Neurofunk
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Neurofunk is a subgenre of drum and bass pioneered by producers Ed Rush, Optical and Matrix, between 1997 and 1998 in London, England as a progression of techstep. It was further developed by juxtaposed elements of heavier and harder 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 "Funktion" single for V Recordings and on 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. This is where the English music critic coined the name as a 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 referring to them as, "(Neurofunk) is the fun-free culmination of jungle's strategy of cultural resistance: the eroticization of anxiety".
