Part of the Brainfeeder collective that counts Flying Lotus and Samiyam among its members, Los Angeles' Teebs crafts a more atmospheric version of the beat music exemplified by the label. Born Mtendere Mandowa to parents from Malawi and Barbados, Teebs established himself as a musical and visual artist in the mid-2000s, taking up painting and shaping samples and beats into carefully layered songs with Fruity Loops. While working on his debut album, he endured a series of personal hardships, including his brother's illness and the death of his father, that informed Ardour with a flowing poignancy. The purposeful-sounding Estara, a collection of songs named after Teebs' house and featuring cameos from Prefuse 73 and Jonti, followed in 2014. ~ Heather Phares