Review Summary: Ardour further solidifies why 2010 belongs to Brainfeeder.
Artists like Teebs are the essential component of influxing music scenes. Flying Lotus' very own Brainfeeder label has been pummeling 2010 release after release with his own magnum opus
Cosmogramma, two conceptually solid releases from Mono/Poly and TOKiMONSTA, an underwhelming yet undeniably chill LP from Lorn, Daedelus' haunting debut on the label, and not to mention the Gaslamp Killer produced
A Sufi and a Killer. Continuing the winning streak for the LA-based electronic label, Teebs' has put out an LP of jazzy, beat-based soundscapes on
Ardour. It's an atmospheric and varied release, with airy hip-hop tracks such as "Wind Loop", string-heavy production mixed with glitch beats on "King Bathtub", to more texture-based tracks in the vein of "Bern Rhythm". Considering it's length of 50 minutes, it's incredibly digestible as two to four minutes tracks flow and fade into each other with much cohesion and a unique touch.
Ardour doesn't introduce anything particularly innovative, but it's rather a celebration of the sound it presents and the scene it belongs to. Teebs' debut works wonderfully as an amalgamation of the various sounds of Brainfeeder. The record takes influence from the highly-produced and textural sounds of Flylo and TOKiMONSTA, but presents itself in a
dilla-esque format more familiar to fans of Samiyam. It's the psychedelic sounds of LA electronic artists, stripped down to a mix of short tracks presentable to beatheads and hip-hop fans alike, with vinyl crackles to seal it off.
This isn't to say
Ardour is without flaws; it at times gets a bit
too chill, especially for its sprawling length. Though he's certainly not an exact replica of his fellow Brainfeeder producers, Teebs' debut leaves a pathway for him to further mark his personality and niche in the current electronic scene. It's not a particularly expansive release, varying itself to a delightful extent, but never throwing the listener into the unknown. Nonetheless,
Ardour is a lush, blooming record that works as a masterful mix of everything that's right about the Flylo-led, jazz-tinged electronic scene.
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