APHEX TWIN 26 Mixes For Cash (Warp) Rating: NN Rating: NN
Richard James has never been anything but upfront about being in music strictly for the money. He gleefully admits he agreed agreeing to do a Lemonheads remix, then forgot about it, never listened to the actual track and handed over one of his own castoffs instead. That track isn’t here, but the 26 other remixes on this two-disc set could easily follow the same pattern. James reworks songs by Nine Inch Nails, Saint Etienne, Curve, Gavin Bryars and himself, often using the original as a jumping-off point for his own cuts. The cut-up of Philip Glass’s take on Heroes aside, the problem is that James actually sounds like he’s working for cash, not pleasure. Doing a Jesus Jones remix by using just a shard of the original vocal and creating your own drifting track sounds hilarious but doesn’t exactly make for interesting listening. At least he’s honest.
