Andrez Bergen, and occasional accomplices - over the years including people like Francois Tetaz (Shinjuku Filth), Jeffrey Willis, Damian Stephens (Isnod), Akimitsu Hamaguchi (Magnet Toy), Marcella Brassett, and Allan Klinbail (Son Of Zev).
Influences
Big plaudits for a wad of influential stuff from labels like IF?, Noodles, Warp, the Ninja Tune roster, Elektrax, Rephlex, Stone's Throw, Scandinavia, Planet Mu, Tresor, Pharma, Sativae, Mosquito, Axis, Force Inc., Relief, Mille Plateaux, Dead Channel, TTAK, Major Force, Trope, AFU, Clan Analogue, etc, plus old(er) skool artists like Cabaret Voltaire, 242, Scanner, Coldcut, UR, and their new(er) brethren: Shadow, Vibert, Landstrumm, Vogel, Lidell; Dave Tarrida, Si Begg, Tobias Schmidt, Steve Stoll, Gene Farris, DJ Rush, Prefuse, Jammin' Unit, Can Oral, Biochip C, Kid Koala, Hexstatic, Plaid, Krush, Captain Funk, Toshiyuki Yasuda, Uwe Schmidt, Alone Together, Shin Nishimura, HIFANA, Patrick Pulsinger, etc, etc.
Oh yeah, and Aussie people like Sub Bass Snarl, Voiteck, Steve Law (Zen Paradox), Isnod, Son Of Zev, Bitch Shift, DJ Hi-Shock, 5000 Fingers Of Dr T, Cinnaman, Artificial, Guyver 3, Beam Up, Kid Calmdown, Enclave, Koda, Digital Primate, Mad Rod, Nick Littlemore (Pnau), Clan Analogue, and the IF? Records posse...
Sounds Like
Think all over the place - very VAGUELY akin to bits and pieces of Krush, Isnod, Luke Vibert, Shadow, Cassetteboy, Toshiyuki Yasuda, Si Begg, Coldcut, Cristian Vogel, Neil Landstrumm, LNEE, DJ Rush, Sub Bass Snarl, etc., and all the gleeful sample pirates out there cutting a swathe through everyday humdrum soundz...
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...so who the heck is ANDREZ BERGEN, anyway, and does it matter?
Nah. But in case you're wondering, he's an expat Australian music, movie and anime journalist, photographer, hack DJ, record label head-honcho (IF?), a writer, and an experimental electronic music producer who's been based in Tokyo over the past 8 years....
He's also bunked up in London, traveled a bit round the globe, and during the course of a decade and a half of hack journalism has interviewed people as far afield as Kraftwerk, Jeff Mills, Coldcut, Genesis P. Orridge (from industrial pioneers Throbbing Gristle), Derrick May, Si Begg, Famke Janssen (from the "X-Men" movies), Front Line Assembly, Laibach, Orbital, Cabaret Voltaire, and Mamoru Oshii (the director of the anime classic "Ghost In The Shell")....
His crap scribblings have appeared in newspapers like THE AGE in Australia and the YOMIURI SHIMBUN in Japan, along with magazines like ANIME INSIDER and GEEK MONTHLY in the USA, IMPACT mag in Hong Kong and the UK, plus British mags MIXMAG, REMIX and WAX, VICE mag in Australia, Beatportal, Juice, Oyster, Catalog, 3D World, Rave, Australian Style, Onion, X-Press, Beat & Zebra, blah, blah, blah... These days he's also a regular hack for the way cool online FUN IN THE MURKY site.
Over the past 15 years Andrez has also worked as a DJ (once dubbed the Jean-Luc Godard of mixing - think discordant jump-cuts!), a wayward record label impresario, and trigger-happy muzak producer. He helmed his own radio show, 'CYBERDADA', on Melbourne station 3PBS-FM for seven years from 1994 to 2001.
In 2005, Andrez married New York based artist Yoko Umehara, who had just moved back to Tokyo, and in November that year the couple had the world's cutest daughter, called Cocoa - and who now (at age 3) does occasional vocals on his muzak and tries to distract him with cute monologues about pirates and the Cookie Monster.
In 2009, stay tuned (if you can indeed be bothered!) for his first novel, called 'Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat', being published by Another Sky Press in Portland, Oregon in the U.S.
...so what about LITTLE NOBODY, then...?
Andrez kick-started his soundsystem project in 1997 first as a joke, then with his debut track "Nobody's Driving" on the critically acclaimed Australian compilation 'Zeitgeist 3', alongside people like Voiteck, Honeysmack, TR-Storm, Jammin' Unit, Blimp, Cinnaman, Adam Raisbeck (Sense) and Zen Paradox...
The L.N. project's perimeters were a far-reaching hotch potch of styles, from dub and jazz to cut-up sampling, old skool hip hop references, disco-chic, and electro-clash ramifications... I think you get the gist, hey? Think anything goes, then add a measure or two of hilarity.
