- In more ways than one was Russell Haswell's As Sure As Night Follows Day ripe for remixing. Not only did it hold some of the experimental artist's most dance-friendly material, the sounds themselves were so raw and skeletal that they might as well have demanded to be dismantled and refried. And there are likely few better to do the job than those assembled on this 12-inch. Haswell's fellow Gescom conspirators, Rob Brown and Sean Booth of Autechre, drop an expanded take on the jumpy "Heavy Handed Sunset," while Diagonal boss Powell and DJ Stingray give the B-side two relentless bombs.
As far as Autechre productions go, the "Conformity Version" of "Sunset" is surprisingly straightforward. Booth and Brown tack a 4/4 bonk onto the track, which is a welcome change of pace, but of course they use all the alien garble and granular mulch at their disposal to unnerve it. (Cheers to anyone who can work it into a DJ set.) More reliable dance floor fare is on the flip, and they're both playful in strange ways. Armed with some jokey clips from a live interview and a hollow bass tone, Powell realigns the brash proto-techno of "Hardwax Flashback" with noisy post-punk and no wave. It's a fun, irreverent jaunt, but DJ Stingray's "Atropine Mix" of "Gas Attack" ultimately wins out. That one brings a literal translation to Haswell's deadly track title, delivering some apocalyptic electro that blasts and shudders with weapons-grade electronics. Serious as it all is, the pitched-down voice talking about chemicals brings an old-school levity to the mix.
TracklistA1 Heavy Handed Sunset (Autechre Conformity Version)
B1 Hardwax Flashback (Powell Cov Megamix)
B2 Gas Attack (DJ Stingray Atropine Mix)