Neurofunk

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Neurofunk
Stylistic origins	Drum and Bass, Funk, Techstep, House, Jazz, Techno, Dark ambient
Cultural origins	late 1990s in England, Scotland, Europe, USA
Typical instruments	Synthesizer – Sequencer Drum machine – Sampler Keyboard – Laptop Desktop
Mainstream popularity	Small
Subgenres
none
Other topics
Drum and bass artists Drum and bass record labels

Neurofunk is a sub-genre of drum and bass pioneered by producers Ed Rush, Optical and Matrix,^[1][2][3] between 1997 and 1998 in London, England as a progression of techstep. It was further developed by juxtaposed elements of heavier and darker forms of funk with multiple influences ranging from techno, house and jazz, distinguished by consecutive stabs over the bassline and rhythmically structured by razor-sharp back beats where highly nuanced, dark ambient production is prominent. The sound of neurofunk's early evolution – when diverging from techstep – can be heard on Ed Rush & Optical's track "Funktion" for V Recordings, and their first album "Wormhole" for Virus Recordings in 1998. The first mention of the term was in the book Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture by Simon Reynolds^[3][4] where he coined the name as the result of his personal perception of stylistic shifts in techstep – back beats replacing breakbeats, funk harmonies replacing industrial timbres and lack of emphasis on the drop – by refering to them as, "(Neurofunk) is the fun-free culmination of jungle's strategy of cultural resistance: the eroticization of anxiety".

Contents 1 Overview 1.1 Lyrical content 1.2 Origins and influences 2 Media 3 References

[edit] Overview

Since the early stages of the sub-genre when Optical originated the style with his track "To shape the Future" (Metalheadz/1997), Konflict^[2] redefined its sound and structure into a harsher, more stripped-down form with a stronger techno influence at the forefront of their tracks such as "The Beckoning" (Renegade Hardware/1999), setting a certain standard for 21st century producers to follow suit. In 2001, Sinthetix, Cause 4 Concern, and Silent Witness & Break took Konflict's edgy, minimalist approach to production with emphasis on colder, precision beat engineering, harder stabs over the bassline, sharper mixdowns and simultaneously, advancing the development of sound design between 2002 and 2004 along with Gridlok, Corrupt Souls, Noisia, Phace, and The Upbeats. Gridlok, however, worked on sampling, big band horn arrangements during his period on Violence Recordings, further bridging its jazz fusion influence yet, maintaining the crucial elements of classic neurofunk dissonance and minimalism in his music.

As the sub-genre developed during its course, with artists starting as purists but later changing their musical direction into broader musical settings, new artists have emerged to fill the vacuum, re-energizing the sound by taking production back to its roots where grittier, dark funk harmonies and wah-wah pedal distortion effects were quite often used upfront on tracks, along with neurofunk orientated new labels and internet forums designed to release and promote the music. Between 2005 and 2008, developing artists with small but consistent set of releases such as Misanthrop, Axiom, Mindscape, Catacomb, Rregula, Dementia and Cern, in combination with DSCI4, Syndrome Audio, Subtitles, Full Force, Symptom and SLR labels were viewed as the most challenging producers and cutting edge outlets within the scene, as neurofunk's first ten-year period came to a closure in 2008.

Between 2007 and 2008, a decade after the pioneering artists first established its technical soundscape,^[2] the sub-genre was enhanced with a series of diverse, foward thinking debut albums set to redefine its concept production with the rough-cut antics of Break The System by Gridlok (Project 51/CD/2007); the minimal techno-funk fueled, Psycho by Phace (Subtitles Music/2007); the blending of rhythmic guitar chord progressions on Black Lotus by Mindscape (Citrus Recordings/2007); the melodic and highly experimental, My Light Year by Telemetrik (BSE Recordings/2008); and the grunge-toned, accelerated punk-funk of Nobody's Out There by The Upbeats (Bad Taste Recordings/2008).

Silent Witness & Break began producing groundbreaking tracks when being recruited by legendary No U-Turn^[3] label founder/producer Nico, who released their first 12-inch singles "Contact" and "Higher Rates" (No U-Turn Recordings/2002 and 2003), with Silent Witness eventually establishing his own DNAudio imprint in 2003 with label partner, DJ Squire as an outlet for his tunes, alongside Break's and Survival's. As DNAudio became an extension of No U-Turn's dark, pioneering techstep and neurofunk sounds, Silent Witness & Break have since combined both sub-genres as an exclusive, DNAudio signature approach to neurofunk while Break, often using stark, amen influenced breakbeats in his solo tunes as tools for bridging the gap between different styles and different periods of time in the wider spectrum of drum and bass. In the spring of 2008, Silent Witness, Break and Survival released their debut album, the epic No U-Turn sound influenced Hard Times on DNAudio Recordings, merging the varied elements of neurofunk's first-wave, diverging sound period with compressed drums, upfront moving basslines and upgraded concept engineering.

