''604'' is the debut studio album by English

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

band

Ladytron Ladytron are an electronic band formed in Liverpool in 1999. The group consists of Helen Marnie (lead vocals, synthesizers), Mira Aroyo (vocals, synthesizers), and Daniel Hunt (synthesizers, guitar, vocals). Reuben Wu (synthesizers) was a ...

, released in the United States on 6 February 2001 by Emperor Norton Records and in the United Kingdom on 12 March 2001 by Invicta Hi-Fi. It was co-produced, engineered and mixed by Lance Thomas. Some of the tracks had been previously released on their EPs '' Miss Black and Her Friends'' (1999), '' Mu-Tron EP'' (2000) and '' Commodore Rock'' (2000). On 20 July 2004, ''604'' was reissued in the US with four bonus tracks, the first three being live recordings made on 16 May 2003 at the Central Military Club in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, Bulgaria. The January 2011 re-release of the album on

Nettwerk Nettwerk Music Group is an independent record label founded in 1984. The Vancouver-based company was created by principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record label to distribute recordings by the band Moev, but the label expanded in Ca ...

also features these same bonus tracks. In a 2002 interview with online magazine Chaos Control,

Daniel Hunt Daniel Hunt is an English musician, songwriter and producer. He is a founding member, principal songwriter and producer of the electronic band Ladytron. Biography Hunt met Reuben Wu in Liverpool in 1995 and formed Ladytron with him in 1999, ...

stated that the album was named after the

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for

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Reuben Wu Reuben Wu (born 6 September 1975) is a British artist, photographer, and musician. He is also known as a founding member of the electronic band Ladytron. Biography Reuben Wu was born in Liverpool in 1975, the son of Hongkonger immigrants. He ...

drew the cover of the European edition of ''604''.

Critical reception

''604'' received general acclaim from music critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 81, based on 11 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". In March 2001, ''604'' was selected as Album of the Month by ''

Muzik ''Muzik'' was a British dance music magazine published by IPC Media from June 1995 to August 2003. ''Muzik'' was created by two former ''Melody Maker'' journalists, Push and Ben Turner. Push was the editor of ''Muzik'' from its launch until he ...

'' magazine. As of July 2002, the album had sold 20,000 copies in the United States, according to

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Singles

"He Took Her to a Movie" was released as the album's

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

. The song was recorded for £50, and features guest vocals from Lisa Eriksson of

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-based electronic duo Techno Squirrels. Upon its release, it was named the "Single of the Week" by ''

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'' magazine. The track was inspired by

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, ) is a Germany, German Electronic music, electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk was among the first successful a ...

's 1978 song "

The Model "Das Model" ("The Model" in English) is a song recorded by the German group Kraftwerk in 1978, written by musicians Ralf Hütter and Karl Bartos, with artist Emil Schult collaborating on the lyrics. It is featured on the album, ''Die Mensch-M ...

". "

Playgirl ''Playgirl'' is an American magazine that has historically featured pictorials of nude and semi-nude men alongside general interest, lifestyle, celebrity journalism, and original fiction. For most of its history, the magazine printed monthly a ...

" was released as the album's second single. It peaked at number 89 on the UK Singles Chart. "The Way That I Found You" was released as the album's third and final single. It reached number 88 on the UK Singles Chart. The single's

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

, "Holiday 601", was included on Ladytron's second studio album, '' Light & Magic'', retitled "NuHorizons".

Track listing

''604 (Remixed & Rare)''

On 1 September 2009, Redbird Records and Cobraside Distribution released a compilation of remixes, B-sides and rarities titled ''604 (Remixed & Rare)''. The cover is the negative of the US cover for ''604''.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''604''. *

– production, design * Lance Thomas – additional production, engineering * Eddy Schreyer – mastering * Lisa Eriksson – guest vocals on "He Took Her to a Movie" * Tom Dolan – design * Sebastian Meyer – cover photography (US edition)

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:604 (Album) 2001 debut albums Emperor Norton Records albums Ladytron albums