A FISTFUL OF MUZAK REVIEWS.
LUKE'S ANGER.
Several Sizes Too Big Remixed.
2010
"IF? is making a habit of these remix-gem LPs and this time they’ve pulled together a superb international roster to man-handle some tunes by British electro/tech/dubstep man Luke’s Anger. Tops here are the mixes by Donk Boys, Ben Mill, Wyndell Long and Little Nobody, plus an insane interpretation by Chris Kubex. The originals, provided here, also shine through. Quality stuff all round."
- VIRTUAL MUSIC MAGAZINE
CUT BIT MOTORZ.
Dry Fruit: Made in Japan Mixes.
2010
"Japanese veterans DJ Wada (Co-Fusion), Takashi Watanabe (DJ Warp), Toshiyuki Yasuda (Robo*Brazileira) and Tomi Chair give a leg up to new Japanese kid on the block Cut Bit Motorz – by remixing his superb tune. The result is a recipe of cool electronica, from more progressive (Tomi Chair) to tech house (Watanabe) and eclectic (Yasuda). DJ Wada’s stunning mix drifts towards old an skool Nitzer Ebb/acid techno flavour and is the icing on a wonderful cake – Japan style."
- VIRTUAL MUSIC MAGAZINE
FUNK GADGET.
Blah Blah Mixes.
2010
"The third Slidebar vinyl just so happens to be remixes of a track knocked together by Andrez Bergen (aka Funk Gadget). His original and the [Paul] Birken mix are the ones I'm grooving to, I'm sure the other ones - while not my cup of tea - are going to be equally appreciated by people with tastes other than what I have."
- TREVOR WILKES, FUN IN THE MURKY /
BLEEP RADIO
VARIOUS.
IF100.
2009
"When this sprawling 2CD label retrospective first dropped into my lap, I couldn’t believe IF? had already reached 100 releases – but then again it has been a good 15 years since Tokyo-based Melbourne expat Andrez Bergen (aka Little Nobody) first founded the label way back in 1995.
IF100 collects together 30 previously unreleased tracks from an exclusively Melbourne-based selection of artists both old and new to the label, with several international remixers including Shin Nishimura and Patrick Pulsinger also contributing their skills. It’s also a collection that covers a surprising breadth of styles, reflecting IF?’s eclectic tendencies. While Isnod’s eerie Pripyat opens proceedings with the sort of foreboding icy cinematic synthscapes you might associate with a John Carpenter score, Dsico also makes a welcome reappearance, almost unrecognisably reshaping DJ Fodder’s classic Cocaine Speaking into a punk-funk fugue that recalls a tranqued out LCD Soundsystem.
There’s also a discernible focus upon stripped back, leftfield techno sounds, with Patrick Pulsinger’s impressive reworking of Funk Gadget’s Blah Blah offering a jacking wander through clanging assembly-line textures, vampy electro-disco synths and burbling analogue bass that’s easily one of this compilation’s most immediately infectious dancefloor moments. While there’s a firm emphasis upon more rattling sounds, those with a taste for the more spacious and streamlined side of things are well catered for with the inclusion of spectral moments such as Alkan’s gorgeous Trentemøller-esque In Your Skin."
- CHRIS DOWNTON, 3D WORLD MAGAZINE (Sydney, Australia)
IF100 collects together 30 previously unreleased tracks from an exclusively Melbourne-based selection of artists both old and new to the label, with several international remixers including Shin Nishimura and Patrick Pulsinger also contributing their skills. It’s also a collection that covers a surprising breadth of styles, reflecting IF?’s eclectic tendencies. While Isnod’s eerie Pripyat opens proceedings with the sort of foreboding icy cinematic synthscapes you might associate with a John Carpenter score, Dsico also makes a welcome reappearance, almost unrecognisably reshaping DJ Fodder’s classic Cocaine Speaking into a punk-funk fugue that recalls a tranqued out LCD Soundsystem.
There’s also a discernible focus upon stripped back, leftfield techno sounds, with Patrick Pulsinger’s impressive reworking of Funk Gadget’s Blah Blah offering a jacking wander through clanging assembly-line textures, vampy electro-disco synths and burbling analogue bass that’s easily one of this compilation’s most immediately infectious dancefloor moments. While there’s a firm emphasis upon more rattling sounds, those with a taste for the more spacious and streamlined side of things are well catered for with the inclusion of spectral moments such as Alkan’s gorgeous Trentemøller-esque In Your Skin."
