Early years Varley and Bell met while studying at
Leeds and named their group after the initialism for the common synthesizer function
low-frequency oscillation. They gave their first track, "LFO", to
Nightmares on Wax. The popularity of the demo in clubs led to the track being released by the Sheffield-based
Warp label in 1990, and it was a Top 20 hit in the U.K., reaching number 12 in the singles charts in July. The duo of Bell and Varley were both 19 years old when they recorded their debut album,
Frequencies (1991). The duo later signed to
Tommy Boy Records in the U.S. and remixed
Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock", as well as songs from
Björk,
Radiohead,
Depeche Mode,
Laurent Garnier, and
The Sabres of Paradise.
Later years In 1996, LFO released their second album,
Advance. Varley left the group the same year and formed Feedback with Simon Hartley (a.k.a. Wild Planet). Bell produced
Homogenic (1997) with Björk and performed with her on her 1997
Homogenic and 2007/08
Volta tours. He also produced
Exciter (2001) with Depeche Mode. In 2003, LFO released their third album,
Sheath, produced alone by Bell. In 2005, LFO and
Aphex Twin split an untitled 12" EP credited variously to LFO / AFX or AFX / LFO. In 2009 the
Warp20 (Recreated) compilation featured covers of two early LFO songs, "LFO" by
Luke Vibert and "What is House? (LFO Remix)" by
Autechre. The original version of "LFO", albeit the Leeds Warehouse Mix, featured on Warp's 10th anniversary album
Warp 10+2: Classics 89–92. LFO's track "Freak" was used in the opening title sequence for
Gaspar Noé's 2009 film
Enter the Void. In 2014, Bell died from health complications at the age of 43, resulting in the disbandment of the band. ==Discography==