Starship Galactica

Not so much an album as it is a between-works collection of dispossessed inspiration and in-jokey indulgence, Starship Galactica is nonetheless one of Rjyan Kidwell's most beguiling records. Clocking in at just over 22 minutes and featuring only four properly realized songs, it reads like a concise vivisection of Cex's self-stated blueprint. This means unadulterated geek love, scene sniping, and self-conscious braggadocio abounds. In between the hip-hop-style sketches about video games and lesbian sex ("Hi Scores" — itself a Boards of Canada reference) and untouched childhood renderings of the "Starship Galactica" theme song, listeners are peppered with gorgeous proof of Kidwell's growing confidence behind the decks. "Cal and Brady Style" sends laconic melodies sailing overtop a terse 2-step; meanwhile, the gushy "Your Handwriting When You Were a Child in the Winter" instantly recalls the warmer, fluid techno of labels like Morr and City Centre. With song titles like "Cex Can Kiss My Soft Sensuous Lips" (itself a pun on Tigerbeat6 bedfellow Kid 606's infamous "Luke Vibert Can Kiss My Indie-Punk Whiteboy Ass"), Starship Galactica may appear to detractors as hard evidence of Kidwell's distracting self-consciousness. To others, it'll serve as a welcome invitation to finally pin a personality on this endless stream of clicks & cuts.