Sofia and I headed out to see China Forbes perform at the Great American Music Hall. Forbes sounded not unlike Sheryl Crow, which makes sense since her producer has worked with Crow among others (anybody remember the Wallflowers?). A lot of twangy guitars and alternative rock vocals, different from anything Forbes' does as lead vocalist of worldly mini-orchestra Pink Martini. Indeed, Forbes traded cocktail dress for cowboy boots, and seemed to enjoy the intimacy and lo-fi mood of the night.
Sofia and I first bonded over a Pink Martini concert, so it seemed fitting to see Ms. Forbes live. After the show, we ruminated over tempting future presentations:
Sat 5/10
Pink Martini @ Lincoln Theater, Napa Valley
Thu 5/15
The Bad Plus @ Palace of Fine Arts
Wed 5/28
Flight of the Conchords @ Nob Hill Masonic Center
Wed 5/28- Sun 6/1
Russell Peters @ Cobb's Comedy Club
Speaking of good music, there is an insane amount of good music coming through in the Bay Area, if you're an indie rock / electronic junkie like myself:
Wed 4/23:
Caribou @ Independent
Death Cab for Cutie @ Fillmore
Th 4/24
Hot Chip @ Fillmore
Fri 4/25
Sasha and Digweed @ Warfield
Booka Shade /MANDY @ Mezzanine
Sat 4/26
Mum @ Independent
Simian Mobile Disco @ Mezzanine
Goldfrapp @ Warfield
Mon 4/28
Devotchka@ Fillmore (of Little Miss Sunshine fame)
Tue 4/29
Minus the Bear @ Bimbo's 365
VHS or Beta @ Mezzanine
I mean, that is a friggin' carnival of musicians there. You give me one of those shows, I'd be a happy man. Sasha and Digweed proved too tempting not to buy...It's like Mick Jagger and David Bowie teaming up, two heavyweights with a rare reunion (last time on tour for Sasha and Digweed? I believe 2002, during their Delta Heavy tour).
Speaking of good music, I met one of my musical heroes a couple of days ago. It happened while I was on my break from work, and I heard these wicked beats emanating from Lower Sproul at UC Berkeley. I see this red-haired guy with a scruffy beard, and nice black shoes pounding away at a sampler/drum machine. I mean, he was playing all sorts of breakbeats, trip-hop, even hip-hop with a little MCing...He sounded much like a local producer I had known named Odd Nosdam. I first heard about Nosdam through his collaboration with Clouddead, a now-defunct group consisting of Why? and Dose One. I was moderately stirred by Clouddead's beats and vocal droning at first listen, with the neo-Neu sounds of "Pop Song" garnering the most repeat clicks. But I admired the beats and kept Clouddead in mind.
The more I listened to the red-head guy, the more I was convinced I was listening to Nosdam. He maneuvered with impeccable rhythm through these increasingly intricate drum structures. I was also convinced that this guy should be playing nationwide, opening for some big band, putting his name out, because this guy had just a great energy and liveliness. People were attracted to the big white tent because it was grad week at Berkeley, and a few people were munching on lunches. But people were bobbing their heads, genuinely curious about the guy pounding on a square foot of metal and producing this beautiful music.
A guy approached the red-haired maestro, shook his hand, adjusted a few knobs on the speakers, and sat down on a bench. I quickly approached him, needing to satiate my curiosity.
"Do you know who this is?"
"Yeah he's one of my best friends."
"What's his name?"
"Well, he goes by Joe."
"Does he perform around here?"
"Yeah, have you every heard of Anticon records?"
"Yeah. There's this guy named Odd Nosdam he sounds like. Is this guy him?"
"No, actually, I go by Nosdam."
And so goes the story of how I met Odd Nosdam, who was kind enough to drop me a copy of his newest CD...all the while responding to the questions of inquisitive passerbys who wanted to know what the hell Jel (the red-haired dude) was pounding. Jel was mesmerizing, and I don't doubt Nosdam would have been equally hypnotizing had he played that day. He didn't, but he did give me this link that everybody should check out:
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