Artist: Jiva
Title: Skin
Label: Release Records
By: Jason Calvert | 25 July 2005
Tracklist:

• A: Sultan Mix
• B: Original Mix

Jiva "Skin"

Jiva consists of Ossama Al Sarraf, better known as Sultan, and Ned Shephard of Digital Witchcraft. Their latest release on Release Records shows a side much different sound of Jiva, which many fans of their previous work may find a little suprising.

The Original Mix combines the breakbeats of Ned Shephard with some middle east influenced sounds from Sultan. A light vocal sample is layered over a heavy bassline, and backed up with some tight effects this helps drive the track forward. Whilst this keeps building up and would definately have the ability to sustain a mood already created, it could also be seen as filler material. It tends to lack the originality of previous Jiva works, and many elements of the track have been done before. For those who like to stick to a particular sound, this may work for them, but for all the others who like to look for tracks outside the box, this could easily be passed up.

Sultan throws down his heavier 4/4 interpretation of the Original Mix. From the beginning it is easy to identify that this is the stronger of the two mixes. The main hook of the original has been diced up and resampled, resulting in quite a unique effect. The bassline no longer sinks to the bottom of the track, as happened in the original, yet it finds a nice place around the center of the structure. Only certain parts of the vocal are re-introduced, namely the better parts, strengthening the overall composition. This is a current favourite on many dancefloors at the moment, and has much more feeling and groove than the original.

Whilst the original is a fairly lacking track in terms of what we have come to expect from its producers, Sultan's mix makes up for this with a strong enhancement of the vibe. Release Records have an impressive discography behind them, and this release marks a slight shift in style for them, possible looking to widen their overall appeal.