ZamZam Sounds US Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Alpha & Omega are serious UK dub legends and now they are back on ZamZam with a typically powerful new anthem featuring Steppas Records' Nai-Jah. Over a thunderous bassline, melodica, sparkling keys and evocative jungle sounds, Nai-Jah's heartfelt lyrics call for empathy and action as he signs "Money-making has filled our minds with disease." The flipside jam on this fine 7" is 'The Dubplate Trembles' which extends the vibes in classic style. Another fine collaboration from these mainstays who have already long since assured their legacy over the course of 30-plus albums that have shaped global sound system culture.

Review: Modern dub doesn't get much more authentic than Scrilla's output. At points overwhelmingly spacious and coded with deep, warm bass; both "Higher Plane" and "Maroon" instantly envelop... The former lives up to its name as the kicks double up with hypnotic insistency that's borderline techno until the snares come back into the mix. "Maroon" takes the funkier route with wafting melodica notes bent and tripped out to the max with some perfectly positioned reverb and a beautifully bubblesome bassline.

Review: Dark dubstep allstar Dayzero first came to out attention with 'Allca', where they pitted themselves alongside contemporaries Gantz or Coki in their unique displays of wonk and lo-fi production techniques. 'Pages' and 'Sen' continue this charge; watery, knocky and psychopathic, both tunes sound like a tank trudging through sludge. Militant and gritty.

Review: Since launching in 2014, Portland's ZamZam Sounds imprint has offered up a string of beautifully packaged seven-inch singles from a mixture of big hitters and rising stars from the global bass music scene. Their latest missive comes from Dayzero, a Japanese dubstep producer best known for his outings on Wheel & Deal, Sentry and, most recently, Vomitspit. The two tracks here are weighty, intergalactic and otherworldly, mixing dub style rhythms with the kind of angular, razor-sharp sub-bass motifs more often associated with dancefloor dubstep. Both cuts are quality, though it's rolling A-side "Orbit Dub" - all lolloping dub beats, wobble bass, metallic effects and paranoid aural textures - that really stands out.

Review: Zam Zam Sounds keep up the pressure with their fifth transmission so far this year (and 20th overall) and welcome Berlin-based soldiers Dub War and Infra into the fold with If It's Not The Police. Formerly a duo consisting of Benny Ill and Bill Robin, this 7" is the first release with the latter working solo under the guise and also his first collaboration with Marius Braun aka Infra. As with previous Zam Zam drops, the roots of dub culture are retained with If It's Not The Policea with a vocal cut backed by a dub rendition. Deep studio science and sound design paired with classic dub aesthetics, dubstep bass-weight, and halftime garage swing are very much in effect here and we hope this is the first of many collabs between the pair.

Review: The connection between ZamZam and Feel Free Hi Fi was sparked by Bristolian Neek out in Portland and lead to an immediate bond forged over a shared sound and DIY ethos. Inspired by early digi-era dancehall and UK dub, the duo crafts a sound here that honours tradition while venturing into bold, idiosyncratic territory. It comes on their own Digital Sting label and opens with 'Voyageur' which is a mix of cinematic atmospherics with haunting synths that evoke wild and mythic landscapes. 'Underground' pays tribute to the spirit of DIY underground music and captures the struggle to preserve both nature and the essence of basement gigs in today's shifting cultural landscape.

Review: Leeds bass man Jack Sparrow aka J Sparrow serves strictly limited, carefully designed and screen printed 7" on Zam Zam. He is one of the enduring stalwarts of the UK scene having turned out plenty of killer dubstep and bass gems over the last 15 years plus. He also runs Navy Cut and has landed on Deep Mehdi and Tectonic, adn as this one proves is still knocking it out of the park. These are classically informed tunes, with 'Behold' marrying a ice melody with bulbous bass and deep lyrics. 'Paradise Bird' is another prime slice of 140 bpm weighty minimalism for the best sound systems.

Review: Raving romancers Schlachthofbronx creep out of their Munich hidey hole with two system wallopers for Zam Zam Sounds. Taking off where 'Dun Dem' left us in 2018, there's a real industrial weight to 'Akkord' as a bulging bassline, steel foundry clangs and a rainbow of risers lead us into the big skank payoff. 'Shell' on the flip is a grumpier affair; classic heavily reverbed drums, a manic siren and rim shots galore, this won't so much as turn heads but twist them right off.

Review: ZamZam 82 is a first ever collaboration with another label and it is the nighty Dubquake Records from Geneva who get involved on this special cut. The story goes that 'She Solid' was born when Dubquake's Rico and Steph played Nazamba the Von D instrumental while driving in the Alps. He was immediately struck with inspiration and began writing in the car. It's a tight, bubbling tune with clean, modern bass and shiny synths as well as tumbling toms and oodles of reverb. The dub is taken in more weird and tripped out dictions thanks to some mad nob twiddling.

Review: Master beat maker Al Wootton debuts on Zam Zam with a pair of typically essential new dubs and reggae-inspired rhythms. This limited edition 7" comes in a screen-printed sleeve and offers two very different sounds. 'Every Knee Shall Bow' is a high pressure and uptempo track with rippling dub chords over chunky Afro drum patterns and with plenty of sci-fi effects fleshing it out. On the reverse, 'Every Tongue Confess' slows things down, invites you to lay horizontal and get lost in some superbly edgeless dub grooves. These are pure dubwise sound system steppers.

Review: ZamZam Sounds has been killing it of late, with Rider Shafique, Ishan Sound and Kahn's recent "When Shall We Rise" single arguably being one of their most potent releases yet. Here they continue that fine run of form via another must-check "45", this time via the artist formerly known as Deadboy, Al Wooton. A-side "Request" offers a deliciously contemporary take on steppers/dub fusion, with ricocheting electronics, humid aural textures and echoing vocal snippets jumping around above a killer bassline and bustling drums. He continues on a similar theme with "Philo", which is the kind of weighty, club-ready dub excursion that would sit well in many house and techno sets.