A nice little find courtesy of Planetwax.co.uk. I found this 45″ when I was browsing a recent sale there. The first ZamZam Sounds record that I ever REALLY heard was LQ & Headland’s “Fat Neck” and after listening to that track on my subwoofer at home, I knew that the Portland based dub label was onto something special. Every 45″ I’ve seen from them since that moment has been bag on sight. That policy has treated me pretty well. I’m not exactly sure how many of these little discs I have in my collection, but ZamZam Sounds is always ready to take you on a journey into some interesting soundsystem music; where it’s roots dubstep, dub techno, digi reggae/dancehall or something else entirely, it’s always awesome.

This is a set of tracks from dubstep maestro J.Sparrow and the tunes on selection are both welcome additions to his back catalogue (and my home collection). Both track are 140 steppers which is nice because, having listened in, I know I’m going to DJ with them regularly. The sleeve artwork is particularly nice on this release. Most ZamZam Artwork is nice but the smooth loops and curves on this particular sleeve have a groove to them in terms of both the artwork itself and it’s physical texture. I’m not kidding, the sleeve is comfortable to hold compared to some other art sleeves that have rougher more sandpaper like textures. Weird observation. Anyway.

The A-Side “Behold” featuring Sun of Selah provides the darker, contemplative atmosphere on the release. Sun of Selah’s, haunting chanted vocals call to the listener while the reggae and dub vibes you’d expect from a ZamZam Sound track run behind in the form a pulsing melody and off beat organ stabs. The vocals sound slightly autotuned at points, giving them an even further ethereal quality in the sense that at those moments Sun of Selah is moving further away from the listener. Wicked bassline on this one too. This one is a definite dancefloor number and I think I should probably record a roots dubstep type set at some point in the near future because this track has got me inspired.

“Paradise Bird” on the flip shifts along with the sound of an uplifting flute, subtle bird song samples and some sparse chattings. The slightly rising bassline gives the other elements of the track just the right amount of space to breathe, all of which comes together over tight drumwork. It’s a beautiful piece of dubstep.

This is just a short release and its really hard to choose a favourite for me. I think I have to go with the A-Side just because the roots vibe that carries brings that fat reggae bassline that makes you remember why they call it dubstep.

Shoutout to PlanetWax.co.uk where I got this release on special and to ZamZamSounds.com. This release is vinyl only so I can’t post a Bandcamp link. You may be able to get another copy at PlanetWax.co.uk, or from ZamZam Direct, otherwise dig for it on online record stores like Juno, Unearthed, and I know it’s on Discogs.