home. I'd say it's a bit drier and more intellectual than last year's Dive from Tycho, and certainly more prone to experiments with altered vocal tones, but it's not a bad comparison point. It reminds me also, especially on "Huron River Drive" (streamable below), of the percussive cross-currents and complexities of Dosh.