Cex

by Diana Potts   Having no qualms about his desire to be a Rolex-wearing pop and rap star, Cexs music actually lies in the lines of intelligent dance music. At the age of 19, Rjyan Kidwell already had a catalog of releases and a record label behind him. His upbeat and over-the-top personality splattered a large dash of color across a subgenre of techno that is often bland and too mechanical. In 1998, Kidwell started Underscore Records and released a triplet of CD-Rs, one by him and two by friends. Only 600 of the CD-Rs were made and only given to a handful of friends and sold to a few distributors. With the label, he released two more singles, and eventually put it to rest to start another label, Tigerbeat 6, with San Franciscos Kid 606. Slowly the label moved to the forefront of the San Francisco IDM scene, as with Orthlorng Musork and L.A.s Plug Research. Continuing his streak of obscure good luck, Cex released an applauded full-length, Roll Model, in August 2000. His pop culture goofiness is seen with such songs titles as Academy Award (Cexs Radio Edit) and Wallstreet Kid. He has also been included on compilations such as Riccis Pieces (on Mindfield) and Kid606 and Friends, Vol. 1 (on Tigerbeat). He has also recorded for Stewart Andersons label, 555 Recordings of Leeds. In 2000, he toured with Kid 606, Gold Chains, and Blectdum from Blechdom, wowing audiences with his energetic, comical show. The constant touring also helped support his 2001 release, Starship Galactica. Cex only continued baffling expectations by following a 2001 electronic pop LP (Oops, I Did It Again!) with a record named Tall, Dark & Handcuffed, indebted to the golden age of hip-hop. Being Ridden appeared in 2003 (in both a regular and instrumental version) before Cex made his Jade Tree debut in the fall of that same year with Maryland Mansions. The Know Doubt EP followed in 2005 and the charmingly titled Actual F**king was issued by Automation Records a year later.