“Zach Saginaw consistently grounds his music in a deeply personal, familial context; his grandmother inspired two releases, his producer aliases, Shigeto and Frank Omura, both reference family names and it’s not for nothing that his latest release as Shigeto is titled Lineage. Each song is a complex constellation of sounds and ideas, but his compositional focus and restraint grounds songs that are otherwise cosmically inclined. ‘Lineage (Prologue)’ eases into being with windchimes, effects, circular organ and little else, recalling a particularly subdued Sun Ra passage. That segues into ‘Lineage’ proper, which props up the melody with shifty uptempo percussion and bass. ‘Ann Arbor Part 3 & 4’ announces itself with lovely keys and falling rain before hip-hop beats steal the show. ‘Soaring’ eases back into a handclap, acoustic guitar and harp sounds reverie, underpinned with lazy, spacey bass. Shigetos brilliant drumming takes center stage on ‘A Childs Mind,’ moving from a bombastic unaccompanied run into esoteric jazz and finally settling into a shuffling, prismatic hip-hop. Shigetos deft cymbal and snare work are also found on Huron River Drive, a dubby, smoky, soulful joint that dials back the lysergic digitalia that colors so much of the mini-LP as a whole. The title of ‘Field Trip’ perfectly captures the adolescent joy and wonderment of the song, with live drums, ebullient toybox sounds and wide-eyed melodies. The understated ‘Please Stay,’ which adds rare vocal sounds to Shigetos repertoire of claps and keys, gently guides listeners out of the journey through Lineage.” – Ghostly International

• black & white marble colored vinyl
• first time on vinyl in 10+ years
• limited edition
• original release year: 2012
• music label: Ghostly International 2023

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