We give away some pretty good stuff on this blog… but we may have out-done ourselves with this one…

New collective on the block, Earnest Endeavours – are hosting a party in London on the 23rd Febraury with Lazer Sword, Starkey, Daedelus, Tokimonsta and the Patchwork Pirates…
DETAILS / TICKETS / FACEBOOK PAGE

They have been kind enough to offer us a bumber gift pack that includes:
1 x Shot In The Nite 7″
1 x Batman 12″
1 x Lazer Sword LP
1 x Lazer Sword CD
1 x Lazer Sword T-Shirt
1 x Pair Tickets to the London Event

To win this bumper Lazer Sword package, simply e-mail info@bleep.com and tell us what your ultimate weapon would be and why…

Music taken from Konx-om-Pax – Light in Extension

BLEEP: You made a welcome return back to recording after 14 years with the release of the Faults EP in September 2010. Can you give us your reasons for such a long hiatus?

Mark Clifford – Seefeel: Originally we just got a little tired and frustrated so we decided to have a break. We did occasional sessions between 1996 and 2000 but I never really felt that anything new was happening so each time it got shelved again. I think its only really interesting to myself and Sarah if we feel we are creating something new and it wasn’t really happening at that time.

B: 14 years is an extremely extensive period for you to have evolved and matured. Can you tell us what you got up to in that time – both professionally and personally? And how has your approach to making music changed because of it?

MC: We’ve both been through ups and downs really which i think has made us better people. We’ve both continued to make music but without really a focus maybe but at the same time those processes have added to our musical outlook so we have a better arsenal now. Also we have grown up because we were quite young before and we didn’t communicate very well and we didn’t deal with stressful situations. we are much more rounded people now.

B: What motivated you to reform and to release new material?

MC: ‘Quique‘ was reissued four years ago so i was forced to listen to it again and also to dig out unreleased recordings and for the first time in a long time I realised that actually we were good. We had something special. So when Sarah and I got together to do some interviews we decided to exchange ideas. It was refreshing because we both had a new outlook. It was also coincidental that it was Warp’s 20th anniversary and we were asked to play their Paris event so we had the motivation also.

B: You’re back with two new band members – Shigeru Ishihara aka DJ Scotch Egg and Boredoms drummer Iida Kazuhisa aka E-da – what can we expect from the new band formation, and how have the two new members individually contributed to the new material both in terms of musical output and concepts?

MC: The most obvious thing was that having new members in the band gave us a completely new dynamic. Old tensions weren’t there anymore. Shige especially brought a new vitality. In the past I had very much had to think about every element of the music whereas now i can start a track with Sarah and very much leave the bass to him and he always has a twist that then makes me think about what i am doing in a different way. Its feed myself up every much.

B: Today is the release of your eagerly awaited self-titled album. Can you tell us what to expect from it, and a little about what went in to the production process behind the new record?

MC: It was a very easy record to make. Its quite a mixed bag really because we started recording very much as we re-started the band and we grew very quickly and are still growing and the album reflects that. So generally the first half of the album are much newer recordings than the second half. The album is us finding our place again, not least Sarah i think who grew in confidence over the recording process. But myself also. It was a mixture of home and studio recording, built songs and improvisations.

B: You’re soon to be embarking on a tour, starting tonight in London on the 31st January and taking in the UK, Europe and Japan. In the past you have voiced your dislike for touring, is this still true? And if not, what has changed?

MC: Touring was not really enjoyable in the past largely due to the technological constraints. we were very much tied to backing tracks and it was very unflexible and stressful because we were at the mercy of machines that really were not very reliable. Obviously technology has moved on greatly since then and we are much more liberated as a live band, much more open to improvisation or deviation and this is something we hope to take advantage of more and more as we develop as a band.

B: What does the future hold for Seefeel?

As happy as we are with this record I do think its a small step for us to better things. we have already written new material which i think surpasses what we have done till now…

Seefeel’s self-titled album is out today on Bleep.

forthcoming on Planet Mu and playing at the Bleep stage at Bloc Festvial 2011.

This Friday in Paris sees a special one-off event put together by Warp Films and Warp France. Featuring screenings of All Tomorrow’s Parties, Cinema 16 and classic Warp Music videos. If that wasn’t enough, there is live performances from Plaid, Darkstar and DJ sets from Rustie and Jackson…

Bleep will also be supplying DVDs, merchandise and music to be sold at the event.

More details can be found here.

To win a pair of tickets to the event – e-mail info@bleep.com and tell us the name of the recent EP by Rustie, released on Warp Records.

You may of heard of Kutmah… A bona-fide member of the Brainfeeder / Low End Theory / Alpha Pup guys that are spearheading the Los Angeles electronic beat scene.

Justin “Kutmah” McNulty was born in the UK to an Egyptian mother and Scottish father. He moved to the US when he was 12-years-old. Without advance warning nor any provoking criminal activity, on 5th May 2010, seven armed federal agents entered his house, handcuffed and detained him. With no calls allowed to family or lawyers, Kutmah was brought to a facility in downtown LA where he was interrogated regarding immigration issues. On 7th May he was flown to a New Mexico prison where he was locked down until his release (almost two months later) on 29th June. Kutmah was deported to the UK where he currently resides, and cannot legally re-enter the United States.

