― GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ, Thursday, 15 March 2007 09:13 (twelve years ago) link
― impudent harlot, Thursday, 15 March 2007 09:27 (twelve years ago) link
― GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ, Thursday, 15 March 2007 10:05 (twelve years ago) link
― Dorf Engulf, Thursday, 15 March 2007 11:34 (twelve years ago) link
― Masonic Boom, Thursday, 15 March 2007 11:36 (twelve years ago) link
― strongohulkington, Thursday, 15 March 2007 13:08 (twelve years ago) link
― Telephone thing, Thursday, 15 March 2007 13:24 (twelve years ago) link
― strongohulkington, Thursday, 15 March 2007 13:35 (twelve years ago) link
it's a nice enough addition.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 15 March 2007 14:00 (twelve years ago) link
― William Selman, Thursday, 15 March 2007 14:30 (twelve years ago) link
― henry s, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:07 (twelve years ago) link
― Bill in Chicago, Thursday, 26 April 2007 00:51 (twelve years ago) link
― JW, Thursday, 26 April 2007 01:14 (twelve years ago) link
― f. hazel, Thursday, 26 April 2007 02:02 (twelve years ago) link
So, i just picked up all the Seefeel albums...
_Quique _Succour _Ch-Vox
...the other day, as well as the EP collection...
_Polyfusia
...and am wondering, what's the best place to start listening to these albums? Should I go chronologically, or in some other order, and why? Also, what are the highlights of each disc, or what should I be on the lookout (listenout?) for with each one? Any other thoughts on Seefeel in general, or these albums?
Thanks, ILM.
― stephen, Friday, 12 October 2007 07:45 (twelve years ago) link
The three Polyfusia releases are cheap on bleep currently - new disjecta ep, autechre remix of spangle and Clifford's new album with Kealoha(?)
http://www.bleep.com/?label=Polyfusia
stephen, choronologically, because they get weirder (and, to me, more interesting). the Ch-Vox is a lot like the Disjecta things on warp rather than Seefeely. Fracture / Tied and Starethrough EPs also essential i think.
― koogs, Friday, 12 October 2007 09:01 (twelve years ago) link
Fracture / Tied and Starethrough EPs also essential i think. -- koogs, Friday, October 12, 2007 9:01 AM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Link
hey thanks!
(by which i assume you mean, those two EPs have some pretty nice exclusives, yes?)
― stephen, Friday, 12 October 2007 09:14 (twelve years ago) link
yes, and are also some of the best things they've done. plus i like the cover of fracture / tied - designers republic, nice heavy orange card, silver ink, slight embossing...
also worth a listen: isan remix of when face was face http://www.cocteautwins.com/html/discography/discog_23.html (cocteaus remixed by clifford) 2x disjecta mini lps on warp
― koogs, Friday, 12 October 2007 09:49 (twelve years ago) link
oh wow! i have that Cocteaus EP, think it's pleasant enough for late Cocteaus material but i haven't given it more than a couple spins really. i had no idea some guy from Seefeel was involved either. i'll have to pull that out tomorrow, then...
thanks!
anyone else?
― stephen, Friday, 12 October 2007 10:21 (twelve years ago) link
Listen to them chronologically as there is definitely a development of their sound and it can be divided into two halves: Too Pure releases and post-Too Pure releases. While the first ep (More Like Space) doesn't sound like a rock band, except for the last track, you can get a sense of rock composition from the songs. This gets thrown out the window on Plainsong when they start adding more and more layers and definitely go for a machine vibe. Quique has moments when it sounds like a rock band, but most of all it's the pinnacle of layering and density in the early sound. Imperial is one of my favorite pieces of music ever.
When they switched to Warp (you really should get Starethrough because it's fucking incredible), they started to strip back the elements so that by the time you get to Ch-Vox, it's so sparse, it's almost like listening to sonar blips. There are some fine moments on these records, but I admit I prefer the earlier ones more. Also, if you can locate it, their contributions to the Ancient Lights and the Black Core compilation on Sub Rosa are some of the highlights of their later work.
