Aphex Twin: 26 Mixes For Cash

Aphex Twin's hero status took a sizable hit with 2001's Drukqs, an unwieldy quasi-epic that all but begged to be cut down to size. While numerous electronic fans held tight to "Aphex rules!" orthodoxy, many scene-watchers, decrying a talent sunken beneath Aphex Twin's cult of personality, turned "Drukqs sucks!" into a rallying cry. Both groups were expressing knee-jerk reactions, but it was still clear that Aphex Twin stock had dwindled. Compiling remixes dating from 1990 to the present, the two-disc 26 Mixes For Cash gives graft to both sides of the love-hate divide, mingling the unparalleled highpoints and tossed-off lowlights that have been Aphex Twin's currency for years. Famous for remixes that have little or nothing to do with their original source material, he sounds like Aphex Twin whether he's reworking Jesus Jones or Nine Inch Nails. Mostly, that's an attribute, as he's invented an entire vocabulary of sounds as impressive as those of any artist inside or outside electronic music. On Cash's first disc, that language speaks to the imagined ethnography of his ambient side, with masterful mixes of Seefeel, Gavin Bryars, and Gentle People setting an early wandering tone built around squeaking-straw shuffle, billowing drum folds, and a steady fall of wind-chime rain. A remix of Philip Glass' take on David Bowie's "Heroes" works with nothing but fractured string swells and boldly naked vocals, while an addendum to Nine Inch Nails' "The Beauty Of Being Numb" trails itchy jazz with swirling kazoo buzz. Aphex Twin's ghoulishness plays out in even his most plaintive moments, but disc two gives it top placement with frenetic beat seizures and screw-face leers. Tracks by Curve and Phillip Boa & The Voodoo Club twitch in melting fractal time, while a gabba classic by Mescalinum United proves more punishing than the original. Remixes of Aphex Twin's own work show the inner workings of a restless mind rivaled by few others. A few listless cash-ins signal synapses too fried for their own good, but most of 26 Mixes For Cash brings enough brains to make the bad parts sound like welcome breathers from brilliance.