Andre Williams has been assembling his musical catalog under the alias Shy FX since 1992, although his 1994 debut of ‘Original Nuttah’ is what landed him his international notability and status in the DnB and Jungle world.
Shy FX kicked off it’s new London Town residency, dubbed CULT.URE, earlier this month, featuring a variety of ‘cross-genre’ artists at a secret Shoreditch showcase.
The appearance took place in the loudly impressive members club and hotel The Curtain, on Thursday 8th February. The second week into the new residency highlighted a variety of acclaimed artists including Idris Elba, Heartless Crew, Maximum, Ghetts and D Double E.
What could best be described as a fairly ambiguously intimate club night, went on to open up debates and stimulate discussion amongst its guests concerning the idea of ‘cross-genre’ and the live music industry.
Sound-proofing was hemmed to perfection, barraging all walls with seemingly no external efflux, in itself, a generous and considered tweak for any venue bordering residential premises in London Town.
The crowd too was a testimony to the event’s success, reduced as they were to simple instincts: dancing – all booty bouncin’ and shuffling – and outward facing euphoric smiles.
Throughout the infectious ruckus of laughter, chatting and general buffoonery, the venue showcased tasteful, intriguing artwork steered toward the kind of younger audience to frequent Shoreditch House.
Whilst locale was comparable with other members club in the area, service wasn’t quite on par. Considering the bar overload, wait times could have been worse but we caught vexed looks a’plenty from neighboring tables, reliant and no doubt paying a premium for service that never quite appeared as it should.
Trappings aside, the music remained in full focus in this compelling and thought-provoking event, which consistently nodded towards the ever-developing mesh of genres Shy FX has cultivated over the duration of his career.
The origin of CULT.URE’s sound being rooted as it is in jungle, garage, grime, bass, hip hop, funk, reggae, bashment and house music allowed for an integration of otherwise disparate sounds to be fused neatly together in what could only be described as an avant-garde approach to a club-land night.
London has a voice. A noisy one at that and we expect you will soon be finding inevitable legions of fans welcoming Shy FX and all that archetypal, glitchy, experimental mastery back with wide-open ears and arms.
