Lix – Stalking
From Lix – S/T
Released on Fat Records & Tapes, 1984, Sweden

Released in 1984 on Fat Records & Tapes, that is to say the same year and on the same label than balearic heads favourite, Sjunne Ferger‘s mind-blowing Mindgames, Lix’s only album is an oddball of a record. Unlike Mindgames, there is something straight-forwardly Post-Punk in Lix, seemingly drawing inspiration from NYC’s No-Wave and humorously-charged acts like Devo; and still, Mindgames and Lix bare some similarities. The more we listen to Lix, the less surprised we are that the album was entirely produced by Sjunne Ferger.

But first some words about Sjunne Ferger : born in 1950, Ferger was an important figure in the cultural life of his hometown Örebro where he was running a blues club with his mother. He was mainly playing as a blues drummer until his meeting with Don Cherry   which introduced him to more experimental forms of Jazz. As well as releasing music as a drummer (he also played percussion on Elvin Jones‘ Mr Thunder, released on one of Ferger‘s label, Eastwest records), Ferger began producing music for Yugoslavian new wave acts like Dorian Gray and started his label, Fat Records and Tapes, to release more experimental-oriented records, such as Lix‘s self-titled album.

Lix’s album, just like Stalking is superbly produced. Apparently minimalistic, the songs swarm with weird details. On Stalking, many out-of-space sounds pop out of nowhere throughout the song. Also, the song gives the impression that the musicians give each other a lot of room (an impression one definitely has when listening to Ferger‘s solo records) and especially for Margareta Folkesson hard but super sensual voice. And what about this slow nagging (DX-7 ?) bassline ? It’s sexy !

Don’t forget to also check the amazing Piece of Cake from the same album (intriguing video as a bonus)…