An archive Melody Maker review, reprinted as sleevenotes in this welcome reissue, compares Seefeel’s astounding debut to “Rothko’s lambent, blurry canvasses”. Close to a decadeand- a-half later, Quique retains this sense of rapturous enormity. Feted by Aphex Twin (who had earlier remixed them, and for whose Rephlex label they would subsequently record), Seefeel coerced their sound from a seemingly conventional palette of guitar, bass, drums and voice, yet seemed to use it to distance themselves from rock’s usual drives and impulses. Rather, valuing timbre and texture over songs and riffs, the quartet created a blissed-out, post-rock, posttechno music that sounded mesmerizing and euphoric, abstract and alien.
Tellingly, upon Quique’s original release in 1993, Seefeel’s feedback scrape, heartbeat basslines and blissful loops were frequently supposed as the by product of an imagined alliance between My Bloody Valentine and The Orb. This remastered Redux Edition adds a bonus disc of rare archive tracks and remixes (including alternate versions of Time To Find Me and Climatic Phase 3). Such extras are more than nice to hear but, really, Quique was already untouchable. One of the greatest, most sensual albums ever made.
