Teebs
Teebs - E S T A R A Album Review
By Andy Peterson in Music Reviews on 26 March 2014
Teebs - or Mtendre Mandowa to give him his arguably more evocative real name - is a Los Angeles resident and affiliate of the city's prescient Brainfeeder collective; a posse of unorthodox beat makers steadily deconstructing hip hop by creating a thousand other splinter movements that sound like they're from another planet. With Mandowa busy on numerous other projects in between, 'Estara' follows a surprisingly long wait as the follow up to his 2010 debut 'Ardour'.
As ever, this approach is an acquired taste that will leave the traditionalists searching for a foothold, but there are fragments of normality to cling on to. Mandowa's approach is to smother the listener in layers with the reduced beats and plaintive vocals of 'Holiday' making for an unlikely love song, whilst two notes of guitar loops and the water falling bells of 'Shoouss Lullaby' point to less comfortable territory. Here, then, is an artist who makes music in his apartment that feels like it should be played in a vineyard, or by the sea; the warmth and clear-eyed beauty of 'Piano Months' a summer holiday song for the deserted beaches of our dreams.
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Teebs, Ardour Album Review
By Tareck Ghoneim in Music Reviews on 30 November 2010
Mtendere Mandowa aka Teebs is certainly a creative individual whose journey as a skater and artist led him to become a musician. Hailing from New York his move to LA influenced his journey into the electronic music scene. He certainly has proved his ability landing a track on Mary Anne Hobbs's Wild Angels compilation and attending the 2008 Red Bull Music Academy in Barcelona. This rapid rise presented the opportunity to meet Flying Lotus who grabbed Teebs into the Brainfeeder stable.