SINKANE at the Drake Underground, Sunday, February 8. Rating: NNNN
Brooklyn-based Ahmed Gallab is a musician’s musician. He’s played drums for Caribou and Of Montreal, guitar for Yeasayer and released two solo albums as Sinkane that expertly combine rhythmic traditions from a host of subgenres that tend to inspire obsessive fandom: synth-funk, Afrobeat, jazz, Krautrock and country.
From the first galloping rhythm and twangy guitar riff, Ahmed and his three-piece band locked into an impressive and energetic synchronicity. He spent the show hunched over a keyboard, belting out a reverby falsetto while fuzzy, elastic funk grooves kept the small crowd dancing for much of the ensuing hour. The momentum only waned during a string of country ballads off last year’s Mean Love, which he performed to pedal steel guitar accompaniment.
Befitting a seasoned session player, he preferred not to say much. While Mean Love placed the focus on his romantic pop songwriting (with middling results), the live version was all about robust musicianship and transcendent rhythms that emphasized Sinkane as a band rather than Ahmed as a frontman.
