Sardonic by name, sardonic by nature - could anyone else remix Philip Glass, Nine Inch Nails, St Etienne and Mike Flowers Pops (all featured here) and still retain their Godlike credibility? Probably not. Yet, mercenary title aside, '26 Mixes For Cash' is a near-faultless double-CD display in the art of the remix.
In fact, "remix" is a poor description. These tracks are twisted way beyond that - mostly bent out of recognition and forged into shapes their originators would scarcely recognise. (But then, given carte blanche with a Jesus Jones number what higher purpose than to tear apart its pitiful DNA and start again.) For this heroic effort alone we should build statues of Richard James and pass his legacy down to our children.
The highlights (and there are many) come thick and fast, and usually where James produces the unexpected. Die Fantastischen Vier's 'Krieger' is like Linda 'Exorcist' Blair breathing over Indian percussion while DMX Krew's 'You Can't Hide Your Love' is - weirdly - straightforward pop. Nine Inch Nails are unrecognisable, St Etienne are whipped with metal piping and Curve's 'Falling Free' retains only the echo of Toni Halliday's vocal. On Gavin
Bryars' 'Raising The Titanic' you can feel the freezing waves pulling you under.
Best of all is the deconstruction of Philip Glass' take on Bowie's 'Heroes'. Cutting-up symphonies and inserting snippets of the original vocal, it's utterly disconcerting, like falling through the Thin White Duke's brain. With results like these James' reputation as a modern day Mozart is fully justified. Apparently recorded in four hours 'Heroes' alone is worth the price of admission.
Of the few duff tracks, only the QQT mix of Mescalinium United's 'We Have Arrived' is unlistenable - akin to molten steel being poured down your eardrums in Satan's own car factory, only more unpleasant. The unreleased Acid Edit of 'Windowlicker' more than compensates for this aberration, being both electro nostalgic and electro futurist within the same 808 squelch.
Amazing to think that Richard James has been making music for over a decade and amazing to think he left plenty off this bountiful trawl through the archives. We might never see a Greatest Hits per se, but this is a fitting testament to his enduring and idiosyncratic talent.
