Sasha’s recent series of singles suggest he’s had his fill of the trance he helped to popularize a decade ago. As part of a legendary team with John Digweed, he was instrumental in making raves an aboveground attraction, and both Sasha and Digweed became globe-hopping stars of the scene.

Given this history, it was surprising to hear Sasha re-emerge in 2007 with “Coma.” Pioneering a new project (of the same name) featuring him and members of Spooky, the track whooshed along, riding a minimal, syncopated riff. Sasha’s usual epic synth pads were there, but without the typical “trance gate” stutter. The track was also more abstract and cerebral than anything Sasha had previously done, a trend which continued with like-minded 12”s “Park It In The Shade,” “Mongoose,” and “Who Killed Sparky?”

For a new CD compilation of these previously vinyl- and digital-only tracks, Sasha’s brought in a few friends for remixing work; in keeping with his new direction, it’s not the usual suspects. Swedish producer Axel Wilner, aka the Field, provides his take on “Mongoose.” The original, like “Coma,” found Sasha in transition; his progressive trance has progressed all the way to techno, really, and its squealing bursts of synthesizer noise bring to mind the robotic futurism of second-wave Detroit techno—though trance fans needn’t fear: there’s still an abundant supply of epic, reverberated sound washes.

It’s entirely appropriate that the Field, an artist whose often-epic work also straddles this line between techno and trance, should handle remixing duty. The bass line is pretty much kept the same here, and the track enters with that trademark Field rhythm, consisting of a minimal kick and truncated shaker. In contrast to the reverberated bombast of the original, the synths here come in gradually and heavily filtered; they add to the progression of the music, rather than hijacking it. On the other hand, one immediately noticeable and bad decision here has to be pointed out: for some reason, Wilner found it necessary to sustain a shrill kettle-whistle drone in the background for most of the track. It’d normally be easier to ignore, if a steadily modulating pitch envelope didn’t constantly bring it, unwanted, to the foreground. You know how a good dream is rudely interrupted by a shrill alarm clock going off? It’s kind of like that.

Perhaps inspired by the slippery arpeggios of the original, the Field lets loose more than usual on this remix. Percussion changes frequently and without warning—we’re really only talking about a switch from predominant toms to hi-hats, but still, for Wilner that’s seismic. Unfortunately, this kind of techno-by-numbers isn’t really Wilner’s forte. Rather, the best Field productions involve choppily assembled samples, drastically altered and put through layers of reverb, resulting in a pounding exercise in energy; the beat is often incidental. Luckily, it seems like Wilner’s aware of this, as he does just that for the “Floating Mix” of the track, found elsewhere on the release, providing the dynamic sound-stabs missing from this otherwise decent (but harmless) “Disco Mix.”

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