Album Review: Shigeto - Intermission
By Daniel Marco, Contributor [Ghostly International; 2015] Rating: 4/5
Key Tracks: “Pulse,” “Gently,” “City Dweller”
Intermission is a six song EP released by Shigeto, also known as Zachary Saginaw. He manages to fill this EP, his fourth since 2008, with an abundance of calming ambience and delicate melodies to go with churning drum loops, and it all fits together without a hitch.
The first track out of the gate is the seven-minute “Pulse.” This song sets the calming tone of the music to come and uses its samples brilliantly. It combines the sharp breath of a person with a steady, consistent drumbeat and a multitude of different chimes and electronic blurbs. It might be the strangest “head-bopping” song ever written.
“City Dweller” immediately follows and goes down a slightly darker path. The best way to describe “City Dweller” is as music that people might play in clubs in Mars if humans lived there. It has a foreboding yet also entrancing beat, and throws in enough gentle rhythms to even everything out.
“Gently” is the other noteworthy song on Intermission, and it sounds just like you think it would. It sends waves of soft, smooth music through your headphones and is the most laid-back song on the record.
Intermission truly showcases Shigeto’s deft touch for making ambience-driven music, even moreso than any of his previous records. You can really tell that hours upon hours were spent on every texture and nuance of each song; it definitely pays off. It’s a “transportation record,” a record that you play while sitting in the back seat of a car or a bus while looking at the passing scenery out your window.
