Master craftsman: Remembering Marcus Intalex and his exploratory d'n'b

Always directing the focus elsewhere, the man who memorably dubbed Calibre the “Magical Musical Machine” was one himself. His fabriclive mix, and sole LP ‘21’, released without fanfare to celebrate his first 21 years in music, tell a story. No deliberate euphoric top-lines. No gimmicks. No trends. Just masterfully-crafted structures that fused a raft of signature elements: the twinkling light touches of liquid funk, the dense percussive energy of rolling snare patterns, the off-camera samples and effects of a techno-attuned artisan. Drum ‘n’ bass riven with an intelligent, exploratory, technoid aesthetic.

And then there was ‘Outerspace’. As close to an all-out club banger as he would ever have wanted to get – and even then an accidental one. Who could have predicted that an essentially mild-mannered liquid roller would become (along with Logistics’ ‘Together’ VIP) Andy C and Friction’s most effective ‘tease’ tune for years on end, out-lasting Andy C’s own signature ‘Titan’, Bad Company’s ‘The Nine’ and numerous other teased anthems of the era?

The secret, of course, was in the science – and the art. Released on Soul:r in 2003, M.I.S.T.’s ‘Outerspace’ remains, for many ravers and DJs, a tune and a dancefloor memory like no other. Those tumbling, cascading, pitched snares, forever a thing of beauty in the dance, fluttered like angels down to earth before that richly melodic, starbursting bassline arrowed upwards and kept going, galloping on and on, riding above the clouds. A highpoint of ecstatic release. A liquid tune? Not quite. A thrilling, joyous, energetic dancefloor voyage, uplifting and exploratory in equal measure. That was Marcus.

Through his music, through the artists he gave a home to, through the vibes he created and curated, through the dancefloors he brought joy to, through the global multitudes he inspired, Marcus Intalex will forever roll on.