Dubkasm / Gorgon Sound

The ZamZam Sounds screen printed 7” vinyl journey concludes with a massive double pack link-up from Bristol legends Dubkasm & 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.