ZamZam 99-100

The ZamZam Sounds screen printed 7” vinyl journey concludes with a massive double pack link-up from Bristol legends Dubkasm and Gorgon Sound, not heard together on vinyl since Peng! Sound 12”s back in 2013 and 2018. ZamZam’s love for Bristol’s musical vibes and sound system culture and history is well-established, since kicking off the label with Henry & Louis ft. Prince Green’s “Every Time” in 2012. It’s only fitting that the series concludes in Portland’s sister city; but while ZamZam 01 was an unreleased deep cut from the 90s, the 99-100 double pack is a fully up to the minute dispatch. 

The set starts off with Dubkasm’s “The Return,” a heavy stepper in the duo’s brutal yet lush style; fleeting melodica and ephemeral flute float over a bed of heavy bassline and tough percussion. Alive with the sounds of nature, shot through with laser and siren, Dubkasm’s desk-as-instrument ethos is on full display with raw dubbing galore. Gorgon Sound’s remix ramps up the intensity with a lean, muscular, synth-driven rebuild that’s already proved to be a guaranteed rewind anywhere it’s played.

Gorgon Sound’s “Born Under Siege” is purest Gorgon while feeling like a new evolution in the pair’s unmistakable sound. Crystalline synthetic horns and strings interlace in a gorgeous melodic dance with buzzing mid-range synths and lacerating percussion over a dark martial riddim that’s both fully steppers and unlike anything we’ve heard in the idiom. Dubkasm’s crucial remix is thick, baroque and bombastic, a dubwise hall of mirrors and echoes that wrings every last drop of dub from the original. 

Pressed with each version on the B side of the opposite 7” for playing showcase style, ZamZam 99-100 are housed in a single full color offset-printed, double-die cut gatefold jacket with additional silver screen print. Limited to 1000 copies for the world. There won’t be a repress, so grab the last chapter of the label’s legendary run where you find one. Keep following the ZamZam socials- there’s more to come.