Bleep

The wonderful Teebs returns, a full five years on from his previous LP Estara, with a new album on Brainfeeder. Entitled Anicca, these tracks remind us of Mtendere Mandowa’s unique brilliance in the field of abstract hip-hop.

Where many of his Brainfeeder labelmates favour maximal production and busy textures, Mandowa’s music stands out for its restraint. Once again Anicca is an intimate and personal collection on which Teebs reaches into the annals of spiritual and new age music for inspiration. Constructed from a small set of instruments that includes a seprewa (Ghanaian harp-lute), Teebs’ beats here lilt gracefully in a manner that recalls windchimes jangling on a porch. If Alice Coltrane were working today she might come up with something like Anicca.

The record also includes a large amount of guests features, an intriguing development from the previous Teebs previous full-lengths. Panda Bear and Sudan Archives are among the most eye-catching names. While many of the vocal contributions here give form and structure to Mandowa’s beats, there are also moments where these external figures develop the Teebs sound in wonderful ways - see, for instance, how Ringgo Acheta (MNDSGN) and Former Boy spool out Mandowa’s seprewa into a lush reverie on the glorious ‘Mmntm’.

Anicca is another ray of sunshine from Brainfeeder’s quiet master Teebs.