Nucleus

warp records gets plenty of credit for being experimental and forward thinking, and it's well deserved. however, there are a few of us old enough to remember that they started as a dance label.

nucleus was warp's first "sub-label", and it never took it's eye off the dancefloor. most of the output could be called "progressive house" (not in that "trance that dare not speak it's own name" way"), but it was certainly played more often by deep house and techno dj's. the sound was typical sheffield tough: thick, clunky sounds with clean production and a taste of funk.

nucleus featured music and production from a few of my sheffield heroes: richard brown, chris duckenfield and winston hazel.

as the success of warp's "artificial intelligence" artists increased, less attention was paid to warp's more dance-friendly acts. you may see "warp fans" dismissing the importance of acts like rhythm invention, rac, nightmares on wax or even sabres of paradise for the likes of autechre or aphex twin, but don't let that stop you from investigating warp's original intent: creating something new, awesome and exciting for the dancefloor.