{"title":"Function","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSumner is a techno producer and DJ hailing from New York. With a career spanning over a decade, Sumner has established themselves as an influential figure in the electronic music scene. In 2004, they joined Regis' Sandwell District collective, further solidifying their place among the industry's elite.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eInspired by artists such as Planetary Assault Systems, Sleeparchive, and Silent Servant, Sumner's sound is characterized by its hypnotic rhythms and pulsating beats. Their music seamlessly blends elements of techno and industrial sounds to create a unique sonic experience that captivates audiences worldwide.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith collaborations alongside renowned artists like Peter Van Hoesen, Donato Dozzy, and Ancient Methods under their belt, Sumner continues to push boundaries and redefine the genre. Their tracks have garnered support from esteemed DJs including Jonas Kopp, Shifted, and James Ruskin.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"incubation","title":"incubation","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn original electronic disciple hailing from New York, Sandwell District's David Sumner a.k.a Function presents his debut album 'Incubation' on Ostgut Ton.  Like the soundtrack to a suspenseful Techno-thriller, or retro-futurist Sci-Fi tale, it's a modern sound journey heavy on imagery. Over nine tracks we are guided through the varying moods and scenes of Function's musical temperament. Be it through writhing layered club tracks, soaring string-led atmospheres, or melodic pieces founded on classic electronic traditions, 'Incubation' marks a new level of maturity for the Berlin-based producer.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"LP | x2","offer_id":50436427219275,"sku":"359539","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/a90af6a6-2e43-48a6-96d8-44d275430e3c_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726917177"},{"product_id":"existenz","title":"Existenz","description":"\u003cp\u003eFunction’s long career has seen him uncover a vast range of sonic identities, a mainstay through house, techno and industrial with collaborations with the likes of Regis, Damon Wild alongside his highly influential Infrastructure imprint. With influences deeply tied to pop art, rave and gay scenes, and early memories of block-parties emitting Kraftwerk and Strafe, he found himself seeking out the undercover illegal nights of the 90s on a quest of sexual unearthing, mixing the ever-yearning escapology mission of disco with the influential DJ sets of Jeff Mills. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor his new album \u003ci\u003eExistenz\u003c\/i\u003e, he marks a clear step away from the corporeal techno of his recent releases. Pivoting around themes of religion, sexuality, trauma and healing, it is a work expansive and celebratory, a clear liberation from a deeply internalized past. Formed from a collection of recordings made in a period from late 2016 to mid 2019, \u003ci\u003eExistenz\u003c\/i\u003e takes the form of a creative outburst in reaction to a number of traumas - recent, childhood and throughout Function’s life. Life partner Stefanie Parnow assisted the production process in its entirety, providing inspiration, spiritual healing and featuring vocal contributions.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith \u003ci\u003eExistenz\u003c\/i\u003e, Function reveals an essential body of work, spread over 4LP\/2CD - thought experiments on the role of identity and spirituality after a lifetime of upheaval and trauma.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tresor","offers":[{"title":"4LP - Black","offer_id":50472760541515,"sku":"1078575","price":36.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"2CD","offer_id":50472759820619,"sku":"1078574","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/f01fc84f-063e-45cb-8882-5ac6c69cfcf2_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727423405"},{"product_id":"subject-f-transcendence","title":"Subject F (Transcendence)","description":"\u003cp\u003eSeven years after its inception, Eaux is proud to announce the first solo release by an artist other than Rrose. As a member of the Sandwell District collective, David Sumner aka Function was instrumental in cultivating the Rrose project. After releasing the first three EPs and album by Rrose between 2012 and 2013, Sandwell District terminated their mission abruptly, prompting Rrose to start a new label (Eaux) for solo projects and collaborations. This EP brings history full circle. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFollowing closely on the heels of Function's mammoth 3LP\/17 track album \"Existenz\" for Tresor Records, this EP takes similar themes as a departure point, but moves into more mysterious, yet also heavily dancefloor-focused terrain. \"Binaural\" encapsulates the timeless essence of the Function sound with menacing bleeps, cavernous stabs, and a sense that it could go on forever without losing its grip on the listener. \"Desire and Memory\" is a broken beat track drenched in modulated drones that feels like an infinite spiral, moving simultaneously forward and backward in time. Function's early Sandwell District records defined the \"hypnotic\" techno sound that has influenced countless artists (including Rrose), and this release plants those roots in new, fertile ground.