From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Studio album by Seefeel
Released December 1993
Recorded July 1993
Length 63:23
Label Too Pure
Producer Seefeel
Seefeel chronology

Quique (English pronunciation: /kiːk/) is the debut album by British music group Seefeel and was released through Too Pure Records. The album was recorded in July 1993 and released in December. Quique is a predominantly an instrumental recording that is a mixture of both electronic and rock music, with Seefeel member Mark Clifford working continuously on tracks while other members either completing them or providing component ideas.

The album was released in December 1993 in the United Kingdom where it received positive reviews in the British press. The album was followed up with the EP Starethrough on Warp Records in 1994. The album was re-released in 2007 in a deluxe format that included unreleased, re-mixed tracks and other music that was only released on compilations. The album continued to receive praise on its re-issue.

Background and production[edit]

Mark Clifford formed Seefeel in 1992 after posting ads for potential group members.[1] After performing a few shows and recording demos, Seefeel signed to the Too Pure Records label in late 1992.[1] Too Pure's co-owner Richard Roberts stated that on hearing Seefeel's demo that "there was no obvious song for radio, but in my opinion it felt good. As we viewed ourselves as an experimental label that didn't want to be tied to a sound or a scene, it seemed to make sense to release something with the band."[2] Seefeel chose Too Pure as they felt the label had respect for its artists, despite their low budget given to them to record Quique.[3]

Clifford described the composition of the track as "messing around with a particular sound and then that sound would quite often just evoke a melody. Because the sounds we used were very much based around harmonics and stuff."[1] The songs were completed before recording in the studio with many tracks having been performed live prior to the albums release.[1] The only track written within the recording studio was "Charlotte's Mouth".[2] All the songs on the album were completed in a way that would allow Seefeel to re-create their music in a live setting.[1]

Quique was recorded in July 1993.[4] During their time in the studio, the tracks for Seefeel's More Like Space EP were also recorded.[1] Clifford felt that the tracks on More Like Space were simpler to create while the tracks on Quique were more involved and took longer.[1]






Music critics have applied several different genres to Quique, including dream pop, ambient techno, Intelligent Dance Music, and shoegaze.[3][6][7] Online music database AllMusic described the album's mixture of genres as "a sort of electronic hybrid that had listeners simultaneously scratching their heads"[6] while Pitchfork stated that the audience will "hear the beginnings of a still-thriving genre that remains slippery and unnamed, purely electronic music with a strange, tangy rock aftertaste."[8]



"Climactic Phase #3" contains minimal percussion, a bass line that rises and falls that creates a faint pulse to guide it.[8] Clifford described "Climactic Phase #3" as "an attempt to see how much juice I could squeeze out of a few repetitive loops."[2] Both "Climatic Phase No. 3" and "Polyfusion" contain guitar feedback and drum machines.[6][2] The vocals on "Polyfusion" were described by Sarah Peacock as not having lyrics, but vocalizations invented for their sonic value.[2] Peacock described that she loved the songs "groovy and dubby" feel, but disliked the "pitchy vocals"[2] "Imperial", "Climatic Phase #3" and "Plainsong" were made from what Clifford called "an obsession for sampling and sequencing. Very standard technology now, but at the time the ability to sample and shift and manipulate guitar sounds was fascinating to me."[2] For "Plainsong", Clifford would later describe as attempting to put "the vaguest hint of a song into the equation"[2] and had difficulty with the rhythm of the song changing it continuously.[2]

"Industrious" showcases ambiance and drums which anchor the mix.[6] Clifford characterized the song as an audio experiment by processing drum machines through guitar effects.[2] "Charlotte's Mouth", named after Charlotte Gainsbourg, contains guitar, bass and metallic percussion.[2] The song started development as a loop of Justin Fletcher's percussion which later had guitar and vocals added.[2] "Through You" is the only Seefeel song to use a keyboard on Quique.[2] Clifford created quickly, noting that it was made in "about two hours".[2] "Filter Dub" was described by Clifford as heavily influenced by Jah Wobble.[2] It does not feature large amount of sampled guitars as other tracks on the album had.[2]


