26 Mixes For Cash

The tracks are all easy to listen to. They have a hypnotizing element to them and you may find yourself listening to both albums in succession while time flies by, barely noticed. A great alum, truly worth the money. The music has a deep quality to it. Aphex Twin is a tremendous artist with so much refreshing creativity and freedom spun into his music. The sounds he isolates have a timeless and universal quality to them. I will cherish this album for the rest of my life and I hope to encounter much more of Aphex Twin's captivating music.

This album surprised me as I totally missed it being a big Aphex Twin fan and the tracks surprised me too. Nonetheless, it's great! Essential for Aphex Twin fans but overall really eclectic and great.

Great album

Awesome remixes of otherwise decrepit offerings that only Aphex could bring to life. The seller delivered this masterpiece in exceptional shape just as advertised 'like new'.

SPECTACULAR! 0's&1's

Money well spent! This album succeeds in satisfying my musical tastes

Aphex Twin's remixes were often original works in disguise. Occasionally he claimed outright that he hadn't even bothered to listen to the originals that he was supposed to be remixing. That may have been hot air, but 26 Mixes For Cash sounds like an original Aphex Twin album, not a collection of remixes. More accurately, it sounds like an alternate history of Aphex's career, like a summary of his albums with a different set of tracks.The first disc mostly contains tracks released in the early nineties -- softer, more melodic material in the vein of his first album Selected Ambient Works 85-92. The drum tracks and melodies do tend to be a bit less memorable on the whole, there's nothing like the bass line of "Tha" or the keyboard hook in "Ageispolis." For instance, "Time To Find Me" is very similar to "Xtal," right down to the unintelligible sample of female vocals, but the beat isn't quite as concise and catchy. "Raising The Titanic" has a good rolling drum track, but the strings just keep time, and don't really play anything interesting.But still, when a musician is at his peak, even his lesser works can be excellent -- and the early nineties were absolutely AFX's peak, his first album is far and away his best. So, just about everything in the first half of 26 Mixes For Cash is enjoyable. And there are a few tracks that would fit in well on Selected Ambient Works 85-92, the highest praise I can give. The best of these is "Journey," a very long, slowly evolving piece with intricate percussion and lovely, wistful synth lines and vocal samples. Also very enjoyable is the bouncy melody in "In The Glitter Part 2," the hazy, drifting modified French-film style pop song "Une Femme N'est Pas Un Homme," and the funky hip-hop beat in "Change," which Gorillaz should sample for their next album.The "reconstruction" of Jesus Jones's "Zeros And Ones" is a sparse, dark mood piece with lots of echoing feedback. In just six minutes, this one track covers everything that Godspeed You Black Emperor take ninety minutes to express. And AFX does it much better, too. He's even got the train noises approaching and receding.Also notable is "The Beauty Of Being Numb," nominally a remix of Nine Inch Nails. Aphex famously said, "I never heard the originals...I don't want to, either." But I'm not inclined to believe him, because this track actually sounds a lot like NIN's soft instrumental side, somewhere between "A Warm Place" and "The Downward Spiral." It ends with Aphex blowing into a straw over and over -- a hilarious, on-target parody of Trent Reznor's tendency to put these kinds of aimlessly dissonant noises into otherwise quiet songs, granted that AFX also did that a lot. The majority of the song is quite pretty, though, and there's a keyboard melody that's more sophisticated than a lot of NIN's music at the time.Then there's "Let My Fish Loose," which follows the classic Aphex style of alternating two simple melodic segments, and even features eerie children's voices, another common AFX touch. But the use of outside source material lends a little variety to the track. The acoustic bass and the flute set it apart from Aphex's usual sound. And the acoustic guitar in the middle of the song is beautiful.The only track on the first disc that I didn't like is the remix of David Bowie's "Heroes," which has too much Bowie and not enough Aphex. The strings play very simple loops over and over, while Bowie yelps over them. It's not a good fit in my opinion. I kind of wish Aphex had done more "reconstruction" here.Unfortunately, the second disc is much patchier, like the second half of AFX's career. Though it does have its moments, like "You Can't Hide Your Love," possibly the best track on the entire collection. It's an unabashed synth-pop song, unlike anything else in the Aphex catalog. The electro-bass rhythm is extremely generic, but it's produced with that unmistakable gentleness that characterizes Aphex's best music. Then there's "Deep In Velvet," in which a spastic jungle beat is combined with melodic keyboards, much like in "Flim" from the Come To Daddy EP. The real distinction, though, is the anthemic vocal sample "then one day, she will walk..." that wafts in and out of the background. The percussion style in "At The Heart Of It All," the other NIN remix, actually sounds a lot like what Trent Reznor himself did later on Year Zero. "Debase, Soft Palate" is also pretty decent, with some jazz elements for variety.There's also one very odd track, a remix of 1:2 from Aphex's minimalist ambient album Selected Ambient Works Vol. 2. The synth is left unchanged, but now it serves as a backdrop for hissing acid-style percussion. The rhythm is a straightforward acid-house sort of thing, quite unlike the jungle percussion of Aphex's late-nineties output. Surprisingly, it sounds a lot like what Aphex did later on Chosen Lords in 2006. But it's more of a curiosity, since the redress can't hide what was originally drab music to begin with.The rest is rough going: goofy industrial banging ("Krieger"), ear-splitting hardcore techno ("We Have Arrived"); boring glitchy drum workouts ("Remix By AFX," "Windowlicker Acid Edit," "Normal"), and those unlistenable jackhammer drill-and-bass beats that AFX beat into the ground during the late nineties ("Spotlight"). Other tracks, like "Mindstream," are all right, but don't really add anything to the first disc.This is one of those albums where the final score doesn't mean a lot. The first disc, by itself, would get four stars easily, but I think the second disc is very uneven. There is a lot of really good music here though, and if you like latter-day Aphex Twin, you might enjoy the whole thing more than me.

