There was a time when the relative anonymity of the DJ was seen as a detriment to electronic music at large. Indie and rock music had things like haircuts, tabloid-friendly internecine squabbles, and famous couples to grain-feed its addiction to the cult of personality; dance music didn't even have a stage. In the internet era, however, the rules of engagement are a little more elastic. Recent records from retiring bedroom musicians like Burial and Sally Shapiro have not only debunked the notion that a persona, or even a face, is a pre-cursor for success, they've upended the formula by making mystery an asset. In an environment where bios, blog updates, photos, live footage, firsthand tidbits, and friends-of-friends are as ordinary as pennies, a little bit of riddle goes a long way.
The riddle known as Rex the Dog began in 2004, when tracks credited to the artist were issued on Kompakt compilations and 12"s. First came "Prototype", a pulsing, bleeping, expertly crafted bit of electro that occasionally gave the appearance of folding in on itself, like origami. Then came the peeling synths and muscular rhythms of "Frequency", an arena-ready workout that made up for its garishness with infectious energy. Its B-side was even better: an auto-tuned ode to Eurocheese with French house flavors, the jokey and joyously poppy "I Look Into Mid Air" cemented the notion of Rex the Dog as a producer reveling in the tastelessness afforded by anonymity.
The cat and mouse game was fun while it lasted, and for a few years, the rumor-mongering and online conjecture fed dutifully back into RtD's modest myth. Eventually, though, the secret proved too big for techno's incestuous, inbred scene to contain, or, evidently, for Rex to live up to; the more that clues and anecdotes pointed to producer Jake Williams (aka JX) as the culprit, the more Rex the Dog's output flagged. In 2007, RtD released a by-the-numbers remix of the Knife's "Marble House" that felt more like a lazy retread of old motifs. You could almost hear him circling the drain.
And then, out of nowhere, comes this. Williams has since put the speculation to rest by formally coming out as Rex the Dog, but it's hard to tell if this full-length collection of early singles, remixes and new tracks is meant to close the door on his moniker or open it. While new tracks like the house-inflected "Bubblicious" (which gives prominent placing to an old Alison Moyet vocal from Yazoo's "Midnight"), the synth-hit happy "Gecko", and the driving "Circulate" hint at the RtD of old, it's tough to shake the sense that this newer material is sheenier, more predictable, and less arch than it was in the Kompakt days.
A cynic might suggest that this album is Williams' attempt to have it both ways by re-inventing RtD as a more populist DJ while simultaneously anthologizing his previous success, but nothing about The Rex the Dog Show feels quite so calculated. Instead, it feels like exactly what it is: a slipshod collection of songs constructed intermittently, in broad strokes, over a period of years. There's joy to be had here, but after such a compellingly assembled origin story, The Rex the Dog Show isn't quite the next chapter you want it to be.
