Matthew Dear

The Detroiter: Block Party feat. Matthew Dear, Shigeto, Lusine, Christopher Willits //
Heron Arts – San Francisco
July 30th, 2016 //

Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival is just a little over a week away if you can believe it, (see our 10 favorite features of the festival here), but to hold you over until next weekend’s festivities at Golden Gate Park, Heron Arts has assembled an impressive lineup of artists for “The Detroiter” summer block party this Saturday.

Located in SOMA on Heron St., the gallery will open its doors and put on a showcase of more than 50 artists from around the globe, curated and brought to SF by Detroit-based Inner State Gallery. Joining the swaths of visual artists will be members of the Detroit-based record label Ghostly International, including electronic music producers Matthew Dear (who founded the label), Shigeto, Lusine and Christopher Willits.

Dear is a musician and artist that cannot be bound to a single genre. With a range of styles, the Texas native has worn a number of hats, from avant-garde electronic producer to house DJ to rock bandleader. He has made a name for himself through his work released under his own name as well as through various side projects like Audion, False and Jabberjaw. The release of Dear’s debut LP Leave Luck to Heaven in 2003 immediately caught the attention of dance and experimental artists alike, most notably receiving praise for his hit single “Dog Days”.

Over the last decade, Dear has continued to expand on his production style, incorporating African-influenced rhythms with elements of ambient noise and pop. This progression has culminated in the form of his most recent album, 2012’s Beams, a bold, unrestrained dance party that brings his vocals and songwriting to a centered, more personal level that are best demonstrated through the gothic vocals and foot-stomping rhythm of “Her Fantasy”. Dear’s prolific career as a producer, songwriter, visual-arts designer and record label executive has established him as a leader in the next generation of Detroit-based electronic music.

Shigeto

Shigeto is a project that would surprise you to learn it’s actually managed by only one person: Zachary Shigeto Saginaw. With a musical style that features hip-hop beats among a dizzying number of ambient sounds and manipulated samples, the Ann Arbor, Mich., native has found a unique place in today’s beat-driven music scene by incorporating his formal training in jazz drumming into his intricately woven sets.

Saginaw gained considerable popularity stemming from his 2013 album No Better Time Than Now, that featured unpredictable, poly-rhythmic tracks like “Detroit Pt. 1” and “Ringleader”. Now, after the release of his 2015 LP Intermission, Shigeto has really hit his stride, expanding the rhythmic possibilities of his style, using the framework of dance music as a petri dish to integrate in his own unique jazz and funk influences. As a producer and as a live performer, Shigeto brings a style to the electronic music scene that is set apart from the rest.

Joining Dear and Shigeto this Saturday afternoon and evening at Heron Arts will be Lusine, an experimental electronic music producer from Texas who now resides in Seattle, and SF-based musician Christopher Willits, who frequently collaborates with Tycho composer/bandleader Scott Hansen. Tickets are available for $35, or you could win a pair of tickets by submitting your full name and email below.

Contest ends this Friday at 3 p.m.

Follow Showbams on Twitter for more contest giveaways throughout the week. Be the first to respond to our contest tweets to GO4FREE to these shows:

• Moving Units: July 27th (WED) @ The Independent
• Black Milk: July 28th (THUR) @ Brick & Mortar Music Hall
• Pam the Funkstress: July 29th (FRI) @ Slim’s
• Club Cheval: July 30th (SAT) @ Mezzanine

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