First part of a two-part Function retrospective from Ostgut Ton sublabel A-Ton. A mixture of released and previously unreleased tracks, including Function's remix of "Falling The Same Way" by Sandwell District and "Golden Dawn (feat. Stefanie Parnow) (Version)" by Function. "Once a cathedral, now a mall, Limelight was last in the line of Manhattan clubs whose lineage could be traced back to New York's fertile club era of the '70s and '80s, which included the East Village punk and no wave scenes, the Mudd Club, Danceteria and the Paradise Garage. It's connected to a storied New York history, sometimes holy, sometimes notorious. 'A lot of things that were worlds apart met in that deconsecrated Episcopal church,' recalls David Sumner (aka Function). 'I used to practically live in that club, going two or three nights a week for years. I knew this was what I was going to do with the rest of my life.' In many ways Limelight was America's rave incubator. On a New Music Seminar night in July of 1992, the revolution was about to take hold. 'Walking in, I didn't know what was going on. Then I started to see xeroxed Underground Resistance 8 1/2 x 11s all around the club, like the kind of inserts that came inside their EPs,' David recalls. He would go on to see Mike Banks, Rob 'Noise' Hood and Jeff Mills perform for an electrified crowd as UR. 'That night straight up changed my life.' New York itself is a major influence for Sumner, as is its history of clubs from discos and house music, to techno and raves. Think of Todd Terry's 1988 Black Riot record or Boyd Jarvis' 1983 release 'The Music Got Me' as milestones on this journey. 'It's a DJ's approach to music. I remember in the early '90s when the music was changing so rapidly and it felt so revolutionary, separating my records into piles and thinking "I need more of this - there needs to be more of this kind of record."' It's passion that drives this story of a life in music, and it's a desire to blow your mind the same way his inspirations blew his. Function is always innovating and finding new ways to connect the dots, to continually pursue the art of storytelling through giant slabs of sound." - Brendan M. Gillen, Interdimensional Transmissions, Detroit, 2017