[edit] Lyrical content

As an MC and lyricist, Ryme Tyme personalized the essence of neurofunk as an integral member of Ed Rush & Optical's live, DJ sets and studio sessions. His spoken word flow and fiery, apocalyptic manifestations can be heard on "Resurrection" (produced by Ed Rush, Optical & Ryme Tyme/The Creeps album/Virus Recordings/2000) and "Yes" (produced by Ryme Tyme and Trace/1210 Recordings/2001), "Planet X" (produced by Mindscape/Black Lotus album/Citrus Recordings/2007) and "Tonka" (produced by The Upbeats/Nobody's Out There album/Bad Taste Recordings/2008). His use of certain concepts found in poetic futurism was influential on neurofunk's second-wave MCs, most notable on ex-Sinthetix, MC Mecha's abstract lyrical roundabout drawing comparisons to Ryme Tyme's assonance and aesthetics.

As a producer, Ryme Tyme's combined vision and recording techniques are highlighted by his set-genre track "We Enter" (produced by Ryme Tyme/Optical RMXS/No U-Turn Recordings/1999), helping to establish the sub-genre as an entity to drum and bass along with "Payback" (produced by Ryme Tyme/DSCI4 Records/1999), "White Lightning" (produced by Optical & Ryme Tyme/The Creeps album/Virus Recordings/2000), "Abyss Remix" (produced by Ryme Tyme & Nasis/1210 Recordings/2001) and "Lightsleeper" (produced by Ryme Tyme, Matrix & Fierce/C4CLTD/2002). Some of these tracks were compiled for the album entitled Ryme Tyme (1210 Recordings/2001), consisting mainly of his 12-inch singles for 1210 Recordings.

[edit] Origins and influences

Besides the sub-genre being a divergent of techstep, some of its origins and influences can be traced back to the late 1960s to mid 1970s period of trumpeter Miles Davis: his blending of jazz, rock and funk genres; the switching of his trumpet on to wah-wah pedals and marshall stacks and the use of distortion as a new method of expression for his distinctive modes and phrasing; pioneering a new, progressive sound and style based on African American musical traditions such as call-and-response.

His drummers during this period - Tony Williams, Billy Cobham, Jack DeJohnette, and Al Foster - made use of polyrhythmic, upfront playing techniques in interaction with a dynamic system of sharp trumpet modes and riff-based, sheets of sound of heavy rock guitar rhythmic patterns, improvised jazz solos and deep funk basslines, paving the way for new electronic, trance-induced, instrumental dance music of the 1980s and 1990s. Some of Miles Davis' seminal albums from this period, In a Silent Way (1969), On The Corner (1972) and Get Up With It (1975), were forerunners of contemporary, experimental funk music and influential on early neurofunk tracks such as "Bluesy Baby" (Ed Rush & Optical remix) by Ram Jam World (Higher Education Records/1998), "Syringe" by Ed Rush & Optical (Virus Recordings/2000) and "Serum" (Matrix remix) by Outfit (pseudonym for Dom & Roland, Fierce and Optical; Metro Recordings/1999).

Neurofunk's most distinguished feature is the use of an opening and closing filter on a funk influenced bassline, giving a similar effect to a wah-wah pedal on a electric bass. The concept of funk infused, distortion on bass and brass instrumentation was innovated by Davis during the late 1960s after listening to Jimi Hendrix and Sly & the Family Stone, becoming a significant feature on his development of jazz fusion. The ideas implemented by Davis as bandleader and stylist, to best expose his input on prototype style neurofunk, are the stop-time driven beats on "Black Satin" from On The Corner and the sustained, low pitched drones on "Rated X" from Get Up With It, running parallels to Ed Rush & Optical's "Mystery Machine" from Wormhole and "Climate" by Matrix & Fierce from their 12-inch single.

Another major influence on the techno-funk sound of Virus Recordings, was producer George Clinton's complex, studio experiments for Funkadelic during their 1970s period when he redefined funk by incorporating the skills of classically trained, virtuosic musicians such as Bernie Worrell, alongside Bootsy Collins and Eddie Hazel, as essential members on the development of P-Funk mythology themes and long range instrumentals as tools for Clinton's progressive, psychedelic influenced productions, arrangements and concept albums. Bassist Bootsy Collins' playing style, featuring his instrument in lead rather than rhythm section, originated an innovative, reverberating, low-frequency bass sound highly influential on the emergence of hip hop, techno and, by extension, the early foundations of neurofunk.

[edit] Media

[edit] References

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