Quique was released in the United Kingdom in December 1993 on Too Pure Records.[10] In February 1994, Billboard announced that the American music label Astralwerks had recently signed Seefeel and were set to release their album in April 1994.[11] Quique was released on compact disc and cassette by Astralwerks.[12] On 10 June 1994 Astralwerks released "Plainsong" as a single with two remixes of "Time to Find Me" by the Aphex Twin as b-sides.[10][13] In 2003, Mark Clifford stated that Quique sold between sixteen or seventeen thousand copies.[1] After the release of Quique, Seefeel left Too Pure Records and signed to the more electronic music oriented Warp Records.[2] Warp released their follow-up EP Starethrough on April 18, 1994.[2][14]

In 2007, Quique was re-released in a deluxe edition. This version of the album included a bonus disc containing unreleased tracks, re-mixes and songs that appeared on compilation albums.[15] Quique was re-released on vinyl on August 27, 2013 through Light in the Attic Records and its Modern Classics Recordings series, in conjunction with Medical Records.[16] It was released with a gate fold sleeve with 1000 copies were printed on blue vinyl.[16]


Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4.5/5 stars[6]
Robert Christgau (neither)[17]
Pitchfork Media (8.4/10)[8]
Spin favorable[7]
Tiny Mix Tapes 4.5/5 stars[18]

Spin gave Quique a positive review, stating that Seefeel has "struck a sublime groove between MBV's sensual tumult and Aphex Twin's ambient serenity"[7] Robert Christgau gave the album a "neither" rating, which states that an album "may impress once or twice with consistent craft or an arresting track or two. Then it won't."[17][19] Mojo gave a positive review of the album, stating that "throughout much of Quique, Seefeel achieve that spacious weightlessness hinted at by their titles: 'Climactic Phase #3', 'Filter Dub', 'Signals'"[20] In 1999, CMJ summarized the British critics' reception to Quique, stating that the album "earned Seefeel several months of adoration in the British music press and subsequent obscurity which usually follows such kudos"[21]

Later reviews have been positive. Pitchfork has opined that Quique "still sounds timeless."[8] Online music database AllMusic awarded the album four and a half stars out of five, stating "this is Seefeel at their most ornate. They squint by staring into the geometric refractions of light and record the results."[6] Harp described Quique as "shimmered with a futuristic ethereality that was far more substantial than the electro-ambience of the era, but also much less assaultive than the shoegazers Seefeel was affiliated with early on." and that the 2007 re-issue was a "a fitting tribute to a very unique sound."[22] The Los Angeles Times described the album as "underrated" and "that even 20 years later sounds like nothing else."[23] The Sunday Times gave the Redux edition a positive review, referring to Quique as the group's "finest moment" and "If you like music to have structure, Quique will drive you barmy; but if you consider the presence of the word "texture" in an album review to be a positive, you might well enjoy this languid landmark."[24] Exclaim! stated that "While it doesn't feel like a timely release, the re-discovery of Seefeel (no word yet on a reunion) certainly verifies their relevance in today's music, especially in light of neo-gazers like Ulrich Schnauss and Tim Hecker."[9] When asking how the group felt about the album in 2013, Clifford felt the album was "it holds up okay—some tracks more than others" and that he felt "mostly good about [the songs]" and "looked forward to playing certain tracks live".[2] Peacock spoke positively about the album saying that since it was their first album, it "will always be the fondest".[2]

Track listing[edit]


No. Title Writer(s) Length
2. "Polyfusion"   Clifford, Sarah Peacock 6:22
3. "Industrious"   Clifford, Peacock 6:38
4. "Imperial"     6:37
5. "Plainsong"     7:40
7. "Through You"     5:46
8. "Filter Dub"     8:45
9. "Signals"   Seymour, Clifford 5:47


See also[edit]


  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Swan, Glenn. "Quiquie - Seefeel". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 December 2013. 
  14. ^ "Seefeel:Starethrough". Warp Records. Retrieved 1 November 2014. 
  18. ^ Garblik. "Seefeel - Quique :Delorean Reviews". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 3 September 2009. 
  24. ^ "Seefeel: Quique - Redux Edution; Must-have reissue". Sunday Times. London, England. 20 May 2007. Retrieved 3 November 2014. (subscription required (help)). 
  25. ^ a b "Inside sleeve". Quique Redux Edition (Media notes). Seefeel. Too Pure. 2007. pure194cdd.