neurofunk
{{Short description|Subgenre of drum and bass}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2008}}
{{Infobox music genre
| name = Neurofunk
| stylistic_origins = {{hlist|Drum and bass|funk|techstep|house|techno|dark ambient|industrial music||film score}}
| cultural_origins = Late 1990s, United Kingdom
| derivatives = Glitch hop
| subgenrelist =
| subgenres =
| fusiongenres = Neurohop
| regional_scenes =
| other_topics = {{hlist|List of jungle and drum and bass artists|drum and bass record labels}}
}}
Neurofunk (also known informally as neuro) is a dark subgenre of drum and bass which emerged between 1997 and 1998 in London, England as a progression of techstep.
It was further developed by juxtaposing elements of darker, heavier, and harder forms of funk with multiple influences ranging from techno, house and jazz, distinguished by consecutive stabs over the bassline; razor-sharp backbeats; scarce or nonexistent traditional melodies; a hyper focus on sub sound design; the use of modulated, distorted and filtered synthesizers and audio capture from samplers such as the Akai S1000 and Emu E6400.
History
The first sounds of neurofunk emerged from techstep within the larger musical genre of drum and bass and jungle during the late nineties. Neurofunk's early evolution – when diverging from techstep – can be heard on Ed Rush and Optical's Funktion (1997) single for V Recordings,{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/master/50655-Ed-Rush-Optical-Funktion-Naked-Lunch|title=Ed Rush & Optical - Funktion / Naked Lunch|website=Discogs.com|access-date=30 December 2021}} as well as on their first album Wormhole (1998) for Virus Recordings.{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/label/275-Virus-Recordings|title=Virus Recordings|website=Discogs.com|access-date=30 December 2021}}
The first known mention of the term was in the book Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture (1998) by Simon Reynolds.Reynolds, Simon (1998). Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture. (Picador, {{ISBN|0-330-35056-0}}) ({{cite web | url=http://www.seattlednb.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1573 | title=excerpt | access-date=22 May 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716025827/http://www.seattlednb.com/forum/showthread.php?1573-Techstep-Neurofunk-Pychology | archive-date=16 July 2011 | url-status=dead }}) This is where the English music critic coined the name as a result of his personal perception of stylistic shifts in techstep – backbeats replacing breakbeats, funk harmonies replacing industrial timbres, and lack of emphasis on the drop:
"(Neurofunk) is the fun-free culmination of jungle's strategy of cultural resistance: the eroticization of anxiety."
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Funkmusic}}
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