''A Stable Reference'' is the second studio album by American

post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation ...

band

Labradford Labradford is a U.S. post-rock musical group from Richmond, Virginia, founded in 1992.Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Labradford" in ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 827 They have released six full albums from 1993 to 2001. Though not d ...

, released on May 23, 1995 by Kranky.

Reception

Reviewing ''A Stable Reference'' for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

, Ned Raggett stated, "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." He also noted a greater focus on "mix complexity, with subtle yet important sonic elements and samples scattered throughout the songs", concluding that "in the end, ''Reference'' already points to the increasingly more challenging albums in Labradford's near future." Deborah Sprague of ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' wrote that the band's "penchant for psychic drift still exists... but Labradford's paths seem a little more clear-cut the second time around".

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the ''A Stable Reference'' liner notes. ;Labradford * Carter Brown – keyboards * Robert Donne –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

* Mark Nelson –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

;Production and additional personnel * Rob Christiansen –

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

, mixing

Release history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stable Reference 1995 albums Labradford albums Kranky albums Flying Nun Records albums