So where have LFO been for the last 7 years? Well, following their last album Advance, Mark Bell and Gez Varley parted company, with Bell retaining the rights to the LFO name. Although Bell chose to do nothing with the name at the time he continued to record tracks and worked extensively producing and remixing big name artists such as Bjork and Depeche Mode. In the meantime, Bell’s friend Shaun Kendrick was archiving the tracks Bell had been recording during this 7-year period, producing a mix tape of them for his car. Bell heard the tape and decided it would work well as an album. The rest is history, as they say.
As you might expect from what is essentially a compilation, the content is diverse and shows just how talented Bell is, covering a wide range of styles but maintaining a consistent quality level throughout. Album opener “Blown” kicks things off with chilled Artificial Intelligence era stylings that build steadily from beats and atmosphere ambience to slick ambient techno. Then, just when you’ve settled in to some classic electronic coolness, “Mum-man,” kicks you in the head with a barrage of fuzzy beats and acid tweaks punctuated by more subdued passages. Switching styles again, “Mokeylips” heads in a more rhythmic direction stylistically reminiscent of the highly addictive “Bubble and Slide” from the Sabres of Paradise’s Haunted Dancehall album. “Snot” combines the themes of “Mum-man” and “Mokeylips” by taking a frantic bassy rhythmic beat track, adding some grinding static noise and beating you into submission with it, only for things to calm down again with the soothing and considerably mellower electronic musings of “Moistly.” Adding a further twist to proceedings is “Unafraid to Linger”, which is essentially another example of classic electronic music but with the vibrating bassline of “Mum-man.” “Sleepy Chicken” fittingly provides a dubby ambient interlude before the first single is presented in the form of “Freak,” the only track that really bows to the current electroclash trend by using computerized vocals backed with hyperactive electro mayhem with a hefty helping old-skool flavor for added amusement. “Mummy, I’ve had an accident” is acid house for the new millennium while “Nevertheless” is probably the most experimental track on the album with its weird reversed sounds and generally strange aura. Closing the album is the most downtempo and spacious track, the gently floating and melodic “Premacy.”
Sheath is evidence that Bell has been hard at work on his own material whilst lending his production and remixing skills to some of the biggest players in the music scene. This album is diverse and stylistically varied, showing several facets to Bell’s work and ability. Sheath is a great album and leaves you wanting more, wondering just what else lurks in that archive of tracks that Bell’s cohort maintains. Let’s hope more of them see the light of day before too long.
