''Advance'' is the second studio album by British
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...
duo
LFO, released 29 January 1996 by
Warp
Warp, warped or warping may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Books and comics
* WaRP Graphics, an alternative comics publisher
* ''Warp'' (First Comics), comic book series published by First Comics based on the play ''Warp!''
* Warp (comics), a ...
. The album peaked at number 44 on the UK Albums charts and was the final album to feature
Gez Varley
Gerrard Varley is a British electronic musician and DJ, who was member of LFO during the 1990s and later released his solo works under the moniker G-Man.
Life
Varley founded LFO in 1990 with Mark Bell, whom he had known since 1984. before he left the group shortly after its release. ''Advance'' was followed up with ''Sheath'' in 2003 with only contributions from Bell.
Production
After the release of their album ''
Frequencies
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. It is also occasionally referred to as ''temporal frequency'' for clarity, and is distinct from ''angular frequency''. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) which is eq ...
'' (1991), rumors of LFO's follow-up was discussed from time to time without any new material being released.
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
described the album as "Nearly legendary as the album-that-almost-never-happened, ''Advance'' was a full five years in the making, with hardly a peep of new material in between."
The album was produced by Mark Bell.
When asked about the gap between the release dates between ''Advance'' and ''Sheath'', he responded that "It's easy doing your first album as you have all the first part of your life to express. The second one is harder unless you’re going to repeat yourself... and repetition bores me a bit, it's a complete wasted opportunity to be creative." Tracks 1, 4, 7, 10 and 11 were recorded at LFO Studios while the other tracks were recorded at FON Studios.
Before the release of
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...
's album ''
Post
Post or POST commonly refers to:
*Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries
**An Post, the Irish national postal service
**Canada Post, Canadian postal service
**Deutsche Post, German postal service
**Iraqi Post, Ira ...
'' (1995),
Mark Bell gave her a cassette of LFO demo material allowing her to use what she wanted for a future release.
[Pytlik, 2003. p.181] Björk chose a track that would later become her song "I Go Humble".
The song would show up again in instrumental form on ''Advance'' as "Shove Piggy Shove".
Release
''Advance'' was released on 29 January 1996.
The album was released on vinyl, cassette, compact disc and subsequently as an internet download by
Warp Records
Warp Records (or simply Warp) is a British independent record label founded in Sheffield in 1989 by record store employees Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell and record producer Robert Gordon.Southern, Richard (2003) "Label of Love: WARP", X-RAY, A ...
.
''Advance'' charted for one week in the United Kingdom, peaking at 44.
Shane Danielsen of ''
The Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
'' noted the lack of notability the album had on its release in their review, stating that LFO "rarely attract headlines; who, like contemporaries
Reload, have looked on as other peers (
Aphex,
Leftfield
Leftfield are a British electronic music duo formed in 1989 as the duo of Neil Barnes and Paul Daley (the latter formerly of the Rivals and A Man Called Adam). The duo was very influential in the evolution of electronic music in the 1990s, wi ...
) grabbed the press by the throat and held on until it spluttered praise" while LFO "languished in comparative obscurity." Mark Bell and Gez Varley separated as a group shortly after the release of ''Advance''.
Varley focused on a solo career, while Bell focused on production with musicians
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...
and
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting).
Depeche ...
.
A third LFO album was released in 2003 that was without any contributions from Varley.
Reception
From contemporary reviews, Danielsen stated that ''Advance'' was "more accessible than previous releases would allow" and that there was "enough of that mountainous speaker-juddering bass to alienate the timid" and that the group had "learnt to write songs, almost."
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
gave the album a favorable review of four and a half stars out of five, stating that the "result isn't as essential as their debut, but growth and maturity are evident, particularly in the focus and depth of composition."
Track listing
Personnel
Credits adapted from ''Advance'' liner notes.
*
Mark Bell – producer, engineer
* Fisch – engineer (tracks 2, 3, 8, 9 and 12)
* Gamble — engineer (tracks 5 and 6)
See also
*
1996 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1996.
Specific locations
*1996 in British music
* 1996 in Norwegian music
Specific genres
* 1996 in classical music
* 1996 in country music
* 1996 in heavy metal music
* ...
*
Music of the United Kingdom (1990s)
Popular music of the United Kingdom in the 1990s continued to develop and diversify. While the singles charts were dominated by boy bands and girl groups, British soul and Indian-based music also enjoyed their greatest level of mainstream succe ...
Notes
References
*
*
{{Authority control
1996 albums
LFO (British band) albums
Warp (record label) albums
Albums produced by Mark Bell (British musician)