Function - Existenz '2019

Tracks list

When Dave Sumner released a trailer for a new Function album, Existenz, the
techno stalwart presented a vision board for his Technicolor past. He pulled
together a cheeky melange of public access television clips, linking the
colorful absurdity of a wayward astrologists TV show with poignant dispatches
from a New York of the past—fuzzy tape recordings of the pre-9/11 skyline
and clips from a vogue-influenced Thierry Mugler catwalk. It was a beacon of
sorts, a sign that, after decades of living in Berlin, Sumner was, musically at
least, returning to his roots in New York. 

Sumner has acknowledged the styles he loves beyond techno, from freestyle
classics to the Human League. Existenz reflects that breadth. Sagittarius A
(Right Ascension) opens the LP with a propulsive bass redolent of Trans-Europe
Express, while the rounded 909 bounce of Dont Ask, Dont Tell recalls Bobby
Konders. From a DJ who has remained under the radar despite his outsized
influence on techno, the album is a biography of sorts, recounting the sounds
and spaces that marked his rise as a producer.

Though there are samples of the chilling, industrial intensity closely
associated with Sandwell District (Entrinken, Vampir), they are rote compared to
the records other tracks: the acid line rippling through Nylon Mood, the warm
vocals from house pioneer Robert Owens on Growth Cycle, and Be, the Apache-esque
breakbeat on No Entiendes. The album is often as changeable as that sounds, but
Sumner deploys motifs—like the synth pads on Growth Cycle that return on
Distant Paradise—to tie this wide-ranging, 17-track album together. 

Zahlensender, the LPs fifth track, is the German word for a number sender, a
name for a type of short-frequency radio station through which encrypted
messages were transmitted to intelligence operatives during World War I. Going
by the album cover, a photo of a neon-clad dancer melted into abstraction by
distortion and decay, and the flattened incantations from Sumners partner,
Stefanie Parnow, Existenz indeed feels like a secret transmission for listeners
to decipher. 

One of the most famous shortwave stations, the Cyprus-based Lincolnshire
Poacher, signed off with a traditional English folk song, a sign of familiarity
that secretly hinted at its roots in MI6, or the Secret Intelligence Service.
Existenzs zahlensender, then, closes with Downtown 161. Named for a label
responsible for distributing early New York house music, its a raucous,
vocal-driven track that fades into the warm sounds of triangle hits and electric
piano. Its a fitting sign-off for a deep dive into Sumners decrypted memories.

Tracklist:
1/17. Function - Sagittarius A (Right Ascension) (5:15)
2/17. Function - Pleasure Discipline (5:57)
3/17. Function - Ertrinken (5:38)
4/17. Function - Growth Cycle (5:53)
5/17. Function - Zahlensender (8:34)
6/17. Function - The Approach (3:32)
7/17. Function - Nylon Mood (6:27)
8/17. Function - Alphabet City (5:42)
9/17. Function - Dont Ask, Dont Tell (6:09)
10/17. Function - No Entiendes (6:57)
11/17. Function - Kurzstrecke (6:43)
12/17. Function - Golden Dawn (7:15)
13/17. Function - Interdimensional Interferenc (5:58)
14/17. Function - Distant Paradise (8:04)
15/17. Function - Be (4:50)
16/17. Function - Vampir (6:29)
17/17. Function - Downtown 161 (11:36)

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