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ARJUN VAGALE – IT’S LIKE THAT / TOTAL RECALL (TRONIC)

Arjun Vagale returns to the Tronic stable with another cracking two tracker.

arjun vagale it's like that total recall tronic christian smith

If you’re not familiar with Arjun Vagale please read our interview here. Or check out his releases on Tronic, Bedrock and Octopus, amongst others. Arjun’s sound is what I would class as modern techno, which is more groove driven, less industrial or distorted sounding, with a sweeter sonic edge, that’s ultimately designed for floor retention.

This EP follows suite starting with the title “It’s Like That” which kicks straight into the groove, with a hypnotic sub rolling bassline and shuffly hats. Tech house snare fills are shortly introduced, which add to the groove, whilst a creeping atmosphere sound builds and a deep pitched vocal starts to fade in. The vocal carries the title of the track and continues to repeat with varying FX morphing into the groove. Short breaks in the drums take place, with the increasing ringing atmosphere sound resonating. A new synth sound is introduced which sounds quite elasticated and takes us to a middle break down, which is very hypnotic and simply done, but will sound intense in a club. A DJ friendly outro follows that is centred on the hypnotic baseline and the atmospheric sounds fading out. On a whole this is a great groove driven track that has almost late 90’s “Laurent Garnier” feel about it and should appeal to a wide selection of DJs.

Next up we have “Total Recall” (maybe related to the film? Not sure). This track is constructed in that darker but funky Vagale style that many have come to love. It gets straight to business with a punchy kick drum and an almost slightly off beat bass note underneath. An “Alan Fitzpatrick” style stab is quickly introduced, with Arjun’s trademark creepy atmospheric sounds starting to build. A raw but very old school hi hat pattern is placed into the arrangement, before the track starts to build to a dark but funky hook, which is almost like a synth riff, but dually combines as a bassline, which adds to the rolling energy.

This track is quite infectious and I found myself listening to it over and over a few times. It simplistic but full of energy and will certainly move many floors internationally.

Blue Amazon verdict: An awesome release for both Arjun and Tronic records that will keep the “Vagale” motor well oiled 8/10

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