― Bill in Chicago, Friday, 12 October 2007 16:09 (twelve years ago) link
What Bill said.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 12 October 2007 16:15 (twelve years ago) link
Bill, thanks, that's a fantastic summary. I'm really looking forward to these now, more so than before. I checked the 4 songs on Starethrough, doesn't look like there's any overlap with their full-lengths (or maybe 1 track, i forget). watching a copy of that on eBay right now ;-) so i'll try to snag it for a few bucks.
― stephen, Friday, 12 October 2007 16:22 (twelve years ago) link
> Also, if you can locate it, their contributions to the Ancient Lights and the Black Core compilation on Sub Rosa are some of the highlights of their later work.
lots very cheap listed on amazon.com. if only i knew a tame american who could pick up a copy for me...
― koogs, Friday, 12 October 2007 17:06 (twelve years ago) link
Nope, Starethrough is all non-album material. I remember buying it when it came out and wondering if it was the same band that put out Quique--it's that different from its predecessor.
Also, I highly recommend Mark Clifford's collaboration with Simon Kealoha on Clifford's Polyfusia label. Running Taper is the name. It's much more of a software-processed affair than his other work and sorta reclaims the space between Seefeel and Fennesz.
Otherwise, I think the other side projects are less than the sum of the whole band. There are a few Scala tracks that I like, but they never really did much for me. The first Disjecta album is good (because Looking for Snags sounds exactly like Dubstep circa 1995), but after that until the collaboration mentioned above, I unfortunately found Clifford's stuff hit-or-miss to completely uninteresting. If you can find it, Mark Van Hoen (their engineer aka Locust) put out a really good album in the late 90s called Playing with Time.
― Bill in Chicago, Friday, 12 October 2007 18:20 (twelve years ago) link
I bought the original last week, as it was available used. I used to be a bit ambivalent about Seefeel, but damn, this album is amazing.
― mehlt, Sunday, 21 October 2007 02:21 (twelve years ago) link
http://www.bleep.com/?bleep=FUS005
new release on polyfusia. 4 track ep.
01 - Blue-Fi1 (3:32) - Mark Clifford 02 - Blue-Fi2 (2:58) - Mark Clifford 03 - Prychynna (4:31) - Zaudloka 04 - Rankova (Midnight Edit) (6:49) - Zaudloka
― koogs, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 08:13 (twelve years ago) link
Listening to Polyfusia right now. Completely forgot how stunningly gorgeous this record is.
― Alex in SF, Friday, 9 May 2008 17:59 (eleven years ago) link
ah yes, stunning record. i think i'll join you in a spin.
― stephen, Friday, 9 May 2008 23:08 (eleven years ago) link
It makes me sad that this band isn't as widely revered as, say, The Orb. They really deserve much more praise than they get.
― 26 Mixes Focaccia (Stevie D), Saturday, 13 December 2008 05:39 (eleven years ago) link
You'd think there would have been primed for some serious critical re-appraisal about 5 years ago or so, when all those MBV-meets-laptronica bands like (early)M83, Ulrich Schnauss & all the Morr acts started popping up all over the place. That shit has Seefeel's fingerprints all over it.
― Cat-Wrangler (Pillbox), Saturday, 13 December 2008 05:55 (eleven years ago) link
Haha, I was about to post here saying what Pillbox just said. I finally snagged this reissue over the weekend and hearing it now in 2009 in such a context is breathtaking. But what's interesting is that while it does predate those styles and predicts them, Quique very much is its own sound, and there's things going on almost track for track (like the astonishing bassline on "Industrious") that few of the modern bunch are either able or willing to try.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:32 (ten years ago) link
I listened to this on Spotify and thoroughly enjoyed it. I think I'll listen to it again now.
