Shigeto - No Better Time Than Now
Posted by Evan La Ruffa on 23rd Aug 2013
Words by Ian Guthrie
On his new long player for Ghostly International, No Better Time Than Now, Zachary Shigeto Saginaw continues to develop the sonic lineage established on his previous mini-LP titled… well, Lineage. Given the infinite production possibilities available to electronic musicians, and the well-documented popularity of electronic dance music, the degree of acoustic consistency achieved on this release is no small achievement. Shigeto has elsewhere described No Better Time Than Now as an anti-EDM record. This description resonates across the albums’s 11 tracks. Shigeto offers listeners dedicated, earnest, and honest music. The album is not so much a defiant classificatory rebuke as it is a deliberate step forward for a musician dedicated to subtlety, rhythmic curiosity, personal expression, and the motor city itself, Detroit. I mention Detroit because it is as much a part of the sonic character of this record as the once and future great city that is a part of our 24-hour news cycle. The up-front mixing of the bright percussion found on the single “Detroit Pt. 1,” and the deftly programmed techno claps of “Perfect Crime,” suggest the vast waterfront studio space in Detroit wherein Shigeto wrote and recorded all of No Better Time Than Now. The tone of the record also suggests the artist’s cross-country migration from Brooklyn back to his native Michigan, a place where he obviously feels comfortable to explore the aural subtleties of a track like “Safe In Here” which fades in on his own live drumming accompanied by a wash of ambient synthesizer tones and adorned with the various hand-shaken percussive implements that have been present throughout his previous recordings. These are not the anonymous, impersonal club anthems. These tracks showcase an artist at his best: creating his sounds, in his space, and for his own reasons. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="540"]
Artwork by Michael Cina[/caption] Fans of Lineage will recognize Shigeto’s use of the familiar instrumental palette of that record (as well as the familiar style of the record’s packaging expertly designed by Ghostly International favorite Michael Cina). In electronic music, broadly, there has been a tendency to approach the problem of the album with an all basses covered approach (that spelling is intentional and it is not of my own clever construction). Shigeto clearly defies this method on No Better Time Than Now. In an era where any given producer (myself included) might lace an album with brutal dubstep tracks, glitch-hop party starters, and deep house jams alike, Shigeto’s new work feels astoundingly unified and cohesive. This is not to say that there exists no stylistic variety throughout the album’s almost 50 minute run time. Rather, Shigeto’s disciplined summoning of his familiar Rhodes piano, Micromoog, kalimba, and drum set (expertly recorded) brings the album's tracks under a common banner no matter how the tracks may vary in terms of tempo or genre. Shigeto’s background as a jazz musician looms large over this record, and as a result it may be more appropriate to refer to this collection as electronically influenced jazz music rather than jazz influenced electronic music, or perhaps another designation, as yet uninvented, will prove to be most appropriate in the end. What is certain is that No Better Time Than Now is not a record of the moment. It is a contemporary expression from a blossoming artist. There are no disposable jams or guilty pleasure to be found here. If you have been sleeping on this remarkable producer’s work then perhaps heed the titular advice. There really is No Better Time Than Now. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="540"]
Artwork by Michael Cina[/caption] For more on the limitless possibilities of experimental beat driven music, check out Evan La Ruffa's writeup of Yessir Whatever by Quasimoto.