- CHRIS DOWNTON, 3D WORLD MAGAZINE (Sydney, Australia)
VARIOUS.
Zeitgeist 3.
1997
"Melbourne’s IF? Label delivers another knockout collection of predominantly Victorian, predominantly four-on-the-floor beats. Standing out from quality minimal techno sounds are Artifical’s (Nicole of B(if)tek’s solo project) witty acid funk track Authority Over The Fish, the sci-fi soundscape-meets-breakbeat Nobody’s Driving from Little Nobody, and the muted drone’n’bass of Whatever Man’s Glass And A Half.
Elsewhere TR-Storm and Sayaka drop some very spatial and well-produced acid techno tracks full of effects, filtering, and funky hi-hats proving that there might still be life and new sounds to be squeezed and tweaked out of the genre. Jammin' Unit contributes a raucous remix of Krang’s Acid Plastik and there is the inclusion of the Dirty House classic, Cinnamon’s Ohh Yeah, both of which seem a little out of place amongst the more cinematic sounding other tracks. Stunning packaging and nicely intro-ed and outro-ed, the compilation as a whole is well worth the investment."
- SEB CHAN, 3D WORLD, Sydney (2007)
Elsewhere TR-Storm and Sayaka drop some very spatial and well-produced acid techno tracks full of effects, filtering, and funky hi-hats proving that there might still be life and new sounds to be squeezed and tweaked out of the genre. Jammin' Unit contributes a raucous remix of Krang’s Acid Plastik and there is the inclusion of the Dirty House classic, Cinnamon’s Ohh Yeah, both of which seem a little out of place amongst the more cinematic sounding other tracks. Stunning packaging and nicely intro-ed and outro-ed, the compilation as a whole is well worth the investment."
- SEB CHAN, 3D WORLD, Sydney (2007)
LITTLE NOBODY.
Action Hero.
2000
"Sample-heavy Australian record that if we were being terribly lazy we might describe as ‘a bit like a more leftfield Avalanches, only better’. Generally quite old skool industrial in sound, this periodically throws some incongruous acid/filter house party shapes, which is a bit like Gordon Brown breaking off from talking about monetary policy to dance the can-can. And we all know how great that is."
- DUNCAN BELL Muzik Magazine, UK (2001)
"Little Nobody is in fact a somebody, that somebody being Andrez Bergen, of Melbourne. He writes in the street press about obscure electronic music most weeks. When he DJs, he plays obscure records in a very obscure way. He also hosts an obscure radio program on obscure 3PBS. And he runs an obscure record label called, obscurely, IF? Thus his second album is kind of obscure. But it's also full of fascinating manic spirit, a refusal to simply settle down and be normal, which is, of course, brilliant. His record is like watching a wayward slideshow on crazy loops - and he spans the encyclopaedia of electronica within 15 tracks. Drum 'n' bass, techno, house, hip hop, sound collage, ambience.
He can do all that. The jacking, snarly house tracks are wild. Apocoloppola, a lysergic, obsessive collage of film dialogue and weirdness, is stunning. And the hip hop tracks are unforgettable."
- CHRIS JOHNSTON, The Age, Australia (2001)
"Through a dense swirl of washed out audio snippets and atmospheric tones comes the rising sounds of helicopters mixed into a cavalry charge and excerpts from the likes of Full Metal Jacket and Deep Impact.
