Marcus Intalex takes on Fabric

Whether it's house or techno, breaks, hip-hop, d&b and everything in between, Fabric is where it's at if you want to hear the big tunes before they hit every other dancefloor in the country. Not only that, the club itself is comprised of three rooms, each with its own unique vibe, and Room one even includes a "Bodysonic dancefloor", where the bass quite literally hits you feet first. Unfortunately, most of us mere mortals north of the border rarely come to tread the boards at this prestigious venue, so thankfully the club boasts a just as reputable CD collection, recorded by a select few of the club's well known artists. The compilation mixes are set into two categories and released on alternate months, with Fabric being the name of the series recorded by Saturday night's more house and techno orientated acts and, significantly this month, FabricLive, which is Friday's breakbeats and bass crew.

Many will be thanking the heavens that Marcus Intalex was given the honour this month of putting together the 20th of August release, and number 35 in the FabricLive series. Innovation and soul is where it's at for Intalex, and it's written all over this CD; at first listen you know this is going to be a permanent feature in your car, on you iPod or on your home stereo. So, with 20 years experience behind the decks, his own Soul:R and Revolve:R imprints, plus his Soul:ution nights at Fabric itself - what goes into preparing for a mix like this? "It is almost like a snapshot of my sound, you know what I mean? You gotta think reasonably upfront, you don't what to put in things that are too dated. Then again, you don't want to be playing something brand new for the sake that it's brand new. I selected a load of tunes I knew would reflect what I would play in a club, but at the same time you could also listen to at home and not be thinking 'this is way too clubby'. It was a good chance to show that drum and bass is not just full-on club music, so it was a good opportunity to show that drum and bass does have alternative sounds, and an alternative style than to just bang, bang, in your face."

Featuring heavily on the mix are tracks from Intalex's Soul:R label, but who is the one person that stands out for him in music just now? "If there's one person within drum and bass it's Calibre, who's just, he's just... I don't know, a machine for great music. I don't think he really knows where he gets it from. It's just something he does, and he does it well, you know what I mean? It's just something he can do without every really having to."

Marcus Intalex has come a long way from the first time he hooked his mother's record players together and "just knew how to mix." His gift of being one of the ultimate selectors and sticking by his guns has made him an obvious choice for FabricLive 35. "I suppose the fact that Fabric have asked me to do it is because they trust what I do, so inevitably I'm just going to do exactly what I do without worrying about trying to conform."

Preceeding Intalex mix are FabricLive 34 by Krafty Kuts and FabricLive 33 by Spank Rock and both can be held in just as high regard. The series is almost infallible and true collectors should currently be clearing another space on their FabricLive shelf for their newest prized possession.