Constantly morphing along the way, Little Nobody has since produced several albums and EPs for innovative Australian record label IF? Records, along with a remix single release ('Bare') which was adjudged Single Of The Week in Melbourne's BEAT magazine, waaay back in 2001...
Through Stockholm-based label Fitja, Andrez cut four EPs, has had tracks released on a wad of international compilations, and currently works with Tokyo's TTAK Collective on vinyl stuff and live jaunts, along with the Hypnotic Room/Elektrax imprints run by DJ Hi-Shock in Sydney, and Dead Channel over in the UK.
Little Nobody also featured on Si Begg's rambunctious NOODLES DISCOTHEQUE VOL. 2 compilation back in 2001, and that same year his Little Nobody album, 'Action Hero', was one of the 4 final nominees for Best Album Of The Year in the 2001 Australian Dance Music Awards (the Avalanches were the eventual winner).
Seven years later, in 2008, Andrez broke the barometer with a rash of 14 EPs and two albums.
Andrez's muzak and output has been remixed by a plethora of international producers - from Noodles man SI BEGG in London to New York's STEVE STOLL, Steve Cobb from FILA BRAZILLIA to Jason Leach from SUBHEAD, and he's been remixed by Japanese producers CAPTAIN FUNK, SHIN NISHIMURA, DJ WARP and TOSHIYUKI YASUDA; Amsterdam's VOCO DERMAN has also had a go, along with Scottish geezers TOBIAS SCHMIDT and DAVE TARRIDA, and on into Berlin's JAMMIN' UNIT and BRIXTON, fellow German producers MIJK VAN DIJK and BIOCHIP C, and Parisian enfant terrible TAL (Sub-Rosa) .
Aussie remixes of L.N. have been done by ZEN PARADOX, DIGITAL PRIMATE, DJ HI-SHOCK, PNAU, POCKET, CINNAMAN, SON OF ZEV, BITCH SHIFT, ENCLAVE, 5000 FINGERS OF DR T, BLIMP, ARTIFICIAL, ISNOD, BEAM UP, ZOG, etc, etc.
Over the yawning years, Andrez has toured Japan, played in London, tweaked knobs in Detroit, New York, San Francisco, and Chicago, twiddled live-ish in Windsor in Canada, in China, Hong Kong, and in a humble scout hall in the middle of nowhere just outside Groningen in the Netherlands - not to mention extensively around Australia.
Ad infinitum... etc, etc... blah, blah... zzzz...
Oh yeah, there's more to send you to sleep: Over the past 15 years he's played at legendary Melbourne clubs like FILTER, TERIYAKI ANARKI SAKI, CENTRIPHUGAL, MORE BASS, GLOBAL WARMING, REVOLVER, and HONKYTONKS, along with that city's big warehouse parties such as Hardware, Every Picture Tells A Story, Earthcore, War Of The Worlds, Omniglobe, Sunshine People, Where The wild Things Are, and Belfast. In Sydney he's popped up at Frigid, Freaky Loops, Club Kooky, Phreakin', Warm Up, & Scissors*Paper*Rock - while in Tokyo he's played at Womb, Nuts, Concrete, and Bullets.
From 2008, Little Nobody entered the digital download fray, so look out for his releases over on Beatport, Juno Download, Audiojelly, and all the usual d/download suspects. Even better is the selection currently on Addictech via IF? Records, the stuff Hypnotic Room is putting out, and the discography that should be up on Input - Output Inc. in early 2009.
Look out for other Andrez crap sounds as FUNK GADGET, SCHLOCK TACTILE, DICK DRONE, SLAM-DUNK NINJA, CURVACEOUS CRUSTACEAN, LNEE minus 3, CONVERSATIONAL DENTURES, DJ FODDER, LITTLE BITCHES, etc, etc ....zzzz....
"Ticklin' The Strings" by Sweet Hollywaiians
Amazing Japanese hot string band playing 1920's, 30's, 40's style hawaiian, swing, calypso, blues, italian music and originals,featuring vintage instruments.3 songs with Robert Armstrong and Tony Marcus(from Robert Crumb and His Cheap Suit Serenaders)
"The Sweet Hollywaiians have probably the best feel for this 20's music of any string band working today. They manage the rare feat of sounding relaxed even when their playing is hot, are top notch musicians with tasteful arrangements and a full, rich, warm sound.Plus, they have a nice gamut of tunes, from King Nawahi to Giovanni Vicari to Bobby Leecan. See them live, if you can, for an unforgettable experience. If you can't, buy their Cds!" ~ Terry Zwigoff
Including productions from Alex Young, Hans Bouffmyhre, Mr. Copy, Dandi & Ugo, Tony Rohr, Shin Nishimura, Gary Beck, Simone Tavazzi, Gennaro Mastrantonio, Seismal D, Uto Karem & Perc!
Hello,Little Nobody. Thank you for the add. great tracks here. i really like it. Our EP has been released byWeisskalt/Blauwarm check it out. download free.
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