Shigeto is the recording name for Brooklyn-based electronic producer/musician Zach Saginaw. Meaning "to grow bigger" in Japanese, the name fits Saginaw's music perfectly, and under it, the prolific up-and-coming artist is methodically building a body of consistently engaging and expansive IDM and ambient instrumental hip hop.

Shigeto's latest release, the What We Held On To EP may just be his most arresting work to date. While being billed as the bridge between Shigeto's last release, the Semi-Circle EP, and the upcoming Full Circle LP (set for a 2011 release), the EP is no in-betweener in the sense of quality. But then, none of his releases have been second-rate.

One thing you'll notice, particularly on this EP, is that Shigeto never overloads the production of his songs. Each beat, instrumentation, and stray sound is carefully chosen and (equally) carefully placed to create a specific atmosphere. While beat-driven, Shigeto's music uses those beats with surgical precision to enhance the texture of each song, rather than let the beats themselves take center-stage. The result is an emotionally-rich, deeply layered soundscape much more akin to IDM acts like Boards of Canada than beatsmiths like Flying Lotus.

Grab the What We Held On to EP for free, here.