Aphex Twin 26 Mixes for Cash

• Words: Dave Segal
• Label: Warp
• XLR8R Rating: /10

IDM icon Richard D. James has never hidden his mercenary tendencies. Despite (or because of) this crassness, Aphex Twin has cranked out some of his most interesting-and absurd-music while tweaking other artists' tracks. The range of people remixed on 26 Mixes For Cash is astonishing, and it allows James to unveil many facets of his musical arsenal. Aphex shows his serious-composer aspirations by reworking pieces by Philip Glass (covering David Bowie) and Gavin Bryars; satiates his easy-listening jones with Mike Flowers Pops, Nobukazu Takemura and Gentle People; flexes acid-techno muscles with 808 State, Meat Beat Manifesto and Baby Ford; welds eerie ambience with intricate breakbeat programming for Curve, Cylob, Nav Katze and St. Etienne; and does heroic reupholstering with Nine Inch Nails. Two previously unreleased Aphex tracks-"Windowlicker (Acid Edit)" and "SAW2 CD1 TRK2"-make this essential for completists, but those cuts are of curio value only.