Ahmed Gallab moved to the United States from Sudan as a child, eventually landing in Columbus, Ohio. There, the multi-instrumentalist played in many bands and several solo projects.

His big “break” came by chance right before the Canadian band Caribou’s drummer broke his wrist before a D.C. set, forcing the group to cancel the show. Caribou enlisted Gallab’s help to complete the tour but he became a great friend of the band and was enlisted for some studio work. Gallab then worked with Yeasayer, Born Ruffians and countless other high profile acts, but he kept the best for his solo project, Sinkane.

Sinkane is a a hodgepodge of styles mixing funk with electronic beats and vocoders and is always heavy on the percussion. Today’s song of the day “Runnin” is the first single from Sinakne’s just released DFA debut Mars, and it oozes ’70s funk. The track has a sweet guitar and is one of the few on the album where Gallab’s vocals are unprocessed.

Sinkane plays tonight and tomorrow with Yeasayer at the 9:30 Club. Both shows are sold out.