Teebs (aka Mtendere Mandowa) has been in the right place at the right time. The avid skater met esteemed workaholic producers Flying Lotus and Samiyam at a 2007 Red Bull Music Academy function in Orange County and later became immersed in Los Angeles's weekly future-bass hot spot the Low End Theory, witnessing the Gaslamp Killer, Daedelus, Kutmah, and others tear it up on the regular. An Achilles-tendon injury forced Teebs to take a year off from skating, which allowed him to focus on his music. He eventually ended up rooming with FlyLo and Samiyam, absorbing the rampaging, wonkily funky sounds he heard in his living space and then peace-ing them out into more blissful configurations.

"Without all this energy in L.A., I'm not sure I would be doing as much as I am now," Teebs admits. "I think since so many people in all creative crafts try to make it out in L.A., style becomes king. The formulas are out there and everyone can pick that up pretty easily, but it's the innovation and style that make things interesting."

Teebs's recent set at Decibel Festival sounded like hiphop abstracted into something very... other. The music seemed dispersed, refracted. It's symptomatic of hiphop entering its prog-rock phase; the music is becoming seriously complex and cerebral. That being said, Teebs's new album, Ardour (on FlyLo's Brainfeeder label), sounds like a more blissful take on instrumental downtempo music than what he presented at Decibel, somewhere between Boards of Canada and Nobody.

"Yeah, when I play out, I like to bring a certain energy to crowds," Teebs says. "I try to bring them the tones of sound that I love the most and would want to hear loud. The Ardour record is a bit more of a personal thing—definitely meant for sitting at home with or taking trips on your own. When I make my music, I'm usually alone a lot, so I think that was incorporated into my sound."

On Ardour, Teebs's essential individuality comes through strongly on "Moments," which contrasts a fluttery flute motif and flurries of the piano's highest notes with elephant-heartbeat drums and a radiant clank. Tracks like this, "Humming Birds," and "Arthur's Birds" prove he's a master of blending eccentric high and low frequencies into riveting compositions while keeping the head-nod factor and dreaminess quotient strong. More so than most in the Low End Theory camp, Teebs's music provokes profound emotional responses.

"Friends have told me that they cried through songs—had memories tie into the tunes," Teebs relates. "I hope it doesn't make everyone cry all the time. I don't want to be the go-to cry guy."

Teebs performs Wed Oct 20, Neumos, 8 pm, $12, 21+. With the Gaslamp Killer, Daedelus, 12th Planet.