All pushed, squashed and manipulated amongst other various other sounds into one pulsing, confusing mess, it's the arthouse with the multiplex, the dense with the soothing, all crushed into this weird filmic atmospheric amalgam. It's this, Apocoloppola, the album opener to 'Action Hero', that provides a unique insight into Little Nobody's creative drive and desire to fuse seemingly disparate elements into new, unique and cohesive forms. On an album that weaves the diverse and often mutually exclusive strands of techno, house, drum 'n' bass, disco, ambient, jazz and electro - often within the same track - it's clear that Nobody doesn't like to be pinned down. Whether it's his indecisiveness or the result of a fanatical knowledge of the electronic form (and the desire not to leave anything out), Little Nobody laces his music with an innovative sense of spontaneity and quirkiness. As such 'Action Hero' is literally brimming with raspy vocal grabs, bizarre hisses and various other assorted noise oddities over all manner of beats. For examples of his catchy weirdness look no further than Marcella's throaty guttural warbling across the dark, haltering beats of Bare, or the cheeky fun of the self-explanatory Acid Hoe-Down. But perhaps it's the album closer Profondo Rosso Finito which best demonstrates Little Nobody's unexpected tendencies - with soothing atmospheres of noise and barely perceptible words over booming herbal beats, it drifts gently across the ether and, like many of the tracks on 'Action Hero', sounds nothing like any of the cuts that preceded it."
- MARK RAYNER, Zebra / Inpress, Melbourne (2001)
"For a brief moment, some years ago, it seemed that sampling might expand the vocabulary of rock music: the first three Young Gods albums, for example, offered persuasive evidence of how samples might be employed for their textual properties, rather than as mere signifiers. But the impetus was lost; rockist cliches proved too firmly entrenched to abandon and sampling returned to the realms of electronic music - where it could be found enhancing every track, but rarely serving as the focus. Now Melbourne artist Little Nobody (also known as Andrez Bergen) has bucked this trend and constructed an almost entirely sample-based album. His sources are suitably eclectic, ranging from Black Sabbath to Liberace, from Lady And The Tramp to Apocalypse Now, and a similarly playful sensibility prevails in the music - the 15 tracks here oscillating between wall-of-sound big beat (Nobody Plays Guitar) and an abrasive minimalism (Track 28) reminiscent of Autechre, between dubby ambience and classic acid house. This sonic catholicism can occasionally prove distracting but, in Bergen's defence, he takes a rough-hewn approach to the collision (and collusion) of sounds that prevents this collection from lapsing into the merely tasteful or clever."
- SHANE DANIELSON, The Weekend Australian (2001)
"The easiest thing to say about this album is that the now-hackneyed Little Nobody isn't a nobody at all.
Little Nobody is dance music journalist, DJ and IF? Records label honcho Andrez Bergen. With a little bit of luck, there will be less explaining to do in the years to come - 'Action Hero' is a mature album with plenty of merit, offering many surprises on repeated listening. This record works in the same way as DJ Spooky or Freddy Fresh or, better still, Laidback's 'International'. An enthusiastic mish-mash of styles that work together in the long-play format, bridged by the use of freaky samples, incidental scoring and a good belly laugh or two. Not surprising if you've ever read an article by Bergen, who holds an unnatural obsession for sampling - its art, politics and legalities. On 'Action Hero', he certainly does a lot of his own - legal or otherwise. The result is a fun record, sympathetic to a lot of styles. Yet direction-wise, you're in Little Nobody's own twisted bus of fun. The breaks are definitely more Coldcut-style hip hop than Plump DJs, with opener Apocoloppola a laid-back sample-friendly party track Freddy Fresh would be proud of. Other tracks, such as Devolution Maybe?, are more industrial than funky - although the housier Alright Already (which borrows a lot from classic Global Communication's The Way) will certainly have the clubs hopping. Also worth the ducats is the first single Bare, a lo-fi Portishead-style offering with freaky vocals from Marcella, and the bangin' acid-meets-country of Acid Hoe-Down, recorded with E. Many DJs create albums that reflect their influences. Most look only to the contents of their record box, while Little Nobody sources film, design, ideas and all forms of music. To reinforce the point, although known as a techno DJ who couldn't mix to save his life, Bergen delivers a largely breakbeat album that, when you stand back from it, is mixed perfectly, at least story-wise."
- STU CONNOLLY, Juice Magazine, Australia (2001)
PICK OF THE WEEK "In modern electronic music sampling has become commonplace. DJ Shadow and the like have given us entire sample-based albums and many of today's producers sample at will, cleaning and polishing each beat and bassline. Little Nobody's second release, 'Action Hero', takes the dirtier, darker sampling angle. The album follows many directions. Opening with snippets of cult films, raw blues Birthday Party-esque guitars over slow rackling hip hoppish beats, the album experiments with sounds incorporating live vocals with samples (often difficult to distinguish). Moving on from the hip hop fused beats, the album soon finds its techno feet with elements of electro thrown in with driving techno, bordering on industrial in parts, beats and harsh samples. More than a clean flowing sampling experience, the album follows a more butchering and hacking process with great results. Sampling allows the artist to showcase their own influences while at the same time showcasing their creativity in reinterpreting the sounds. Little Nobody has achieved this with an album heavy in contrasting styles and sounds, pieced together in a way so as to avoid a complete mess."
