Dave Sumner returns with a new Function record, entitled Awakening From The Illusory Self. Released as a 12" EP on Tresor Records, it follows on from Existenz, his last full-length album released in November 2019.
Packed 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.
The 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.
'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.
At 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.
An 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.
Tresor Records is glad to present the Disintegrating Sand EP, first release by the legendary Mike Parker on the label. Parker has been an influential figure in the electronic music scene for more than twenty years, throughout which he has established an arsenal of unique sonic trademarks, produced and modulated with high precision. True to Parker’s traditional style, Disintegrating Sand is both driving and hypnotic. The EP’s title track is especially evocative of Parker’s penchant for analogue sound: raw oscillations cascade over a highly reverbed bassline that periodically punctuates the track. Though the electricity that Parker introduces on the A side intensifies and expands in "Angels in Cages", "Gyroscopic Precession" is perhaps the apogee of the build up and the most driving track on the EP. The track is nuanced in its steady introduction of sweeping effects that arch over heavy kicks and an abrasive midrange. Parker’s abstractions of sound and texture are immediately recognizable to contemporary audiences, and his latest EP marks a particularly thrilling addition to a rich discography.
Following a seventeen year hiatus since the release of Symbiotics on Mille Plateaux in 1999, Porter Ricks returns with a new EP on Tresor with plans for another release this coming year. The duo comprises of sound artist Thomas Köner and music producer Andy Mellwig. During the duo’s silence, Köner has been working extensively as a sound designer and artist – exhibiting at among other places the Centre Georges Pompidou and The Louvre. Mellwig’s other projects include collaborations with Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine, Pete Kember of Spacemen 3 and former Monolake member Gehrard Behles. Porter Ricks is undoubtedly the central item in their musical careers, setting a high-water mark for experimentally tinged pulsating techno. Shadow Boat is deeply nuanced in its perception of space, using complex layers to add depth, detail, and density to non-formulaic techno compositions: buoyant dub, hazy ambience, and colorful sound design renders the project a diving platform at the intersection of club music and art. Though perhaps more focused on rhythm and melody than their experimental touchstone Biokinetics released 20 years ago on Chain Reaction in 1996, this most recent installment employs equally subtle artistic sensibilities that transcend the styles that typify contemporary electronic music. Köner and Mellwig reveal the EP on the heels of a recent performance at Berlin Atonal festival, marking a new tide in their pace of output. The gap between Porter Ricks’ releases, however, has proven that extended periods in the studio devoid of the pressure for consistent delivery permit the time to craft a very sophisticated sonic fabric. Shadow Boat, as if carried by a current, drifts in cadence with Porter Ricks’ earlier releases as though pulled by a gravitational force spanning the stroke of time.
Essential repress of Terrence Dixon’s debut album and first release on Tresor. Initially released in 2000, this new edition comes with a bonus 7” vinyl featuring two previously uncut tracks: “ What Up” and “Shuffle All Circuits”. From The Far Future embodies a specific and vital time of Detroit‘s techno production, going hand in hand with Juan Atkins’ work as Infiniti, Terrence Dixon signed this album with a masterful hand.
2LP: A1. Running Time A2. The Bionic Man (Remix) A3. Early Space Pioneers B1. Untitled B2. One Bedroom Apartment C1. Detroit Express C2. Reasons (Vocal Mix) D1. Bonus Beat (Remix) D2. Hard Times