Cex

Cex openly embraces his ambition to become a Rolex-wearing pop and rap figurehead, yet his output remains firmly rooted in intelligent dance music. By age nineteen Rjyan Kidwell already possessed an extensive catalog and operated his own imprint. His buoyant, flamboyant demeanor injected vivid energy into a techno niche frequently criticized for its colorless, rigidly mechanical character. In 1998 he launched Underscore Records and issued a trio of CD-Rs—one of his own alongside two from associates—with a total pressing of only six hundred copies distributed solely among close contacts and select wholesalers. The label next put out a pair of singles before Kidwell shuttered it to co-found Tigerbeat6 in San Francisco alongside Kid 606. The new venture quickly rose to prominence within the city’s IDM community, standing alongside Orthlorng Musork and Los Angeles’s Plug Research. Building on that momentum, Cex delivered the widely praised full-length Role Model in August 2000. Traces of his pop-culture irreverence surface in tracks such as “Academy Award [Cex’s Radio Edit]” and “Wallstreet Kid.” His material also appeared on the compilations Ricci’s Pieces from Mindfield and Kid606 and Friends, Vol. 1 from Tigerbeat6, while additional recordings were issued through Stewart Anderson’s Leeds-based 555 Recordings.

Throughout 2000 he shared stages with Kid 606, Gold Chains, and Blectdum from Blechdom, captivating crowds with high-energy, humorous performances whose relentless schedule in turn underwrote the 2001 album Starship Galactica. Further confounding expectations, the electronic-pop statement Oops, I Did It Again! from that same year was succeeded by Tall, Dark & Handcuffed, an homage to hip-hop’s classic era. Being Ridden arrived in 2003 in both standard and instrumental editions, after which Cex made his Jade Tree debut that autumn with Maryland Mansions. The Know Doubt EP surfaced in 2005, followed a year later by Actual Fucking on Automation Records. After issuing the measured instrumental Sketchi through Temporary Residence, Kidwell explored experimental techno for the rest of the decade via Dannibal, Bataille Royal, and assorted underground cassettes. In 2011 he shifted direction once more with Tiny Creature, highlighting a fresh glitch-oriented aesthetic.