OBJECTS OF DESIRE

--FILED: 2025.04.22 / REF.ID: 0005-RA--

There are many things to love about the series "Andor," none more engaging than its texture. The forests drip with rain, the weapons feel heavy, the Tie Fighter controls are just a little bit too responsive. While this tactile quality connects the show to "Star Wars,"¹ it brings a retro-futurism that is decidedly low-tech and almost unique to Sci-Fi. When Star Wars debuted in 1977, it was analog because the world was analog, but also because, as the opening screen explained, this all took place a long time ago. Screens had vector graphics because, well, screens in the late 70s had vector graphics, or had no graphics at all.

In contrast, Star Trek, in its many guises, is at its heart a show of the hyper-advanced. Boldly going forward, roaming the galaxy with no regard to fuel constraints, AI limitations (thanks Data) or even space-time. The Original may have come from the 60s, but it gave us Tricorders, Communicators, Transporters, all of which seemed very new indeed. TNG subtly delighted in highlighting the absolute reliance of the crew upon the Replicator and dropped the ultimate nerd-bomb: the Hollow Deck. Metaverse: take note.

"They've locked on to my tricorder. Very ingenious..."

Even the Original series had instant-magic-healing medicine, and while fandom always loved Dr. Beverly Crusher, it didn't seem all that taxing to practice surgery in the Star Trek universe. Each iteration of the show enjoyed teasing into the cutting edge of the IRL technology backdrop, or even jumping ahead, particularly as touch screens began to seem possible. Whatever else you want to call it, the aesthetics are without question digital - digital in spirit, and digital in execution.

This all stands in stark contrast to "Andor." Let us count some of the ways: Kleya, lying in a dark room hooked up to tubes, with bruises and bandages in a hospital that would be at home in Dr. Steinman's Aesthetic Ideals. Cassian imploring his captors to collect water before the rain stops. The incredible attention to detail in the cafe on Ghorman. Even the sterile Imperial sets look more Kubrick in "2001" than iPad. "Andor" revels in analog, in current and charge, and nowhere is this more beautifully rendered than Kleya's radio, all knobs, wires, tubes, switches. You can almost feel the metal warming on the tuning dial as she tries to capture a signal, resonant with those of us old enough to remember trying to find the frequency to listen to the right music in the car. I think of this every time I can't find the right spot on a video with the drag bar on an iPad.

"= tubes & silicon + binary & waves"

This is the kind of stuff that we really dig, and this aesthetic informs our world view. It is the why and the how of our blending of the bespoke, of the shokunin, of the supercomputer, and of AI. The analog and the digital.

This brings us to the inspiration for this dispatch, and one of my current obsessions: McIntosh audio equipment. I have gazed longingly at these convergences of art, science, technology, and craft for years. Objects of desire are personal, but they are also tribal. They foster a longing to be shared, but it's like knowing that perfect local spot: you don't want everyone to be in the know. There is, after all, the right address, a word that carries a host of denotations and connotations here at Rebel.

"resistance"

Speaking of which, one of our favourite bars has a truly wonderful sound system that oozes warmth and listening pleasure in part because of these wondrous machines. It is both digital and analog: tubes and silicon, binary and waves. An object of beauty and precision, with toughness and heft. It begs to be used and would be right at home in the world of Andor. You can almost imagine K2SO plugging into it. And just like that, a little of our tribalism has been shared with you, the reader. Personal, but in this case begging to be shared. After all, if you are still here, then there must be something in our curation methods that resonates.

We love technology here at Rebel, in many forms, and frankly work with some special machines. (Maybe at some point we will do a "what's in the bag" dispatch...actually, that's a good idea - filed). I would be lost without Apple's borderline perfect EarPods but still wear mostly mechanical watches. Years of staring at screens has me writing on a laptop, but I still write notes and lists. In pen. Or pencils. In a notebook. I continue to love wearing a suit, and the right one, at the right time, still feels like a suit of armour. Just ask Richie. We care about our paper, our shipping tubes, and our stickers. Everything that we do is focused on quality and aesthetic pleasure. And on 1s and 0s. That is not a contradiction. That is Rebel.