Sleep No More and plays like the soundtrack to a horror movie, all the vocals provided by Sage Francis and Buck65. DJ Signify is a turntablist producer from New York well known for his mixtapes and his recent work with hip hop legends including Steinski and Grandmaster Caz. “Sleep No More” is an extension of Signify’s mixtape work and also an expedition into dark, industrial production.
Review:
When infamous abstract electronica label Warp started its hip-hop branch,
known as Lex Records, one hoped that the same A&R sophistication that had
brought the world Aphex Twin and Autechre would shine some light on the
experimental realm of hip-hop, giving music lovers a much-needed break from the
eternal cycle of redundant beat-making that seems to seismically shift every
three to four years, only to suffer from unbearable stagnation in between.
Listening to the beats on DJ Signify's debut release, there are moments of
terrific innovation, but equal amounts of utterly dated trip-hop dirge. The
opener, “Fly Away,” is not a good start, groaning like vintage Mo' Wax for
the first four minutes. But then the coda kicks in with a wickedly upbeat
scratch-up of Latin samba samples, making you believe that everything is going
to be all right. This method of tease and withdraw becomes the premise of the
entire record, meaning that the distinctive jack-step beat of “Haunted House
Party” gives way to an all-too-familiar Eminem cadence, which is particularly
disheartening given the hope that MCs Buck 65 and Sage Francis would come up
with something a little more original. But listeners shouldn't hold this
completely against Signify and company. It has been proven again and again that
hip-hop, much like evolution, goes through long periods of stasis with sporadic
fits of change. The Lex roster still remains well ahead of the curve.
All Music Guide – Joshua Glazer