A Stable Reference

A Stable Reference
Studio album by Labradford
Released	May 26, 1995
Genre	Drone rock, post-rock, ambient
Length	46:04
Label	Kranky
Labradford chronology
Prazision LP (1993) A Stable Reference (1995) Labradford (1996)

A Stable Reference is the second album by the Virginian post-rock band Labradford, released on May 26, 1995.^[1]

Reception

The Allmusic review by Ned Raggett awarded the album 4 stars stating "The biggest change on Reference has remained a near-constant ever since, namely, the removal of lyrics and vocal parts from almost all tracks, outside of some extremely understated and intentionally buried in-the-mix-bits scattered throughout the record. Other long-running motifs started to appear as well -- astoundingly obscure cover art, short and/or nonsensical terms for song titles, such as "SEDR 77," and even more attention on mix complexity, with subtle yet important sonic elements and samples scattered throughout the songs. The middle track of the release remains the most noteworthy -- "Eero," a long, doomy song consisting almost entirely of guitar reverb—without guitar—and dark keyboard drones echoing into the far distance. Songs like "Mas" and "Balanced on Its Own Flame" retain the greatest similarity to Prazision LP due to the echoed, deliberate guitar playing and general pace, yet in the end, Reference already points to the increasingly more challenging albums in Labradford's near future. ".^[2]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]
almostcool	(6.5/10)[4]

Track listing

1. "Mas" – 4:32
2. "El Lago" – 5:29
3. "Streamlining" – 4:44
4. "Banco" – 5:03
5. "Eero" – 6:50
6. "Balanced on Its Own Flame" – 4:02
7. "Star City, Russia" – 5:03
8. "Comfort" – 6:14
9. "SEDR 77" – 4:07

Personnel

• Rob Christiansen – engineer, mixing
• Mark Nelson – guitar, vocals

References

1. ↑ KRANK 006 – Labradford, "A Stable Reference"
2. ↑ Raggett, N. Allmusic Review accessed March 24, 2011
3. ↑ "Allmusic review". 
4. ↑ "almostcool".