Golden tracks. 808 state flow coma definitely worth the whole album.

Whether Richard D James is going by his recognised ‘Aphex Twin’ name, or by one of his aliases such as Blue Calx, Universal Indicator, The Tuss, etc, he has never failed to be fearless and unique in the already pioneering genre labeled ‘electronic music’. This collection of 26 remixes (for cash) acts as a testament to Aphex’s ‘ignore the rule book’ approach to music. Many of the remixes here bear no resemblance to the original recording.... and that’s a real treat, as they’re all works of art in their own right. I can’t single out the better tracks, as they’re all amazing. However, I’d never imagine anyone could remix Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ and make it sound so wildly different, whilst matching its original magnificence. This album is essential listening for every Aphex fan... and for anyone who wants to sonically circumnavigate the solar system without leaving their home.

Il CD è arrivato in perfette condizioni di imballaggio e nei tempi previsti dall'accordo. Il contenuto era perfettamente coincidente con le mie aspettative. Sono molto contento dell'acquisto fatto.

Well what can I say. Any fan of Aphex Twin will know what to expect, and will love this album. I am not familiar with many of the tracks which have been remixed, but I am almost willing to bet that they have been improved. Fantastic album, and this version is particularly nice, as it is a cardboard sleeve rather than one of the standard plastic boxes. A must buy for any fan of the Twin.

;)

The sound quality is excellent, not WOW or reference quality but bit does not need to be, that is left to the music and textures which are a WOW as is the creativity.These are places beyond your imagination from staggering clarity and simplicity to the construction of orchestral textures of breathtaking depth, complexity and beauty.The tones, sounds, beats are world class, cynical maybe but as honest as the title. This recording has grabbed the originals with both hands and run with them to entirely new places.This recording has not dated, indeed it has grown in stature and will continue to do so.I have not set out to write reviews of the music content as “beauty is in the ears of the listener”. These reviews are about the quality (or not) of the recorded sound. To read about how the reviews are done please see my profile. • Clarity – extremely clear, open transparent • Channel separation – very good, clear left and right channel separation • Channel balance – a dynamic mix which significantly varies as the recording proceeds. Primarily focused on the centre channel but with major impacts and sounds from the left and right channels • Sound Stage – reasonable but not massive but carefully crafted to great effect, indeed almost sounds like early Pink Floyd on occasion • Distortion – non audible or distinguishable • Compression – no frequency limitation audible, excellent frequency range • Atmosphere – these tracks vary so much it is difficult to say if the whole recording has an atmosphere. Some tracks however have a very evocative atmosphere from playful to very dark, menacing and full of foreboding. Hero’s is bold, unusual and almost operatic in its scale and tone. • Bass – low frequencies – very well defined and clear. Varies dramatically, punches, slams, shatters and has depth and tone. The foundation beneath many of the tracks. Complex tones which which slide and morph into other sounds. • Treble – high frequencies – tones of various hues, tones and pastels. From sharp raw edges to shimmering delicate bells, almost gamelan sounds. This mid to upper frequency range is almost beyond definition as it evolves, mutates with pure tones to single piano notes • Vocals – where used and identifiable good.As a general rule of thumb recordings from the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s are nearly always better on the original vinyl. Remasters often fail to please as it’s just not possible to make a silk purse from a sows ear, i.e. the original recording lacks the necessary detail to be processed digitally and show an audible improvement. Indeed such processing can make the sound worse.Modern recordings which have been processed digitally from start to finish can be as good as vinyl. CD’s are often unfairly criticised for being poor quality. This is not the case, it is the original recording or the process which is to blame. Modern “remasters” can both enhance and degrade a recording. The statement GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out) is the limiting factor. Ignore this at your cost.