― Zayatte Mondatta (country matters), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:33 (ten years ago) link
Still prefer Ulrich Schnauss, mind. :p
― Zayatte Mondatta (country matters), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:39 (ten years ago) link
This album came out right around the time I started buying CDs (instead of tapes, ya I M old) and somehow I never got around to buying it on CD or on vinyl, even though I had virtually everything else in Seefeel's catalogue on one of those formats. So basically, since all of my tapes are stashed away somewhere now, I hadn't listened to "Quique" in ages before I bought the reissue. And yeah, it was astonishing to hear it again. It sounds so fresh, novel, and unpredictable these days, which is weird because at the time a lot of people dismissed them as MBV/Cocteau Twins rip-off fetishists!
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Monday, 30 March 2009 16:40 (ten years ago) link
Yeah this is a 10/10 star totally great album, unfuckwithable. I dug out the reissue last week also and listened to it and was of course blown away.
Does anyone rate the stuff that comes after Quique? I like Polyfusia well enough but haven't given much time to Ch-Vox or that other record of theirs that came later...
― ilxor, Monday, 30 March 2009 18:52 (ten years ago) link
The Starethrough EP is pretty great!
― f. hazel, Monday, 30 March 2009 19:10 (ten years ago) link
anything with "starethrough" on it is necessarily gonna be great, but which one? the warp cd one or the white label?
― GÖDEL ESCHER BOCK BOCK BOCK (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Tuesday, 31 March 2009 01:24 (ten years ago) link
aren't they the same?
― f. hazel, Tuesday, 31 March 2009 05:46 (ten years ago) link
Still prefer Ulrich Schnauss, mind. :pCraziest talk on ILX yet!
― a passing spacecadet, Tuesday, 31 March 2009 09:12 (ten years ago) link
Succor remains my favorite Seefeel by a mile.... they've lost some of the shoegazing qualities, in favor of a more ambient/dub/isolationist character. One of the best things Rephlex ever released; still can't understand why this hasn't gotten a reissue.
http://www.discogs.com/Seefeel-Succour/release/3617
― pshrbrn, Tuesday, 31 March 2009 09:16 (ten years ago) link
there's things going on almost track for track (like the astonishing bassline on "Industrious") that few of the modern bunch are either able or willing to try
Mebbe cuz the Seefeel guys were at one point rockers? Whereas I could never truly accept M83 as a rock act. Most of Seefeel's distinctiveness, to me, from a 2009 standpoint comes from the feeling that the boundaries between electronic music and rock are still porous.
― death from abroad (lukas), Monday, 4 May 2009 19:57 (ten years ago) link
Seefeel fans, set those turntables to stun! Hot off the heels of Too Pure’s revamped reissuance of the late, lamented London quartet’s 1993 opus Quique, we are beyond thrilled to announce that we’ll bringing this outstanding release to your hi-fi as a 4-platter vinyl set early next year. This fabtabulous offering will be limited to 500 copies (100 of them blue) and brought to you in beautiful gatefold packaging. Nearly 15 years after its debut, this daring exercise in ambient glory sounds every bit as ambitious as it did then, so don’t miss this rare opportunity to rediscover this long out-of-print masterwork in fantastic wax.
That was late 2007 on a clairecords newsletter, guess it never happened.
― svend, Monday, 4 May 2009 22:58 (ten years ago) link
i thought this was pronounced KEE-KAY, like the diminutive of Enrique. Thank you strongo hulkington (RIP) for educating me so i don't make a faux-pas in a hypothetical future Seafeel conversation that I may have.
― Suggesteban Cambiasso (jim), Monday, 4 May 2009 23:01 (ten years ago) link
I prefer the Moby Dick pronunciation of "kwee-kway" but whatever, it's gorgeous.
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Tuesday, 5 May 2009 06:16 (ten years ago) link
I was sure it was "Keek", at least that's what I remember.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Tuesday, 5 May 2009 08:41 (ten years ago) link
I have been mentally pronouncing it as "kweekweh" but that is because I keep thinking it's a Latin word like "quisque" or "quoque" and it isn't. But as yet I've never had any call to talk about it out loud.
― a passing spacecadet, Tuesday, 5 May 2009 10:22 (ten years ago) link
Whoops, Succour was on Warp (as the link I provided showed!). And MP3s are available on Bleep.com! Let the record show that I'm an idiot.
