Marcus Intalex - Aperture, Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff - 3rd June 2011 (Live Review)
Monday, 13 June 2011
Written by Elliott Batte
Marcus Intalex is a DJ with over 21 years of experience behind him – and it showed when the Manchester-based producer graced the prestigious decks of Aperture, Cardiff’s only 100% drum and bass club night, on the 3rd.
But, as usual, Aperture and its newly appointed head Dan Harris not only provided us with a big name DJ but also organised the flourishing resident DJs into what became a bouncy, fun and vibrant night, with a real party atmosphere. Local boys Sundance and Fluidity fired up the eager flock of folk for the first two hours, spinning and mixing the freshest and funkiest tunes which, as always with Aperture, set the tone for the rest of the night.
Vinyl veteran Kooley was next up, warming up the turntables for Intalex alongside hard spitting MC MD. Like his namesake suggests, he coolly laid down the tracks while MD took control of the mic and rhymed with authority and intelligence. The drum and bass duo attracted the crowds to room one, and got all the heads in the mood for the incoming selector, who surveyed and weighed up the crowd from the side.
At around one in the morning, Intalex, who was launching his first ever full album ‘21’ (out now on his own label Soul:R), stepped onto the Welsh Club stage and began his hour long siege of the capital’s drum and bass headquarters. Although he has produced for around 15 years, Marcus sees himself primarily as a disc jockey – and you could see and hear why, as he teased and tantalised the packed room of hard-skanking clubbers. Marcus brought a brilliant selection of tunes with him, with the deep rolling classics pleasing the old skool drum and bass heads and his unique techno-influenced sounds getting the girls gyrating and dancing through the entire set.
Moving swiftly and smartly between track to track, the expert dropped a few beats from ‘21’, which absolutely killed it and raised the question ‘why hasn’t Marcus produced a whole album before?’ What stood out most about Intalex’s set was the diversity, as he twisted from dark, minimal, techno and liquid with fluidity and fluency – his set was literally music to mine and everyone else’s ears, and he topped off my night by playing one of my personal favourites, a tune by him called ‘Airbourne’.
One thing about Aperture is that the graveyard shift is consistently strong and you generally don’t see many people leave after the headliner’s set – and this night was no different, as neighbourhood DJ Swifty followed on from Intalex’s dismantlement of the Clwb Ifor Bach turntables. Keeping the party vibes strong after four hours of continuous dancing and raving isn’t an easy job, but Swifty did so with ease (As you can see in the picture, the 'lights on' didn't stop anyone dancing!) and showed why Aperture co-ordinator Dan Harris chose him to finish off the night.
A man that can’t go without mention is MC Fraudsta, who valiantly hosted the whole night and will surely be hosting many more to come after his performance on the mic that evening. His crowd interaction and endless energy put a cherry on top of what was a brilliant night of music. Co-ordinator Dan Harris seemed to think so too, as Stereoboard caught up with Dan for a brief word on the night.
"Wow. What a wicked party! I'm so proud of all of Aperture's DJ's and MC's, especially those who played tonight - they really killed it. Look out for MC Fraudsta, although he regularly takes his hosting to new levels, tonight he blew us all away and smashed it out of the park! We will see a lot more of him on the Aperture stage in the months to come."
The most positive thing about the night, though, is without a doubt the fact that Aperture is stronger than ever after recent changes in management. David Shaw was in control for years and made Aperture what it is today, and brought the city hundreds of huge bookings that kept us drum and bass lovers entertained for a long time. But moving on with new commitments in the rising label Droneboy Laundry (You can’t walk through any part Cardiff without spotting at least 3 DBL stickers!), the night was handed to the young Daniel Harris – and the student has absolutely smashed the two nights he has put on so far, the first selling out before 12:30! He has already secured a double headliner for July 1st, which will see DC Breaks and Artificial Intelligence both on stage in the same night, a massive booking which is exactly what this city needs. If he keeps going at this pace, the night will keep getting stronger and stronger – Aperture is certainly not dead.
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But, as usual, Aperture and its newly appointed head Dan Harris not only provided us with a big name DJ but also organised the flourishing resident DJs into what became a bouncy, fun and vibrant night, with a real party atmosphere. Local boys Sundance and Fluidity fired up the eager flock of folk for the first two hours, spinning and mixing the freshest and funkiest tunes which, as always with Aperture, set the tone for the rest of the night.
