To Mix With Time

It’s been a long time since the average cool kid played the bassoon or the flute, but if there are any holdouts in the city of Los Angeles Brendan Eder has recruited them all. Writing infectious tunes with accessible musicality, the Valley-bred composer is making chamber music newly relevant and irresistibly groovy. With help from his own punk-ass yet rather quite elegant drumming, coveted among the Eastside’s indie rock set, plus funk basslines plucked by the rare young bassist who can sight-read and perform a solo that warrants raucous applause, Eder’s 2020 album, To Mix With Time, presents a honed aesthetic in just 15 tidy originals and one Aphex Twin cover. For the past decade, while moonlighting as a composer for up-and-coming talent such as Ari Aster (Misommar), Brendan Eder worked in sales in the cannabis industry, became property manager of his Echo Park building and like a perfect HBO character, has over the years invested greatly in his music: paying his players, affectionately preparing their sheet music, and expertly producing and mixing their recordings. Keeping the ensemble alive is demanding enough to get all the moms in the room asking, Honey, why not just start a rock band? Whether you condone Brendan’s chosen path or not, you can’t argue he is a man committed to and clear on his wildly impractical, masterfully finessed aesthetic and artistic vision. Could the simplicity and organic quality of wordless melodies breathed with real human air be exactly what this decade craves? As more and more of us overstuff our days with communication, news, text messages and podcasts, Eder and his team of master players offer a glorious respite from the chatter. - Rebeca Arango