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Eaux","offers":[{"title":"Black | 12\"","offer_id":50479484305739,"sku":"1095884","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/78c55f02-8052-4ec6-83cb-26be08c881ee_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727509897"},{"product_id":"awakening-from-the-illusory-self","title":"Awakening From The Illusory Self","description":"\u003cp\u003eDave Sumner returns with a new Function record, entitled \u003ci\u003eAwakening From The Illusory Self.\u003c\/i\u003e Released as a 12\" EP on Tresor Records, it follows on from \u003ci\u003eExistenz\u003c\/i\u003e, his last full-length album released in November 2019.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePacked in a beautiful sleeve printed with 3 x special Neon colors, Tresor.320 kicks off with the fast techno of Misinterpretations Of Reality, it features a minimal acid-infected crescendo and throbbing pulse. As ever with Function, this idiosyncratic rhythmic work finds a place out on a limb from contemporaries, shapeshifting impulses that infer and guide this raw drum sound.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe second track 'An Optical Illusion Of Consciousness', Function moves towards a different direction, bringing more elements to the mix. It recalls the Dutch 90s techno sound with its melodic blurred synth leanings stretching and morphing across saturated, playful drums and hefty low-end movement. Its bind is perfectly weighted, a phenomenal track that nurtures its inner dancefloor soul as melodies fade away and tighter patterns take precedence.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Spiritually Unconscious' points to all the trademarks of Function's celebrated sound. A smooth 909 groove underpins bubbling atmospheres and hallucinatory effects, and a nod to the Motor City vision with its fleeting synth strings.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt the core is potent, repetitive simplicity, its beat playing with weight and dynamics but never at risk of being lost. Closing track 'Compulsive Thinking - Repetitive and Pointless' kicks a juddering swagger, finding public addressed system emissions drenched in reverb resonating above bleak analogic synth drones. It haunts and creeps towards a thunderous apex, finding its depth in sparse drum movements.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn enduring fixture in the techno and electronic music landscape, Sumner continues to step through new terrains, reinforcing his spike and vision. Awakening From The Illusory Self finds him as ever delivering the goods in elating moments of pure club heft.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tresor","offers":[{"title":"Black | 12\"","offer_id":50513328505163,"sku":"1115745","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/57a6c897-8928-4f02-a6be-278429ede3ae_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727926661"},{"product_id":"aeternum-existenz","title":"Aeternum (Existenz)","description":"\u003cp\u003eMuch like the fusion resulting in the output of light and heat within a star, the last seven years for Dave Sumner, aka Function, have been defined by immense change and an outpouring of creative energy. What began in late 2016 as a period of burnout from a relentless touring life became a catalyst for the most prolific recording era of his career. At the time, the studio became the only viable escape, a space to transmute exhaustion into a gestalt work.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAeternum (Existenz) serves as the missing element in this creative arc. It acts as the final chapter of a cycle, that began with the 2019 album Existenz and moved through Subject f (Transcendence), Awakening from the Illusory Self, and Green EP. Drawing inspiration from the seven stages of alchemy, this mini-album represents a cathartic process; a natural end point of a psychological cycle and the beginning of a new curve.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAcross the six tracks on the mini-LP, recorded 2016-2019, Function builds a unique world, one which underlines his place as one of the luminaries of contemporary techno. Opening track, Ascent, traverses the space between ambient and techno; second track City Of Luz almost fades into itself across its twelve minutes before Transmutation brings around a reawakening with a beat that would not have sounded out of place on an early Rephlex or even a Sähko release. Final track on the 12”, Growth Cycle is fittingly a re-version\/re-vision of a track on the Existenz LP; Robert Owens’ soulful vocal now Stefanie Parnow's floating Siren-like voice with music that feels reborn: fresh, strong and insistent. The digital pack contains two further tracks, the deep electro of November 29, as well as Rubedo, a spacial ambient track that feels like the final glowing red embers of a fire turning to ash as the sun rises to reveal a new, golden dawn.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAeternum (Existenz) is the final chapter of the soundtrack to Function’s spiritual awakening, the closing of a door and the clearing of a path. It’s a sonic manifestation of the Magnum Opus completed, a moment of total integration, where the leaden weight of the journey is finally perfected into the incorruptible gold of the spirit.\u003cbr\u003eIt is dedicated to John Mendez, aka Silent Servant, Sumner’s dear friend and lifelong collaborator.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tresor","offers":[{"title":"12\" - Black","offer_id":57452593217867,"sku":"R0965-6717","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/a1601452348_2.jpg?v=1779891431"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/function.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}