4 out of 5

Label: Warp

Produced by: Richard D. James

This is the full EP1 + EP2 release, covering the original “mixes” and the “remixes,” which are, in Aphex fashion, mostly all unique tracks.

Opinions seem somewhat split on this, between praising the collection’s somewhat raw and downbeat tone, and criticizing it for the same. As this was part of my formative Aphex listening, it got a lot of spins from me regardless, and it’s hard to draw a line between my nostalgia and a more critical listen – meaning I fall into that first camp – but I do sincerely think this is a great example of RDJ’s range and craft, as long as you’re not expecting anything as harsh as the original Ventolin, here dubbed ‘The Salbutamol Mix’.

Range shouldn’t be surprising given James’ decades long shifts from ambient to breakneck glitch to more laidback electro, and not to mention whatever else he’s touched under his various pseudonyms. But: it’s something you can trace by era, to a degree (or by pseudonym); these Ventolin mixes came from the “classic” era of Aphex – the mid 90s – and I can understand being thrown off a bit by how comparatively controlled these tracks may feel compared to others from that time, while also perhaps lacking the scope of On-era stuff. They do seem like sketches to a degree, which is one of the criticisms I saw, but this is a master artist’s sketches: often just as complete as a full composition by someone with less skill and experience. But calling them that also undersells how artful I find these, touching the percussion and synths just so to get further mileage out of each track’s main hook, which is how these are constructed: not wander wandering melodies, but rather some head-bobbing beat that’s nudged here and there for some peaks and valleys across a few minutes each. Later listeners would get some similar entries on 26 Mixes for Cash – another “remix in name only” kind of thing – but again, when led into by the purposeful harsh, challenging beats of the title track, the rest can seem like a swerve.

While most of this is RDJ, Luke Vibert and Cylob are here adding some deep grooves on some of my favorite mixes, including Vibert’s Deep Gong Mix, which is an album standout. Elsewhere, while James has his eff-off playfulness in tow for some sketch-like additions on some tracks – and a couple songs oddly seem stitched together, with half one song and half the other – this disc gets equal mileage to me as some of Aphex Twin’s proper albums, with its unique vibe (and variations within that vibe) marking it as a very, very solid entry within a very solid catalogue.