LABRADFORD FIXED CONTEXT ALBUM BLAST FIRST!, PLAYGROUND RELEASE: FEBRUARY 19, 2001 REVIEW: MARCH 19, 2001

Sometimes it's quite comforting to know what you can expect from a band. A decade into their career, American quartet Labradford still explore largely the same spheres as ever.
Opening track "Twenty" sets the tone for their new album "Fixed Context". The quiet electronics fuse retro ambient with mellow glitch, and the trademark guitar twang complete the sound. It's a melancholic clash between ambient krautrock and Ennio Morricione in slow motion, and seldom have twenty minutes felt shorter. The rest of the tracks follow the same path, and make up for a collection of warm, shimmering tunes.
If Kraftwerk wanted to sound like a Trans-Europe Express, then Labradford is rather the sound of a horse and carriage ride through the American Midwest, albeit with a few old synthesizers in the baggage.

KRISTOFFER NOHEDEN