Fridge's Early Output is Tasty

Let's see what's in the Fridge shall we? What do we have here? A whole platter of recordings by the legendary band of the same name made between 1996 and 1998 for the Output label. It's pre-made and seems quite tasty, so why don't we check it out.

Food parallels aside, in case you were wondering, Fridge were a British post rock group formed by three friends who were in their teens when they were signed to legendary electronic label, Output Recordings. For two short years the world was their oyster and then Fridge was put on the back burner as members Kieran, Adem, and Sam all decided to pursue other interests including Four Tet and Joshua Falken sometime around 2001. As you might expect Fridge Early Output 1996-1998traces the early history of the band and features so much of Fridge's early work that the CD is literally packed to the rim.

Much of the work featured on Early Output 1996-1998 are works that teeter between being post rock or completely ambient. The threesome that make up Fridge specialize at creating dizzying amounts of hazy atmospheres that drift in and out of our vision and range; like clouds in the sky. With snippets of songs saddled up against massive fifteen minute jam sessions, Early Output 1996-1998 is a staggering record to get your head around. The songs all seem to bleed into one gargantuan song that has it's loud and quiet moments smashed into each other. It might seem a bit hard to get around, but if you just let Fridge take care of business you'll enjoy their instrumental chemistry and ability to feed off of each others chops. Early Output 1996-1998 is a fascinating look at a group of kids growing into one heck of a band only to disappear.

Fridge's time with us was short, however, during their brief career they proved that you don't have to be middle aged and boring to write completely complex and intricate instrumentals. Early Output 1996-1998is an exciting look into the world of this awesome band. While I'm not the biggest fan of the post rock genre, Fridge's ability to create something that rises above the clichés and win me over. I'm impressed with Fridge and Early Output 1996-1998 serves not only as a primer for the band but a tribute to their greatness.