SMOOTH Vinyl & CDs

Review: Vinyl Fanatiks sister imprint Amen Brother continues to explore the nether regions of hardcore's earliest roots with more unearthed works from pioneers Fozbee & Cooz. This time we're treated to two brand new remixes by another stone cold pioneer Ron Wells. The man best known as Jack Smooth, Ron's contributions to jungle (notably jungle tekno) run deep and range from credits with Carl Cox to DJ Phantasy and Alex Reese. Here he provides two remixes of 'Free Your Mind' - one more breakeabt oriented, one more four-to-the-floor focused, both timeless and still as forward-

Review: The Viper label have unearthed a real gem in the form of Slovenian producer Smooth, who does some seriously impressive damage on this first proper release on the label. Lead song "7th Sense" is a classic take-no-prisoners D&B banger, combining some lethal drums as well as deep atmospheric pads that combine to take the listener on a seriously frantic journey. On the flipside, "Squirm" is just as good - again loaded with punchy beats and some building synth chords over a monumental breakdown. Well worth a listen if you enjoy your D&B upfront and no holds barred.