Neha Patil (Editor)

Ventolin (EP)

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Released
  
27 March 1995

Artist
  
Aphex Twin

Producer
  
Aphex Twin

Length
  
26:27

Release date
  
27 March 1995

Label
  
Sire Records

Ventolin (EP) httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaen00bVen

Ventolin (1995)
  
...I Care Because You Do (1995)

Genres
  
Intelligent dance music, Hardcore

Aphex twin ventolin salbutamol mix


"Ventolin" is a piece of electronic music composed by the Cornish musician Richard D James. It is noted for its harsh, abrasive sound. James recorded numerous versions of the piece under his Aphex Twin alias.

Contents

The piece is named after a trade name for the drug Salbutamol, which is prescribed for the treatment of asthma. A reported side effect of this drug is tinnitus, a high pitched ringing in the ears. James utilized this effect in "Ventolin", incorporating a piercing high-pitched ringing sound throughout the track. The music also incorporates heavily distorted techno beats. The resulting effect has been cited as "one of the harshest singles ever recorded".

The song is sampled by the Vancouver industrial band Front Line Assembly in the song "Retribution" on their 1999 album Implode.

Aphex twin ventolin wheeze mix


Album/video version

The first recording of "Ventolin" (the "video version") appeared on a music video produced to accompany the track. The video consists of a woman being trapped in an elevator with other industrial images interspersed. The "video version" of the track was released a month later on the 1995 Aphex Twin album ...I Care Because You Do.

The "Salbutamol Mix" on this EP is an extended version of the "video version".

Single releases

In 1995, Warp Records released "Ventolin" as a single in the United Kingdom, on 12" vinyl and CD in two parts, Ventolin and Ventolin Remixes. Between them, these EPs have a further 12 versions of "Ventolin". (The United States release, by Sire Records, collects all of the tracks on a single CD.)

The singles' artwork, by Dan Parkes (who also designed the artwork for On), has Renaissance-style anatomical drawings of a human head and upper torso, together with an asthma inhaler and the Aphex Twin logo.

Whilst all twelve versions of "Ventolin" on these singles are labelled as ostensible remixes, in many cases they appear to be almost entirely new pieces of music, bearing only nominal relation to the original. The "Wheeze" mix is the only remix that utilizes the high-pitched ringing and sounds from the original "Ventolin". In typical James fashion, several of the mixes are labelled with obscure or bizarre titles, some of which are Cornish place names.

Ventolin

  1. "Ventolin" (Salbutamol Mix) – 5:46
  2. "Ventolin" (Praze-An-Beeble Mix) – 3:21
  3. "Ventolin" (Marazanvose Mix) – 2:10
  4. "Ventolin" (Plain-An-Gwarry Mix) – 4:37
  5. "Ventolin" (The Coppice Mix) – 4:35
  6. "Ventolin" (Crowsmengegus Mix) – 5:52

Ventolin Remixes

  1. "Ventolin" (Wheeze Mix) – 7:07
  2. "Ventolin" (Carharrack Mix) – 2:49
  3. "Ventolin" (Probus Mix) – 4:14
  4. "Ventolin" (Cylob Mix) – 5:02
  5. Remix by Cylob
  6. "Ventolin" (Deep Gong Mix) – 6:18
  7. Remix by Luke Vibert
  8. "Ventolin" (Asthma Beats Mix) – 1:39

Songs

1Ventolin (Salbutamol Mix)5:46
2Ventolin (Praze-An-Beeble Mix)3:22
3Ventolin (Marazanvose Mix)2:13

References

Ventolin (EP) Wikipedia
(Text) CC BY-SA