Cex

Cex

Actual Fucking

[3/5] At one point early on, Rjyan Kidwell-a.k.a. Cex-could have played up his sex-obsessed nerd novelty, played the great-white-hope rapper card and just cashed in. He’s chosen a more difficult path, one that has led to the eight travelogues (each named for a different city) of Actual Fucking, an album that-cover art aside-seems less about doing the nasty and more about uncovering the deep, dark things that stop folks from indulging. Wedding jagged electronics to percussion-heavy grooves, Cex and his band (which includes his wife, former Milemarker member Roby Newton, and Aloha’s Cale Parks) chase away the IDM flickers on tracks such as “Los Angeles,” creating dance music of real heft. Less troubled than the suicide note of 2003’s Maryland Mansions, this restless, rootless disc suggests Cex hasn’t settled on his future destination just yet. (AUTOMATION) Dan LeRoy

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