Artist: Jiva Feat Rula
Title: Timelapse
Label: Pure Substance Records
By: Devon Shaw | 4 August 2006
Tracklist:

• A1: Original Mix
• B1: Moonbeam Presents Glockenspiel Mix
• B2: Tyre & Tare Electrotek Dub Mix

Jiva Feat Rula "Timelapse"

To a number of progressive scenegoers, the name Jiva is enough to immediately jog attention. The brainchild of Sultan and Ned Shepard (of Digital Witchcraft fame), Jiva's sound is completely synonymous with deep, relaxing house that's accessible to nearly anyone, whether they've acquired the taste for electronic music or not. Former releases 'Strange Dimensions' (on Bedrock) and remix of Tone Depth & Sultan's 'Broken' certainly set the bar high, and 'Timelapse' doesn't disappoint.

The original mix is everything you look forward to in a genre like this. The trademark percussion sounds are intricately-layered, the lush piano chords waft softly in and out and fade into the atmospherics, then back again. Rula's voice dances delicately above the melodic foray, descending angelically during the breakdown down to earth before floating back into the clouds. A wonderful song to hear and a welcome addition to chillout sessions, it delivers as expected.

Things abruptly shift gears for the remix provided by Moonbeam and Glockenspiel. A techy house reworking, it peels out bits and pieces of the vocal line and moments of pads from the original, letting you sail away just long enough to get yanked abruptly back to earth for more down and dirty goodness.

Wrapping up the release is Tyre & Tare's Eletrotek Dub Mix. A hard, driven electro reworking, the distorted bass line is huge enough to fill the floor of any club. Rula's vocals are re-treated, filtered and teased throughout the track while the bandpass and synth effects sweep back and forth through the track to create a spacey, aural mystique.

All in all a strong, versatile release from a known player. We expected a lot, we got it in return. The remixes offer varying sounds for different crowds, and everyone who picks up this release will have a different favorite. If there was any complaint to be had, it would be that we waited this long for more material. A reminder of the quality releases we've had from Jiva, and hopefully an indication of more to come.