Andrew Veeder on February 13th, 2014

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Los Angeles-based instrumental producer Mndsgn (pronounced “mind design”) has been making beats for more than five years, collaborating with such artists as Danny Brown and Jonwayne, and has played Boiler Room TV and Low End Theory. In the fall, he released “Breatharian” on the Fresh Selects label, a conceptual beat tape about someone who believes that food and water are not necessary to survive, merely air and the energy of the sun, the music full of textured and experimental production and interspersed sound bytes. “Kikhabits” is a flurry of hurried kicks and snares over moody Rhodes tones and a lively and muffled bassline, like a lounge band composing an epic chase scene, and is followed by “Starving,” a booming melodic backbone bolstered with stuttering drum beats and samples that makes you double-time head bob. He also just released the “Inedia” EP last month (which is Latin for “fasting”), featuring four remixes and new single “Maintenance,” a funky ditty that sputters with an awesome and eclectic mix of percussion that sounds like “West Side Story” meets “The Jungle Book.” Each of Mndsgn’s beats is garnished with minor touches and has an incredible attention to detail that gives his production such a cool and distinct sound.

||| Stream: “Kikhabits,” “Starving” and “Maintenance”