Two of the most important labels in the genre
Nookie helped shape drum & bass's more intelligent, emotionally driven side through Reinforced Records and Moving Shadow — two labels that between them account for a substantial share of the genre's foundation catalogue.
Reinforced and Moving Shadow were where the argument got settled about whether this music had a ceiling. The records that came out on them demonstrated that breakbeat could carry melody, atmosphere and genuine emotional weight without softening.
Deep without losing the floor
His music proved rave could be deep and cerebral without ever losing its dancefloor weight — which is a harder balance than it sounds. Plenty of atmospheric drum & bass loses the room; plenty of heavyweight drum & bass has nothing to say. Holding both at once is the skill.
That's why his catalogue has aged as well as it has. Records built on arrangement rather than on a single drop tend to survive the era that produced them.
Booking Nookie
Well suited to rooms that reward listening as well as dancing — earlier slots where a set can build, or a bill that wants range rather than two hours at one intensity.
Also a strong pairing on a line-up alongside heavier selectors, where his set gives the programming somewhere to breathe.
