Shigeto - Lineage

Executive Order 9066 - a grim piece of legislation that only a world war could throw up. In 1942, US President Roosevelt passed Order 9066 enabling the government to intern those with 'Foreign Enemy Ancestry' which, following the attacks on Pearl Harbour, mostly applied to those of Japanese origin.

Signs went up across the US notifying Japanese American citizens that they would be 'evacuated'. Many were long term US inhabitants yet up to 120,000 people ended up in internment camps - excluded and ostracised from their own country until the end of the war and, in some cases, beyond.



Seven decades later we find a reminder of these dark times within the artwork of this new release from Zachary Shigeto Saginaw. The front cover featuring a 1916 picture of his great grandfather's house in Hiroshima and the back his great grandfather, Shigeto Omura, at Amache Internment Camp in Colorado where his family were eventually sent.

Against this backdrop, 'Lineage' delivers a more contemplative approach to composition and a new palette of sounds than those found on previous work alongside jazz, hip hop and (in the very best sense of the word) soulful inspiration. Each piece is strewn with warm Rhodes, shimmering dulcimer and xylophone melodies. Shigeto's superb jazz drumming skills provide guaranteed head bobbing throughout whilst stylish, subtle electronics bond it all together.

Title track 'Lineage' features rhythmic staccato vocal samples that compliment shuffling beats around which a cheeky sub slow dances and a smoky Rhodes motif is built. On 'Soaring' a tumbling harp provides the back bone to a slo mo cracker of a hip hop beat whilst demure yet cunningly precise synths intertwine with acoustic guitar, laid back keys and spacey melodies.

Unexpected structural twists and turns ensure these eight tracks will continue to delight across multiple listens and whilst this mini-LP is a mark of utmost respect to the importance of family and heritage, it is also the sound of a producer in masterful control of his output.

Shigeto – 'Lineage' is released on Ghostly International, 31st January 2012

Review by Andy Gillham   http://www.twitter.com/andyechaskech