Little Nobody

Australian expat Andrew Bergen (a.k.a Andrez) has been making music as Little Nobody since 1997, and relocated to Tokyo in 2001. Formerly from Melbourne, Bergen helms Melbourne/Tokyo label IF? Records. He's played live in Tokyo, Osaka, London, Detroit, New York, San Francisco, Beijing, Windsor (Canada), in the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane and especially Melbourne.

オーストラリア出身のAndrez Bergen（A.K.A. Abdrez）は、１９９７年から音楽製作をしています。 ２００１年の東京に拠点を移しました。

メルボルン、トーキョーレーベルIF? RECORDSを主催。

ライヴはトーキョー、オーサカ、ロンドン、デトロイト、ニューヨーク、サンフランシスコ、ベイジン、ウィンザー、ネザーランド、ホンコン、シンガポール、シドニー、アデレイド、ブリズベイン、特にメルボルンで行っています。

PICCD-004 – Commix

"It promises an escape that sounds anything but idyllic, as terse robot voices intone the title phrase over stuttering, minimalist break beats… a leftfield electronic delight that's well worth getting hold of."

Thus assessed esteemed journalist Chris Downton two years ago in a glowing review that appeared in the pages of Aussie music mag 3D World. The subject? Little Nobody's iconic (and often equally iconoclastic) track ‘Get Away From It All'.

Little Nobody – in fact Australian expat Andrez Bergen, who's been based in Tokyo these past 10 years – then decided to ask Justin Robertson (Lionrock) to remix. While counting on Robertson's experience rebooting Björk, Happy Mondays, Fatboy Slim, Luke Slater and Felix Da Housecat, Andrez is also a long-time fan and suspected the mix-master would have an absolute field day here – which he apparently did, giving the ingredients a good hearty shake and delivering a concoction that stunned everybody.

This tale tells the story of the other remixes you'll find here. These producers are artists Andrez personally digs and admires, they're often mates as well, and there's a cameraderie of spirit that binds the lot together.

While the sounds may be disparate – just like Little Nobody's own output – the key here is a revitalizing look at the real adventure of electronic music; of redefining the genre in a playful, inventive manner.

Hence we have contributions from people as diverse as techno man-of-the-moment James Ruskin (Blueprint), Sativae and Tresor veteran Dave Tarrida, old school pioneer Mijk van Dijk, and Japanese guru Captain Funk (Sublime), the superbly iconoclastic Si Begg (Tresor/NovaMute), and the ageless Dave Angel (R&S/Rotation).

Then there's Japanese DJ/producer Shin Nishimura of Plus Tokyo, who's often mentioned in the same sentence as Ken Ishii and Takkyu Ishino and was picked up for release through Dubfire's SCI+TEC label in 2009. Here he gets down-and-dirty in a tech remix of ‘Poiseworks'.

The two remixes of ‘Compulsion' have their own story to tell. When Little Nobody's original ‘Compulsion' was unleashed in 2009, there was some gloriously wayward feedback, with some souls saying it sounded like Underground Resistance (Steve Stoll) or Suburban Knight (Captain Funk, Dave Tarrida), and others even the Art Of Noise (Anthony Shakir). Still more, like Patrick Pulsinger, Ben Mill and Kirk Degiorgio, called it just plain cool.

So Andrez (again) got curious to see what like-minded producers would do with the same sound-sources, and chose a bunch of his favourite musicians – including Japan's DJ Wada (Co-Fusion) and wonky electronic-funk wizards Donk Boys (Dirtybird). What transpired was a stunning, sweeping, genre-crunching reinterpretation, and the reaction to the remixes was gushing. "Just a quick e-mail to let you know that this release is a killer!" declared Claude Young straight after he heard DJ Wada's mix.

Now let's adjust the rear-view mirror and flash back a bit.In 1995, Andrez had a radio show on 3PBS FM in Melbourne (Australia) called Cyberdada, and that year the most-played record – amidst killer 12-inches from Relief, Axis, Tresor, Trope, and Force Inc – was actually a double-CD from Austrian label Cheap.

It was called 90 Minutes in the Eyes of iO, produced by label bosses Patrick Pulsinger and Erdem Tunakan. Bergen says that the release floored him, and Pulsinger has continued on as a mainstay influence in Little Nobody's musical reference pallette ever since, via the Austrian producer's own output (on labels like Disko B, Compost, Studio !K7, R&S, and International DJ Gigolo) as well as some of his brilliant remixes of people like DJ Hell, Chicks On Speed, Tosca, Tanzmusik and Ken Ishii.

