Back Ted N-Ted

The Mirror (Modern Art)

By Julia Korol
Published: August 26th, 2010 | 7:00am

The release of Ryan “Back Ted N-Ted” Breen’s debut LP The Mirror must have made music supervisors at MTV positively giddy. Most, if not all, of the tracks are just poppy and non-abrasive enough to soundtrack an episode of The Real World.

There’s nothing wrong with being one of those artists—unless your goal is to be taken seriously. The vast majority of tunes showcased on the channel are, ironically, widely forgettable. (Damn that Snooki for demanding full attention!)

That being said, Back Ted N-Ted has the potential to move past sounding like a demo version of Mew. His remixes of Gucci Mane’s already juicy “Lemonade” and Imogen Heap’s “Say Goodnight and Go” prove that. Unfortunately Breen seems more adept at reworking existing music than creating his own from scratch. The Mirror comes off a little thin both in lyrics and production, and anyone above the age of 16 might be hard-pressed to relate to such non-descript lines as “Let’s play this game one more time before you go away / Away to a bigger city that’s not as cool as my city” on “Lose Control.” However, the fleshier cut “999 Buttons” hints that with a little more confidence and daring, Back Ted N-Ted has the gusto to escape dance-pop purgatory.

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Back Ted N-Ted official Web site

Modern Art Records