''Advance'' is the second studio album by British

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

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 D ...

. 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. Frequency is an important parameter used in science and engineering to specify the rate of oscillatory and vibratory phenomena, such as mechanical vibrations, audio ...

'' (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 database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

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 voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...

's album ''

Post Post, POST, or posting may refer to: Postal services * 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 s ...

'' (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 is a British independent record label that specialises in Electronic music, electronic, indie rock and experimental music. It was founded in Sheffield in 1989 by Steve Beckett, Robert Mitchell and Robert Gordon. It has released recor ...

. ''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 Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' 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 group formed in London in 1989, a duo of Neil Barnes and Paul Daley (the latter formerly of The Rivals and A Man Called Adam). The duo was influential in the evolution of electronic music in the 1990s ...

) 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

and

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...

. 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."

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)

Notes

References

* * {{Authority control 1996 albums LFO (British band) albums Warp Records albums Albums produced by Mark Bell (British musician)