Aphex Twin — 26 Mixes For Cash

During his career Aphex Twin has done remixes for many artists. Not always with the same dedication as the rumour of Richard James getting a random tape from the shelve when the courier came to collect it aptly illustrates. These 26 mixes give a nice insight in his approach to the job of remixing and gives us a chance to hear some tracks stashed away on limited edition vinyl editions and other out of print items.

Most of the original tracks tend to be rather obscure and I only know a few artists (often only by name), let alone the songs. On the other end of the spectrum we find a chart topping one day fly like Jesus Jones or a huge name like Philip Glass. Personally I don’t think it’s necessary to know all the originals to enjoy this album. Generally Aphex Twin makes all the material his own, although the input often steers his typical style into new territories as well.

The 2 cd’s reflect what most people seem to see as his most creative period, somewhere in the mid-nineties. His work in that time had a somewhat melancholic and industrial atmosphere. Listening to many of these tracks I feel that his music of today (as found on Drukqs) is much more detailed and has more subtleties in them,where the older tracks are more repetitive and are less profound. This doesn’t mean there are no gems to be found amongst these 26 tracks.

Philip Glass’ orchestral reworking of Heroes got David Bowie’s vocals reinstalled and the end result is a very disturbing and amazing musical piece. You Can’t Hide Your Love by DMX Krew has a lovely desparate atmosphere reminiscent of the ’80’s. Let My Fish Loose originally performed by Nobukazu Takemura has a semi-acoustic feel and Aphex’ nutty vocal tweaks and again a lovely spooky atmosphere. Nine Inch Nails’ At The Heart Of It All is hardly a remix. It seems to be a piece commissioned to Richard James by Trent Reznor, since there is no 'original track'. Nonetheless this is one of the best things 'RDJ' ever did. Bombastic but soothing and very powerful. Other highlights include the dreamy Journey (Gentle People), the ultra phat acid fest Remix (his alter-ego AFX) and the ambient Zeros And Ones (Jesus Jones).

Given the obscurity of these tracks only the real diehard collectors might deem this release superfluous. ‘Normal’ listeners might welcome this as a nice addition. 26 Mixes For Cash is, besides a good and adventurous listen, also a nice retrospective of his work which might appeal to people who thought Druqks wasn’t innovative enough.