I first heard this on an old Top Buzz studio tape i purchased in 1994 and had the fortune to buy the first 3 Smooth Recordings (the ones with blue labels before the later label redesign) from a local DJ who was selling up. I remember thinking that £3.00 a record was expensive but on hearing what was on them i quickly changed my mind. The work of bonafide studio genius Ron Wells (aka Jack Smooth of the Basement Records label) and Paul Frazer Clarke the 6 tunes on the first 3 Smooth Recordings releases carry the torch on for its parent label albeit with a slightly less dark undertone.
This the second release follows the great formula the majority of Ron Wells engineered tracks with opening beats, main melody, bassline, string breakdown, more beats leading to the final string breakdown before the outro beats finish the track. Both sides are great but my pick is 7th Heaven just edging Mind Sweeper out. These were some of the final "Basement" sounding tracks produced before the jungle and d&b sound took over which is a shame in one way but I look on it as a good thing that this sound was never over exposed and still stays fresh to this day.
I wore out the already worn copies of my 3 Smooth Recordings and sold them in a great purge i had a few years back of records that i wanted to get better condition replacement copies of. I have since managed to replace Smooth 001 and 002 but am still waiting for 003 to pop its ugly head out. My initial £3.00 investment has produced dividends as all 3 releases are extremely sought after. This one goes for £30.00 + in mint condition but it is hard to find nice copies because of the thin markable vinyl that was used on this and Basements 12"s from 1993 and onwards.
