Seefeel: Reduct EP out today on Warp as download / stream
Watch video for ‘Burned’ here
PHOTO Barry D.A Stewart
Today Seefeel release Reduct, a taster for the recently announced Rupt & Flex reissues, which highlight the mid-90s work Seefeel recorded for the Warp and Rephlex labels. The EP previews four of the unreleased tracks that are being made available as part of the expanded vinyl editions and accompanying CD boxset (further details below).
Reduct emphasises the quality of the music uncovered from their DAT archives, not just abandoned experiments but music of equal standing with some of their best work. Carefully mastered by Stefan Betke aka Pole, these darkly beautiful tracks reveal the band’s unique position at the intersection of post-rock, ambient, shoegaze and IDM, crystallising a sound that was uniquely their own.
As One and Burned are both from the sessions that birthed Succour, Seefeel’s second studio album and first for Warp. The former’s hypnotic loop hook, buried vocal and warm drifting textures recall a similar womblike audioworld to Loveless era My Bloody Valentine, whilst the minor key ambience of the latter makes it clear why the band were an obvious pick for Kevin Martin’s groundbreaking Isolationism series of compilations, alongside artists such as Labradford, Disco Inferno and Zoviet France.
Evio dates from the same period as (Ch-Vox), the third Seefeel album recorded for Richard D. James and Grant Wilson-Claridge’s Rephlex label, as a return favour for the remixes Aphex Twin (a big Seefeel fan) had done for the band on an early EP. Sarah Peacock’s vocals are foregrounded here, oddly affecting abstract murmurs rather than recognisable words, perhaps showing some of the influence of their peers the Cocteau Twins, who they toured with during this period.
Of recording some of Succour at the Cocteau’s September Sound Studios, Mark Clifford (who also remixed the Cocteau Twins during this period and handled their live sound) remarks: “I have good memories of working and playing there, particularly of Robin’s caustic humour and positivity, and occasional cups of tea with Elizabeth.” Sarah Peacock comments: “Recording at September Sound involved long journeys across South London to Twickenham, the chance to spot Pete Townshend in the local shop, evening riverside pints and assistance from Cocteaus’ colleagues like Mitsuo, homesick for Japan, often in the kitchen concocting something delicious with fresh herbs, and Lincoln, who easily fixed a dodgy switch on Mark’s essential Whammy pedal. Simon was often in the office, Liz came by one time for a baked potato and Robin would occasionally poke his head round the door with a dry remark, once offering an irresistible invitation to go up in the attic for a nose around his gear archive.”
The ‘transition mix’ of Starethrough is a radical overhaul of one the best-loved Seefeel tracks, jettisoning the industrial percussion of the lead track from their debut Warp EP, instead exploring a gently undulating gamelan pattern, somewhere in between Artificial Intelligence and the fourth world explorations of Jon Hassell.
Track list
1. As One (Succour bonus track)
2. Burned (Succour bonus track)
3. Evio ((Ch-Vox) bonus track)
4. Starethrough (transition mix) (St / Fr/ Sp bonus track)
Seefeel: comprehensive reissues of their work for the Warp and Rephlex labels
- Rupt & Flex (1994 - 96) 4 CD & digital
- Succour (Redux) 3 LP vinyl & digital
- (Ch-Vox) Redux 2 LP vinyl & digital
- St / Fr / Sp 2 LP vinyl & digital
- Sp19 b/w Ga19 12” vinyl (Bleep exclusive)
All released May 14th via Warp
Stream Autechre’s remix of ‘Spangle’ by Seefeel via Soundcloud and DSPs
Seefeel announce an extensive reissue campaign encompassing their mid-90s work for the Warp and Rephlex labels, including expanded reissues of the out-of-print studio albums Succour and (Ch-Vox), an EPs collection St / Fr / Sp, and a 4CD 94 - 96 anthology, Rupt & Flex.
All of the albums contain unreleased bonus material, mastered from original DAT transfers by Stefan Betke aka Pole. Each release comes with brand new (or in the case of Succour, updated) artwork by The Designers Republic, with liner notes by Mark Clifford and Sarah Peacock of Seefeel.
Seefeel signed to Warp in 1994 off the back of a well received debut album on Too Pure. They were originally associated in the music press with the shoegaze sound of bands like My Bloody Valentine, Ride and Slowdive, but their electronic tendencies and use of samplers led to them also being linked to the emerging IDM sound, reinforced when Aphex Twin (a big Seefeel fan) did two different remixes of early track “Time To Find Me” for free, on the agreement that they would make a record for his Rephlex label at some point.
Steve Beckett signed them to Warp having heard the first album Quique and commented in an interview: "Seefeel were the first band that Warp signed who had guitars...they were brave to sign to us because they became the 'older siblings' in the family and took all the flak by breaking the unwritten rules of an (up until then) purely dance label."
Having heard Seefeel's first EP, Robin Guthrie invited Mark Clifford to the Cocteau Twins' studio and, soon after, Seefeel to tour with the band. Mark would later remix 4 tracks (comprising the Otherness EP) for the Cocteau Twins, taking their music to a new audience.
The second Seefeel album Succour came out on Warp in March 1995 and moved away from the more melodic and guitar-led sound of their first album, exploring more rhythmic and quasi-industrial textures, trailed by two EPs from the previous year, Starethrough and Fracture/Tied. The 6-track (Ch-Vox) mini-album followed in 1996 on Rephlex and showcased even more of an experimental direction, mostly made by Mark Clifford on his own, and presaging the records he would make for Warp under the names Woodenspoon and Disjecta.
At the time these records were released, they suffered commercially from not really fitting into any one scene, pre-dating the more eclectic influences that are commonplace in a world of artists that have grown up with the internet. The Rupt & Flex music sits at a unique crossroads between post-rock, classic Warp IDM, dreampop and industrial music, and despite this eclectic drift, is cohesive in execution and instantly recognisable as Seefeel.
The band went on hiatus in 1997 but made another self-titled album for Warp in 2010, after a live performance at Warp20 the previous year (with a new line-up featuring DJ Scotch Egg and ex-Boredoms drummer Kazuhisa Iida) impressed Steve Beckett. Mark Clifford has also collaborated extensively with Mira Calix and recorded for Editions Mego amongst other labels.
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