Artist: Electric Tease Vs Mosquito
Title: Sensation
Label: Distraekt Records
By: Matthew Esler | 23 July 2002
Tracklist:

• A: Original Mix
• B: Piliavin and Zimbardo Mix

Electric Tease Vs Mosquito "Sensation"

Distraekt have done themselves proud with this release. It's no surprise really with the extremely experienced hand of Tim Healey being involved. Electric Tease and Mosquito are Tim Healey and Danny Fresh. Other aliases you can find Tim Healey's work under include: Quirk, Allen & Healey, Slide vs Healey, Microtek and Dallas Kiss

The original mix of "Sensation" begins with a big phat "oh $@%# my speakers are broken" bass and bassline pair. Some tough high-end percussion gets a nice groove going, and a serious vocal sample is thrown in, and in no time this track is tough and pumping. The effects on the vocal draw it out to keep the track feeling full. Some symbol crashes and spooky effect add anticipation as the track quickly builds to its first breakdown.

The first breakdown is a seriously evil piece of work, with a deep and nasty synth melody moaning over the repeated vocal of "music and (is?) emotion". The nice short build up continues after the beats are re-introduced and then slowly fade out again to allow for a solid climax to move into the solid business end of the track.

The middle of "Sensation" is a well filled piece of music, with nicely separated parts of syncopated high end percussion, the dark vocal sample, the solid underlying bass, a one bar long funky bassline, and various, more occasional and noticeable sounds, that all add to the track. All of these parts fade to another breakdown, very similar to the first, but more full and very excited for your peaktime set, with an added female vocal and a build up that messes with your head.

After the second breakdown the track rolls on with a slightly different groove, with some very effective small build-ups and occasional groovy drums that serve to lead "Sensation" out of the thick many layered groove that it has built.

Piliavin & Zimbardo's "Deep Trouble" release on Distraekt could lead us to assume that we might get something excellent in this remix, and that would be a good assumption.

The remix begins with a more punchy feel to it, and a generally less dark feeling, but after a short time, the darkness has subtly worked it's way in. An interesting selection of percussion and a phat (sort of) kettle drum-ish sounding bass keep this track rolling on. This is interspersed with an excellent array of tweaky sounds, one of which very much resembles one of our favourites sounds from Sasha & Digweed’s "Communicate", and our interest is held even though this track is significantly stripped down from the original.

The different configuration of sounds in the remix is likely more suited to a big system, as the subtleties will show up more. The beats ebb away to reveal the first breakdown and we are surrounded by a swirling atmosphere of effects before the same sinister savage synth from the original breaks through to scare us all into silence. The vocal samples, one male, one female, working very nicely together, together with a gradual layered build up of beats bring us to the end of the breakdown where a quick build up of deep bass will cause havoc on dance floors anywhere.

As in the original we are led down a slightly different groove after the second breakdown, with a generally more smooth and subdued feeling to the track, but still allowing the eerie effects and vocal samples to be heard. We enter the mixout and the track has a minor breakdown and empties suddenly in stages, highlights some of the effects - nicely tailored for mixing.

All in all this is a very solid release, but there isn't a great deal of difference in the feel of the two tracks... you may decide you like one of them more, but they will both be suitable to a similar environment. With a quality remix offering more variation, this record might have been even more appealing, but regardless of that, Distraekt have done very well.