DJ Signify – Sleep No More

Fresh on the heels of his top notch 12″ just a few months ago Signify returns with an offering inspiringly described by one of our patrons as Gil Scott-Heron meets DJ Shadow.

This is the stuff of nightmares, this collaborative project billed as an ìaural horror movieî. DJ Signify has created a dark and brooding album, full of nausea and atmospheric twists and turns. This is a thriller, a dark, dense and horrific film noir, full of psychological traumas and distrust and ambiguity. The linking strands of the music are brought together by the heavyweight talents of rappers Buck 65 and Sage Francis. After a powerful and ëevilí opening instrumental track, where Signify uses cut up drums and droning electronic noises to enter your mind, Sage Francis comes in with a story about a girl. As usual. But this time, thereís something more sinister on offer. Thereís a macabre twist to his words, more dysfunction to the domestic scene he paints for us, which eventually moves on to a grimy hotel where Buck 65 meets a twisted deskman and his girl. Francis comes back playing a man who consults a seer, despite having certain clairvoyant powers himself. There are (naked) chase scenes, promises of marriage between two people caught in the speed of a relationship and everything that unfolds holds a grim glimpse into disjointed events, which seem to be linked in some way. The hidden track points to more clues, an old Buck 65 track about a psychologically damaged woman, the talk of a small backwoods town, who is eventually ruined by scandal. The words and lyrics are less horror and more psychological thriller. There is some great production by Signify, all low drones and dark guitars over deep basses and cut-up clipped drums. It is relentless in some places and sparse in the instrumentals. This is a strong release from a great burgeoning experimental UK hip-hop label. Itís a great meeting of minds and Francis and Buck 65 both work well over Signifyís breaks and beats. Check this now. Donít sleep.