Nakamura Introduces His Campy Seductions

It’s an understatement to say that San Francisco-based producer Dan “The Automator” Nakamura has a thing for high concept. He put his sonic thumbprint on alt-rap icon Kool Keith’s lascivious “Dr. Octagon” character, co-created the mock-suave Handsome Boy Modeling School with fellow conceptualist Prince Paul and dreamed up cartoon hip-hop act Gorillaz with such collaborators as Blur’s Damon Albarn and Cibo Matto’s Miho Hatori.

On Monday at the House of Blues, Nakamura took his latest project to the stage for the first time. Appearing as his Modeling School persona, Nathaniel Merriweather, he presented the tongue-in-cheek seduction sounds of “Lovage: Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By,” a potent fusion of cocktail-culture mating rituals and thoroughly modern mixology.

Dressed in a silky bathrobe alongside pajama-clad turntablist Kid Koala, Nakamura presided genially over an hour of ethereal trip-hop blended with smooth soul grooves and spiked with dashes of R&B;, Latin and blues. Also backed by bassist Merlo Podlewski and guitarist Brandon Armovick (who changed from a tux to a g-string to a Spider-Man suit as the set progressed), playboy-attired vocalist Mike Patton (ex-Faith No More and Mr. Bungle) and sultry, slip-clad singer Jennifer Charles (Elysian Fields) traded elliptical he-said/she-said come-ons in such selections as the languidly propulsive “(Pit Stop) Take Me Home.”

Projected video bits alternately amped up the campy sexual vibe (soft-core porn clips) and undercut it (the Big-Boy-in-drag seduction scene from “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo”). During a couple of breaks, the players milled about on stage, sipping from cognac glasses while Kid Koala DJ’d on.

Of course, if you were actually looking for music to make love to your old lady by, you might have found the show arch to a fault. But, then again, what good is sweet love if you can’t have a little fun too?