― pshrbrn, Tuesday, 5 May 2009 11:37 (ten years ago) link
"Keek" is how reviewers were describing the pronunciation at the time...while we on the topic, how's Tricky's debut pronounced?...Max-In-Kway or Max-In-Key?...or neither?...or both?
― henry s, Tuesday, 5 May 2009 14:16 (ten years ago) link
had not actually encountered this record before finding it the other day; love the way everything just billows outwards around those basslines.
do you think they'll give the re-ish treatment to any of the other stuff? probably gets a bit complicated when it's spread over different labels.
― the shane bourne identity (haitch), Wednesday, 12 August 2009 02:26 (ten years ago) link
Ooh, I'll be ordering this. I've been playing Succour a ton lately.
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Friday, 4 February 2011 19:55 (eight years ago) link
New vinyl issue of Quique (with essay by Dave Segal) via http://medical-records.org/.
― djh, Friday, 30 August 2013 07:27 (six years ago) link
Want
http://blog.lightintheattic.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/gatefoldblue.jpg
― Elvis Telecom, Friday, 30 August 2013 07:36 (six years ago) link
^purchased! Found on ebay for $21.00
― Evan, Tuesday, 10 September 2013 23:24 (six years ago) link
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SEEFEEL-QUIQUE-2LP-REISSUE-Shoegaze-MBV-Aphex-Twin-Locust-slowdive-/181214246153?pt=Music_on_Vinyl&hash=item2a3135f509
A ton of these sold of the exact same listing... always makes me nervous but I have to assume it's legit. Waiting for it in the mail now.
― Evan, Tuesday, 10 September 2013 23:30 (six years ago) link
These are in every record shop in Seattle. Bought my copy at Everyday Music on Saturday and got the blue vinyl which is supposedly random and limited to 1000 copies.
― brotherlovesdub, Wednesday, 11 September 2013 03:11 (six years ago) link
New Seefeel track (for charity):
http://audioscope.bandcamp.com/
― djh, Monday, 19 May 2014 15:41 (five years ago) link
http://boomkat.com/downloads/1128048-zurich-zurich
― koogs, Friday, 9 January 2015 17:16 (four years ago) link
(that's perhaps more neil halsted news but hey...
i have that one track, a harsh truth, on a leaf records ep from 1995)
― koogs, Friday, 9 January 2015 17:47 (four years ago) link
UNRELEASED MU-ZIQ REMIX OF "CLIMACTIC PHASE 3" WHAT?!?!
https://soundcloud.com/mikep/seefeel-climactic-phase-3-ziq-remix
― WE WANT FET WAP (Stevie D(eux)), Saturday, 9 May 2015 04:33 (four years ago) link
pretty sweet
― the late great, Saturday, 9 May 2015 04:41 (four years ago) link
y'know, I'm ordinarily not really one for post-rock but I bought the Modern Classics Recordings reissue of Seefeel in a fit of LITA brand loyalty but never bothered to play it until just recently. turns out I love it to death; it feels like it'll slot in perfectly alongside PiL and Harmonia and Kevin Bobby Dunn and other stuff like that. it's a really beautiful pressing too - gorgeous blue vinyl, thick card stock sleeve, nice dust jackets; buy it if you have any interest in this album and ever encounter it while out in the wild.
― grinding like a jolly elf (jamescobo), Sunday, 24 January 2016 06:10 (three years ago) link
I was tempted to do so thread necromancy a few weeks ago, but thanks to jamescobo, may I just say:
Anyone who loves 90s Seefeel needs to hear the Eaux album Plastics, from 2014. Spotify.
― Flesh emoji (Sanpaku), Sunday, 24 January 2016 07:59 (three years ago) link
Yes! I love that Eaux album, still kind of mystified that so few people seemed to notice it.
― stupid children forever (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Sunday, 24 January 2016 08:06 (three years ago) link
I was a big fan of the Sian Alice Group, but never really seemed to connect with them when they reconstituted as Eaux. Should listen again...
― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 28 January 2016 23:00 (three years ago) link
I really like the Disjecta (sp) album, kind of like the seefeel dude working a wheezy ICBYD-era Aphex vibe
― lute bro (brimstead), Friday, 29 January 2016 04:07 (three years ago) link
there were two or three (?) disjecta albums iirc
― the late great, Friday, 29 January 2016 04:33 (three years ago) link
seefeel makes me sick, like leftover salad.
― existence is punishment (monster mash), Friday, 29 January 2016 04:38 (three years ago) link
hmm i mean this one, anyway: http://www.discogs.com/Disjecta-Clean-Pit-And-Lid-Promo/master/2452
― lute bro (brimstead), Friday, 29 January 2016 06:29 (three years ago) link
yeah i love that one
i was thinking of "looking for snags" EP as an album i guess
― the late great, Friday, 29 January 2016 06:35 (three years ago) link
that one has "kracht", massive beat
― the late great, Friday, 29 January 2016 06:44 (three years ago) link
the cd ep was originally (simultaneously?) two 12" eps. and has 8 long tracks so you could count it as a compilation lp.
there was a later, self-released disjecta ep on polyfusion, same label as put out the autechre remix of spangle. and almost nothing else: http://www.discogs.com/label/14963-Polyfusia-Records
actually, those two mark clifford eps, #003 and #005 are great. and that second was my first exposure to zavoloka who is worth investigating (ukrainian analogue glitch). (004 was advertised, iirc, as a mira calix release. don't think it ever appeared)
there were a couple of other disjecta tracks on compilations that i have. invisible soundtracks #1, er, others. (oh, discogs says that autechre All Tomorrow Parties lp and one i don't have on Sub Rosa)
― koogs, Friday, 29 January 2016 09:39 (three years ago) link
two hour seefeel special on nts this afternoon, ch2 16:00-18:00 BST:
https://www.nts.live/shows/in-focus/episodes/in-focus-seefeel-12-th-april-2019
― kolarov spring (NickB), Friday, 12 April 2019 11:07 (eight months ago) link
I loved that 2011 album, wish they’d done more with that lineup
― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Friday, 12 April 2019 14:35 (eight months ago) link
they played a couple of european dates this february to celebrate the 25th anniversary of quique - not sure who was in the band though
― kolarov spring (NickB), Friday, 12 April 2019 14:57 (eight months ago) link
still love listening to Eyes Alpha/Be Together from Scala's "To You in Alpha"
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Friday, 12 April 2019 15:05 (eight months ago) link
nts thing is on right now btw, just started
― kolarov spring (NickB), Friday, 12 April 2019 15:10 (eight months ago) link
i should listen to these records more.
― koogs, Friday, 12 April 2019 15:51 (eight months ago) link
American tour in November:
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/seefeel-announce-first-ever-north-american-tour-again-finally/
Nov 1 – Santa Ana, CA – Constellation RoomNov 3 – Los Angeles, CA – EchoplexNov 5 – San Francisco, CA – Slim’sNov 7 – Portland, OR – Star TheatreNov 8 – Seattle, WA – NeumosNov 9 – Vancouver, BC – Biltmore CabaretNov 11 – Toronto, ON – Adelaide HallNov 12 – Chicago, IL – Empty BottleNov 14 – Brooklyn, NY – WarsawNov 15 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brendas
Some tickets already on sale, others soon to be, so hop to.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 31 July 2019 16:07 (four months ago) link
Meantime, new live single:
https://seefeelshop.bandcamp.com/album/sp-ga-19
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 8 October 2019 03:42 (two months ago) link
ooh, but also i hope they haven't wrecked this.
― koogs, Tuesday, 8 October 2019 09:42 (two months ago) link
If said single is how they're doing their live shows in general, I'm v confident in this. (Almost looking forward to next month's show more than Stereolab next week, just because I've seen the latter so many times and never the former, though I got into both pretty much at the same time in 92/93.)
