Customer Reviews

Ventolin

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2 1/2

Mildly maintaining, mostly mediocre un-Ventolin like display which goes way beneath standard levels of quality for James but does retain enough signature kick to warrant just the slightest of ganders.

This e.p. is not for everyone. This e.p. is not for much of anyone, really. I mean, a title track that is literally painful to listen to (since its bedrock motif is an emulation of the piercingly shrill ringing that asthmatics hear when they overdose on Salbutamol) is a very clear omen that the album is probably not going to debut on the Billboard Heatseeker's chart. Fortunately for less intrepid listeners, these are only ostensible "Ventolin" remixes; they have absolutely NOTHING to do with the original. That's classic Aphex for ya.
Essentially, the remixes are peculiar hiphop ventures with a curt industrial twist. Well, save for "Ventolin (Crowsmengegus mix)", which is essentially a bawdy Irish jig with a curt industrial twist...
Interspersed throughout the album are some of the most unsettling yet hilarious vocal samples ever slapped haphazardly on a track. I assume one was intended to be a disconcerting portrayal of asthmatics overdosing, inserted to provide Richard with a good yuk at the listener's expense. And yet, as perturbing as they are, I really couldn't consider the album complete without them.
In conclusion, if you're a rabid Aphexionado, especially of the raucous "73-Yips" & "Ventolin" (duh!) Aphex, snag yourself a copy of this. You should be able to locate it for fairly cheap, since it seems that everyone would be glad to trade their copy for a couple bucks. Aphex neophytes, you shouldn't buy this until you own mostly everything else. Unless you really happen to like "Ventolin", which of course should prompt you to snag that singular single's eponymous mini-album. You should also give the "Ventolin (Remixes) E.P." a chance. It's harsher, but not as loopy.