LFO

techno

There are 2 bands under the name LFO: 1. An English band who were pioneers of bleep techno 2. An American three-man pop and rap group 1. English band LFO were one of the pioneers of the bleep techno of the early 1990s. Originally comprising Gez Varley (also known as Jez 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 Warp in 1990, where it made it into the Top Twenty. The name LFO comes from the term Low Frequency Oscillator, a component used to alter sounds in synthesizers, samplers etc. Gez Varley left the duo in 1996, and continues to have a solo career. Mark Bell continued to record under his own name and that of LFO, as well as producing albums for Björk and Depeche Mode until his untimely passing in October 2014. LFO’s album Frequencies (containing the previously mentioned “LFO” and its follow-up single, We Are Back) was a popular album for Warp Records and undoubtedly helped establish them as a successful global independent electronic label, along with label-mates Nightmares On Wax and Sweet Exorcist. It was originally released with a warning sticker stating that the record company was not responsible for the potential damage to speakers due to the the extremely loud, low frequency bass signals contained within the music. Frequencies was followed by the less commercially successful Advance and, in 2003, by S...