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 8 October 2019 16:24 (two months ago) link
Doesn't sound at all live to me, sounds like Clifford thought he might put out new remixes of Spangle and Gatha. Or if they are live, they sound mostly like triggered elements of the original recordings. I'm disappointed after the wonderful new directions of the self-titled album, to see them retread the same old same old (which was thoroughly played-out by Ch-Vox, much as I hate to say it).
― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Tuesday, 8 October 2019 22:47 (two months ago) link
Is Clifford involved again?
― With an Extreme Burning (aka The Tormentor) (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Friday, 11 October 2019 02:35 (two months ago) link
he’s the only constant member
― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Friday, 11 October 2019 05:59 (two months ago) link
for some reason i thought he was the only one NOT involved in the relaunch (which admittedly I haven't paid much attention to). good work, brain.
― With an Extreme Burning (aka The Tormentor) (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Monday, 14 October 2019 00:57 (two months ago) link
Terrific show tonight in LA!
― Elvis Telecom, Monday, 4 November 2019 11:45 (one month ago) link
Super excited to see Shigeru and Iida are still in the lineup, they brought amazing power and grind to the sound. Instagram feed showed a recording session the other day - fingers crossed it's a new album, I loved the self-title as much as Succour, my favourite of the first incarnation.
― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Monday, 4 November 2019 11:52 (one month ago) link
Anyone else seen this tour? Very torn on whether to make the two-hour drive next week.
― Slim is an Alien, Friday, 8 November 2019 18:48 (one month ago) link
what was the show like, elvis? curious what kind of material they played
― at home in the alternate future, (Karl Malone), Friday, 8 November 2019 18:51 (one month ago) link
Going to the NY show, looking forward to it
― Evan, Friday, 8 November 2019 18:58 (one month ago) link
I haven’t listened to the S/T is awhile so I’m not sure what the exact set list was but perhaps half was Quique tracks. Ishihara is definitely the MVP-the low end dub way out in front pulling things along. I wish more bands sounded like this.
― Elvis Telecom, Saturday, 9 November 2019 11:26 (one month ago) link
were the peel sessions availble before (other than taped off the radio at the time)? they've been released as part of the huge warp box, but are also available separately (digital only?)
https://bleep.com/release/141395-seefeel-peel-session
― koogs, Friday, 15 November 2019 15:47 (one month ago) link
(reading the link that i posted, they are also on vinyl)
― koogs, Friday, 15 November 2019 15:48 (one month ago) link
Figured this revive had to do with the show last night. Anyway, they were great! Seemed extremely shy but the tunes themselves were hypnotic.
― Evan, Friday, 15 November 2019 15:52 (one month ago) link
I wish I went a couple of days ago but sometimes it's really cold out and you just need to sleep. How loud was it?
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 15 November 2019 15:59 (one month ago) link
Pretty loud, but not piercing. Total brain massaging goodness.
― Evan, Friday, 15 November 2019 16:04 (one month ago) link
i saw them at that empty bottle show! they were great, but to be honest the sound system at the bottle was not quite up to the task. not usually a big deal with a lot of shows there, but a big part of seefeel's appeal (for me at least) is the wonderful quality of the sound that they create, so hearing it (unintentionally) distorted was less than ideal. don't get me wrong, though - they ruled. :)
― Peaceful Warrior I Poser (Karl Malone), Friday, 15 November 2019 16:13 (one month ago) link
Only hiccup last night was something not working in the guitar rig on one song, but we wouldn't have noticed if it weren't for him shrugging at the sound guy after twisting knobs on the amp.
― Evan, Friday, 15 November 2019 17:04 (one month ago) link
Chicago show was great. Definitely not too dynamic on stage but my eyes were closed half the time anyway. Massive basslines a la the Orb maybe, incredible control over endlessly permutating waves of feedback. I'd love to see the signal chain on the guitars, keys, vox. The entire show was nearly seamless. Highly recommended.
― Pyschocandles, Friday, 15 November 2019 17:12 (one month ago) link