Bleep

Though Gargamel is Awanto 3’s second full-length, it acts more as a marker for one of techno’s prolific track-cutters. Gargamel is a collection of heavy-hitting club rollers that show all of the craft and muscle that a listener would expect from one of Amsterdam’s most accomplished producers. Cuts like ‘Positive Negative’, ‘Thick’ and ‘Why Don’t You’ each have the brawn to power through most dancefloors, with tough drum tracks underpinning a lick of acid here (the bassline of ‘Why Don’t You’) or a balearic flush there (‘Positive Negative’s lush drum fills). While most of the record will make you move, there are pleasant surprises to be found in the deeper cuts - ‘Hooli Goose’ is a wonky 90-bpm groove track that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Brainfeeder compilation, while ‘Happy Bird’ ebbs and flows with a pleasant weightlessness.