I thought this might be a neat follow-on from two days of Eno, but… no.
Having only had time to listen to my other Labradford album at my desk, I made the effort to listen to this one downstairs on my stereo. That certainly made it richer in texture. I'm not sure if it made it more interesting. Well, on this listen, I am sure: it didn't. For at least the third time, let me quote the John Cage saying, "If you find something boring after one minute, try doing it for two minutes; if it's still boring, do it for four minutes; if you keep on like this, you will eventually find that it is utterly fascinating." Eventually, perhaps. In fact, I didn't find A Stable Reference boring after one minute, or after two, or four. It was after about eight, when yet another track started with the same slow bass riff.
Postscript: on a further listen (after reading the allmusic review referenced by Wikipedia) I start off feeling that my original reaction doesn't hold up. Then again, the longer I listen, the more I tend to revert to it.
MusicBrainz entry for this album
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