LFO (British group)

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Not to be confused with the pop band Lyte Funky Ones

LFO is an English techno group on the Warp Records label. LFO was one of the pioneers of the bass-heavy techno of the early 1990s. Originally comprising Gez Varley and Mark Bell, they met while studying at Leeds and gave their first track, the eponymous "LFO", to Nightmares On Wax. The demo's popularity in clubs lead to the track being released by the Sheffield-based Warp in 1990 (see 1990 in music), where it made it into the Top Twenty.

The track LFO is one of the first pieces of music to heavily feature sub-bass and similar pure tones as primary musical instruments. This has now become commonplace in many modern electronic music genres. 21st Century UK-Garage and Grime styles are, as were Jungle and Drum & Bass, undeniably influenced by LFO. A Speak-and-Spell device from the early 1980's (as also seen in the motion picture 'ET') was heard throughout, announcing the name of the track, and adding a light-hearted element.

The follow-up single was called 'We are back", released in the summer of 1991. This time a somewhat staggered Commodore Amiga voice proclaimed the phrase, "There are many imitators, but we are the true creators. We're back ..... Low Frequency Oscillation". This was generally accepted by most as being a valid statement.

Although it did not do as well as LFO in terms of chart figures, "We are back" was certainly a successful single within the rave community, its target audience.

Later signed to Tommy Boy in the US, the duo did remix work on Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock" and LFO went on to work with Björk, Radiohead, Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk, Laurent Garnier, and Andrew Weatherall (The Sabres Of Paradise). Varley left in 1997 to form Feedback with Simon Hartley (aka Wildplanet). Mark Bell helped produce Homogenic with Björk and Exciter with Depeche Mode.

LFO's name comes from the term low frequency oscillation, a synthesis technique widely used in electronic music.

Partial discography

LFO (1990)
Frequencies (1991)
Tied Up (1994)
Advance (1996)
Sheath (2003)

External links

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