Signia is a collection of remixes of tracks by Slovenian electronic outfit PureH. Ten remixers contribute, with both celebrities and unknowns from the experimental side of electronic music. The overall sound is dark and abstract. Eraldo Bernocchi turns in a futuristic dub workout reminiscent of late-’90s techstep drum’n’bass. P.C.M. and Chris Wood both slow down the BPM’s and unleash hovering, distorted foghorns for basslines. Wodan goes beatless, but is no less menacing, as ghostly, disembodied voices rise out of whooshing textures. K.K. Null’s subtly growling bass and machine-driven hip-hop could fit on a DJ Krush record. Richard Dunlap also concocts some rather nightmarish downtempo. Quality runs high throughout, with one exception — Burp’s incongruously jazzy trip-hop, complete with flute and bubbling keys. Techno heavyweight Surgeon forgoes his usual four-on-the-floor beats in favor of frantic drum’n’bass breaks. However, his trademark industrial atmospheres are very much intact. In a collection filled with gloom and doom, Japan’s Psychedelic Desert stands out with an astonishingly terrifying final track. Sliced and diced vocal snippets and crackling glitches emanate from a cauldron of horror movie strings — then give way to lurching, tribal loops with shrieking and chanting circling above. It’s the sonic equivalent of experiencing Rio’s Carnival while on a bad acid trip.
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