This Wednesday in London (his new home) is an exhibition of drawings he made whilst in Prison… and of course, a very serious after-party that includes the man himself, Dorian Concept, Teebs, and many more…

Details of the event are on the Facebook page here.
Tickets for the after-party are on sale here.

And to win a pair of tickets to the exhibition and after-party simply e-mail info@bleep.com and tell us where your home is… that simple.

Bloc 2011 from Bloc. on Vimeo.

Each week we send out an e-mail newsletter to thousands of happy customers. In this newsletter is a round-up of the latest music releases, merchandise and specially featured items, as well as charts, exclusive give-aways, podcasts, competitions, editorial, label features, interviews, written articles and reviews. If you haven’t subscribed to the Bleep newsletter already, we strongly recommend YOU DO SO NOW…

However, our favourite thing about each newsletter is the artwork header that we select to lead the e-mail. Sometimes, we pick it according to our favourite album of that week and want to draw this to your attention. Sometimes, we just simple really love a particular artwork. Here is a round-up of our favourite e-mail headers of 2010:

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Artwork taken from: Machinedrum – Want to 1 2? / Mailout: 14.11.10

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Artwork taken from: Shangaan Electro / Mailout: 24.06.10

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Artwork taken from: Girl Unit – IRL EP / Mailout: 29.04.10

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Artwork taken from: Bleep Exclusive Kyle Hall / Wild Oats Digital Catalogue
Mailout: 24.05.10

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Artwork taken from: Gonasufi x Bleep free-track give-away / Mailout: 04.03.10

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Artwork taken from: Bleep Investigates Juke Feature / Mailout: 13.08.10

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Artwork taken from: Oneohtrix Point Never – Returnal / Mailout: 03.06.10

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Artwork taken from: Limited Offer DFA Label Sampler / Mailout: 20.04.10

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Artwork taken from: Lone – Emerald Fantasy Tracks / Mailout: 03.12.10

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Artwork taken from: Dylan Ettinger – New Age Outlaws / Mailout: 28.10.10

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Artwork taken from: Demdike Stare – Voices of Dust / Mailout: 25.11.12

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Artwork taken from: Exclusive Hudson Mohawke Sonar MP3 Give-away / Mailout: 15.06.10

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Artwork taken from: Bleep Artist of the Year – OPN / Mailout: 30.11.10

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Artwork taken from: Label of the Year – Numbers / Mailout: 01.12.10

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Artwork taken from: iTAL tEK – Midnight Colour / Mailout: 10.06.10

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BLEEP: Why did you start InFine?
AGORIA: This is something that we thought about 7 or 8 years ago with my friend Alexandre Cazac. We are sharing the same points of views on music but with different backgrounds. The meeting we made with Francesco Tristano, a young and talented pianist motivate us to do the first step and to start running a label.

B: What do you think of the current state of electronic music today?
A: That’s a big question… there are so many things to say… The model of the music industry is dead and the new model is still to be invented. It reflects what happens in a world, which is in transformation. We are at a crossroads. Everybody can make music, and everybody releases so many records that nobody can pay attention to it all. It’s time to look for rarity and think twice before releasing a record and most of all about how to release it. I have the feeling that we are back at the time when there was no money in the dance record industry, but with an underground spirit, so the music will definitely be better. The fact that now the artists are not making music with any commercial stress or hopes should help the music to be more audacious and relevant. This period is really exciting between old generation who just want to release music on vinyl, and new generation which is more spontaneous, listening to music everywhere, skipping artists and music really fast.

But in both cases it s becoming really difficult to find a music that could pleases you. On one hand vinyls are in really low quantity, and on the other hand it’s hard to find music with such a huge amount of music offered. Electronic music has been mostly made by DJs, engineers and producers in the past years, so when artists with a classical background will give their own imprint I guess we’re gonna have very good surprises. In the meantime, kids born in a bath of technology will definitely use it differently than I do, so yes I guess the best is yet to come…

B: What is the InFine A&R policy?
A: Selling more and more… Just joking, there are no A&R policy in fact. We can sign all kind of music if we are into it. No matter what are the rules, no matter what are the trends, no matter if it’s electronic or not. We just want to release music that people should listen everyday all their life long… I expect, people to listen a record of InFiné no matter who the artist is, just trusting our choice!

B: What has been your greatest success?
A: For my own Agoria records? i guess it’s not out yet! “Inpermanence” on InFiné will be for sure the most downloaded, streamed and shared album !

B: Where will dance music be in 20 years time?
A: Already hard to say in three years. Would it be connected to holograms? How it will change the music ? All will become dematerialized? We’ll share this new opera all together interacting with the artists? Or maybe a global computer crash will erase all and we ll end up dancing around the fireplace?!