Ventolin (EP)
Ventolin is an EP by the British musician Richard D. James under his pseudonym Aphex Twin. The eponymous title track of the EP is known for the harsh, loud sound. James took on different, completely different versions of the tracks, which, however, he still titled as remixes of the original tracks.
Style
The piece Ventolin was named after a sale name of the drug Salbutamol, which is used to treat asthma. A -described side effect of the drug is tinnitus, resulting in a high pitch tone in the ear. Consequently, there is also the track " Ventolin " from consistently high, harsh beeps and heavily distorted techno beats. Therefore, Ventolin was referred to as "one of the most severe single recording of all time ."
Publications
The first recording of Ventolin appeared in a music video, which was produced for marketing purposes. The video consists of shots of a woman who is stuck in an elevator as well as recordings of ventilation shafts, steam and industrial facilities. The video version was released a month later on the album ... I Care Because You Do.
The salbutamol mix on this EP is a longer version of the video version.
Published in 1995, Warp Records Ventolin as a single in the UK on vinyl and CD in two parts, Ventolin and Ventolin Remixes. The American version on Sire Records included both parts on a single CD.
The cover of the CD was designed by Dan Parkes. He has also created the design for Aphex Twin EP On. The Ventolin design shows anatomical drawings of a human head and upper body, along with an asthma inhaler and the Aphex Twin logo.
Title
While all twelve Ventolin versions were so named, as they are similar to each other, they are mostly completely new and independent tracks. The Wheeze Mix uses as a single remix of the high beeps and sounds from the original Ventolin tracks. As so often with Richard D. James have the remixes often obscure or bizarre titles, including names of places from James' home Cornwall.
Several of the strange remix names are actually Cornish place names: Praze -An- Beeble, Marazanvose, Carharrack and Probus are all villages in Cornwall. There is also a pub called Coppice in the city of Redruth. Plain -An- Gwarry is a place name in Cornwall and the name of an amphitheater.
Other titles refer to the medicine Ventolin asthma beats, wheeze (English for rattling breath, an asthma symptom ) and salbutamol.
The Praze -An- Beeble Mix ends with manipulated samples of laughter from the mother of Richard D. James, Lorna James, during the Marazanvose mix ends with the sound recording of a child who is one in Dutch. These manipulated animal sounds are played.
Crowsmengegus mix ends with a speech synthesizer that reads a thank you list ( "Respect going out to ..." ). In the mentioned persons is James' friends and musical collaborators. The list was later published as a separate track on the single - Compilation 51/13 as The Respect List.