Which brings us up-to-scratch, and Bergen's Funk Gadget persona. In a recent review, Fun In The Murky scribe Trevor Wilkes described the Funk Gadget track ‘Blah Blah' as "Broken, bass-heavy beats and a wobbly synth; this one was felt two floors away when I first fired 'er up."

So when it came to choosing a remixer, Pulsinger's name was at the very top of Andrez's list – and now we know why. His mix is all wonderful bleeps, mesmerizing glitches, and chunky, sci-fi electro-tech grooves.

TOKYO 2011

  1. Poiseworks - Shin Nishimura remix
  2. Compulsion - DJ Wada remix
  3. Metropolis How? - Dave Angel remix
  4. Robota - Dave Tarrida remix, feat. Robo*Brazileira
  5. Cocaine Speaking - Mijk van Dijk remix
  6. Blah Blah - Patrick Pulsinger remix
  7. Compulsion - Donk Boys remix
  8. Metropolis How? - James Ruskin remix
  9. Get Away From It All - Justin Robertson remix
  10. Cocaine Speaking - Captain Funk remix
  11. Blah Blah - Si Begg remix

東京のテクノシーンの中枢で知らぬ物はいないプロデューサーかつ１０年以上のキャリアを持つIF?レーベルのプレジデントLittle Nobody。有数のテクノジャーナリストの顔を背景に持つ彼の多くの盟友が一同にリミックスをした作品を綴った熱い思いの込められたリミックスアルバム「COMMIX」が、国内トップの勢いを持つレーベルFOUNTAIN MUSICのサブレーベルPLAZA IN CROWDよりリリースされる。 COMMIXとは文字通り、コミックスとCO-MIXを掛けた造語である。 Little Nobodyが日本のコミックスを英語読者に紹介するジャーナリストをしているため、ジャパニーズ漫画の楽しさを多くの盟友達とMIXを教諭して分かち合ったと言う端的なコンセプトがこのタイトルに込められている。

Little Nobodyのオリジナル作品のリミックスコレクション、この顔ぶりを見て、熱狂するテクノファンは多くいるだろう。力強いアーティストネームを順に上げて行こう。 このアルバムの先頭になるアンセムを作成したのはPlus Recordsを運営する、国内メジャーDJでありプロデューサーであり、DubfireのレーベルSci-TecからもリリースをしているShin Nishimuraだ。そして、東京で最も信頼の厚いレーベルサブライムより、Co-FusionのDj Wada、そして、U.K.で最も優れたデトロイトテクノのプロデューサーDave Angelのリミックス。テクノゴッド、Dave Angelは、今夏にPLAZA IN CROWDよりオリジナルCDアルバムのリリースも決まり、国内のレーベルからオリジナルアルバムをリリースする事は既に大きな話題を呼んでいる。他にも、Dave Tarridaや、 電気グルーヴの名大ヒット曲「虹」の有名で切ない90年代テクノ絶世機のアンセムリミックスをこなした、かのMijk Van Dijkは、新しい波とクラシックの波の交差の中で独自のオールドスクールテクノグルーヴを放っている。Dj Hell、Ken Ishii、砂原良徳らと同じサークルにいるPatrick Pulsingerのリミックスも、本作のイメージを決定付けている。そして、Donk Boys、James Ruskin、はたまた、Bjorkへのエッセンスを加えた事でも著名なJustin RobertsonとLittle Nobodyのカラーに強力なグルーヴ感を加える。そして、東京シーンの雄Captain Funkのスーパーパワフルな楽曲が続き、絞めには、Ninja TuneやMuteよりCabbage Boyの名でリリースしていたサウンドデザインの天才、Si Beggのリミックス。彼は、MogawiやSven Vath等のリミックスもこなしている猛者だ。

このアルバムは、正に、他では聞く事の出来なスゴ者ぞろいの素晴らしいテクノの満喫がこれでもかと出来る、本質をストレートに表現した大傑作である。

90年代から現在へ続く最先端の音楽ジャンルテクノの歴史的一枚。コミックスを満喫する様にTOKYOとヨーロッパの音圧世界に入り込んで行こうぜ！！

Buy this album now at Tower, Amazon or HMV.