Gojogo's New Chasing the Moon Videos Are Moody and Exhilarating

By Ian S. Port Thu., Aug. 18 2011 at 4:05 PM

Categories: Local Frequency , Video

Gojogo playing at Chasing the Moon

Chasing the Moon is a monthly video/podcast series put out by producer and engineer Scott McDowell that features local musicians. Always beautifully filmed and recorded (at Hyde Street Studios), the acts chosen vary widely -- past episodes have included indie rock bands like Sonny & the Sunsets and Birds and Batteries, as well as artists from the city's world and jazz scenes.

This month's trio of videos features Gojogo, an instrumental quartet on Mission label Porto Franco Records whose sound lands somewhere between rock, jazz, and traditional Indian music. Shot, as always, under moody lighting, Gojogo showcases two songs off its second album, 28,000 Days, as well as a third song. The combination of instruments -- lashes of electric guitar, throbs of upright bass, soaring violin lines, electronic sampling, and the persistent patter of the dholki (a Northern Indian hand drum) -- allows the music a huge variety of voices and an exhilarating agility. The band members seem to play from a single mind as the music shifts from brisk, aggressive passages into near-ambient sounds. So yeah -- these three latest videos are definitely worth checking out:

Gojogo performs next Thursday (Aug. 25) at the Berkeley Botanical Gardens. 28,000 Days is out now on Porto Franco, although the CD release show isn't until Nov. 3 at La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley.

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