We can be Heroes, for ever and ever…
Released in the US today (yesterday elsewhere) is the double CD Aphex Twin: 26 Mixes for Cash. This finally makes available, at a reasonable price, the Aphex Twin Remix of “Heroes”. The track originally had a limited release in 1997 as a free 3″ CD with Japanese pressings of the “Heroes” Symphony by Philip Glass. (See above)
Personally I love this version, I honestly think it’s a beautiful re-working which marries together the original Bowie vocal with the Glass orchestral version, and then gets shoved in to the Aphex Twin blender by Richard D James. But then again, I also love the unreleased second Beck mix of Seven, which isn’t exactly chart fodder… and, I have to admit, when I listen to either of these mixes at home, my wife looks at me as if I finally lost the last marble. I digress…
Judging by the couple of reviews I have seen, It seems that “Heroes” is one of the more popular tracks on this CD for people other than myself.
Improbable yet inspired highlights come in the form of his haunting interpretation of David Bowie’s “Heroes” symphony conducted by Philip Glass…
… and this from
Does James have the talent to carry off his attitude? On this evidence, the answer is a resounding ?yes and no?. Yes, when he gets his programming teeth into a track he really likes (as with his remix of Bowie?s Heroes); no, when he?s dirtying his hands on Jesus Jones or Curve.
Well, I guess we can’t blame James for everything, as my mother used to say: “You can’t polish a turd, son!” Having said that, there are some great things on this album apart from the Bowie remix, and it is worth a trawl through. I feel duty-bound to point out that a track on the CD called Ziggy (by Nav Katze) has no bearing on the David Bowie song of similar name, but then again, that’s before Richard D James got his hands on it, so who knows? };-)