Nevrotype
Visionetics

The relationship between Naples and electronic music has always been strange, somewhat controversial. Indeed, while some particularly representative bands undeniably contain electronic influences in their sound (the Almamegretta, the 24 Grana, the latest 99 Posse), it is also true that a similar scene never developed in the Partenopean capital, and incursions into this genre are limited to a few isolated experiences (the experiments of the Retina.It or the bizarre techno-punk of Narcolexia).

This aspect takes on even more singular connotations considering that around those parts, labels like Flying Records or the legendary UMM, a label specializing in dance sounds for which international artists have also recorded, emerged in the nineties.

Yet, every now and then something stirs in the shadow of Vesuvius, allowing a few good souls to stir the pot and bring something new to the city of the sun.

Let's go back two decades, to the distant 2001. During that period, especially at the local level, a video set among the skyscrapers of the Centro Direzionale (at least I think so) began to circulate, featuring break dancers performing freezes and powermoves, accompanied by syncopated rhythms of clear drum and bass inspiration, an MC with his fast rhymes in Neapolitan dialect (LMD), and raggamuffin singing in English.

The track in question is "Napoli Anthem", and the authors are the Nevrotype, a project formed by DJs Wobi, Ambrò, and Frankie B, a prominent figure in Campania's club culture who has lived for a long time between London and Milan.

The piece gains considerable visibility and precedes the release of Visionetics, published in 2002 by the young Cinenova, related to the more famous Cinevox Records.

Visionetics attempts to transfer the language of drum and bass to Naples, and in doing so, it contaminates it with ethnic elements, passion for Japanese culture, and evident references to hip-hop, present both verbally and musically.

The album expresses its best in the first part, where we find the most representative moments of the multifaceted universe of Nevrotype.

Indeed, Wobi, Ambrò, and Frankie B don't just (so to speak) program devastating drums enriched with synthetic Jamaican-flavored bass, but they also indulge in sampling and scratching, giving the whole a distinctly personal touch.

As if that weren't enough, the three also show a certain impatience for categories and try, at times, to vary the script. This is the case with the breakbeat/2-step of "Tokyo Divine", where the sound of the flute conveys pleasant zen sensations, and of "Gange", a sort of Bollywood-style hip-hop full of sitars and voices borrowed from Indian music.

The rest moves along the tracks of a mature drum and bass, in step with the times and excellently produced. "I Believe", for example, mixes rigorous electronic patterns with warm vocal samples of soul blues flavor, while in "Nevrodroids", it's even the voice of KRS-One that peeks out among "scratched" vinyl and staggering rhythms, that will make even the most steadfast dancefloor adversaries move.

Finally, special attention is deserved by "Turntable Otaku", an ode to the art of the DJ featuring members of the collective Men in Skratch, in which Frankie B was part of.

At this point, you might think everything is proceeding smoothly, but that's not the case. The sung or rapped tracks are the ones that work the least: the rhymes of LMD are too rapid, agitated (non-Neapolitans will say "barely comprehensible"); in "Mind and Soul" and the concluding "Letters", instead, there's a lack of harmony between vocal and musical parts, resulting in a discordant effect that's not entirely pleasant.

The result, therefore, is inconsistent and prevents Visionetics from entering the must-have album list. Despite this, the debut of Nevrotype deserves at least one listen, as it attempts to export to Naples a genre far from the local tradition, coloring it with particular nuances. Furthermore, the attempt to create a distinguishable work, different from international releases to which, nonetheless, it can be compared, is commendable.

In short, get your hands on it, press play, and immerse yourself in a strange journey with stops in the Orient, in American ghettos, in some gray English metropolis, and the sunny Mediterranean. You will be, at least in part, satisfied.