- ANTON BORSCH, 3D World, Sydney (2001)
"I didn't like this to start with, but it's definitely grown on me. You're a track and a half in before you get anything you could really call a tune, so it's incredibly slow to build, but I've found with repeated listenings you are best to just put it on and let it all sweep over you. The characteristic Nobody film soundtrack samples are all over the place, but with more collaging than on 'Pop Tart', LN's first album. Cocaine Speaking, from the Nine09 compilation, and Acid Hoe-Down are the straightest dancefloor tracks on here, and both very solid, showing the diminutive nonentity's more than capable in a range of styles. But in the end, the blunted cut-up madness and heady swerves of Plastiq favourite Nobody's Driving are 'Action Hero's high points, and the last track is 8 sublimely warm and inventive minutes. He's brave with the film samples (if you're a copyright lawyer looking for work, contact Andrez Bergen) and even braver selecting the spooky, jerky Bare, featuring mumbled vocals from Marcella, as the single. It's a brave piece of work all around."
- JONATHAN SYKES, Plastiq Digest, Sydney (2001)
"Containing the stop-go single Bare, Melbourne cut'n'paste artiste Andrez Bergen goes at this new collection like someone weilding an axe, felling great swathes of musical influences to carve out a sketchy freeway that declares no road rules & allows the tracks to jostle like demon-filled dodgems. Like its predecessor 'Pop Tart', this 2nd album's journey is littered with samples from the mashed memories of Little Nobody's cinematic & musical intake. As the moods mangle we crunch thru the gears of downtempo mysticism, jazzy breaks & pounding tech beats, each racing shift climbing towards overdrive without so much as a wave to indicate lane changes from our happy lead-footed driver. Things overheat as every conceivable sound source flies at the windscreen in full view of you & I (the passengers) before the battery starts to fry & we end up with an Acid leak by track 12 & then plow into a stadium-inspired wall of sound stack. Somehow we all make it & chug past the finishing line to the epic sounds of Profondo Rosso Finito." - PARIS POMPOUR, Drum Media, Sydney (2001)
"Few albums manage to cover as much sonic territory with as much musical cohesion as this mind-blowing release from Melbourne DJ and music journalist Andrez Bergen. Spanning abstract, yet funky hip hop breaks to slamming, yet quirky techno, the album is laced together with a variety of off-the-wall samples from film scores to complete a truly engaging musical journey. At times challenging and a tad self-indulgent, at times beautiful and haunting, there is no doubting that 'Action Hero' will make the most liberal ear perk up and take notice. Bergen is one of those rare producers that manage to take the best from a large cross-section of genres and make it his own."
- DANIEL STINTON, Hype Magazine, Perth (2001)
LITTLE NOBODY.
Wayward Seafarers.
2008
"This second download-only EP offering from former Melburnian now Tokyo-based expat Andrez Bergen, under his Little Nobody alias, emerges swiftly on the heels of his recent ‘Game Over’ EP and offers up another five distinctly eccentric new tracks that nicely continue his dense, glitchy stylistic trajectory.
If ‘Bonny Voyager’ manages to call to mind some collision between the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and a room full of jazz records being thrown down stairs, ‘Get Away From It All’ promises an escape that sounds anything but idyllic, as terse robot voices intone the title phrase over stuttering, minimalist breakbeats.
‘Jidaigeki Brekky’ meanwhile offers up a side-trip into rattling mechanical beats and Zen dojo samples, before ‘Wish You Weren’t Here’ closes things off amidst a wash of gently meandering melodic pads and unpredictable, skittering rhythms.
A leftfield electronic delight that’s well worth getting hold of."
- CHRIS DOWNTON, 3D WORLD, Sydney (2008)
If ‘Bonny Voyager’ manages to call to mind some collision between the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and a room full of jazz records being thrown down stairs, ‘Get Away From It All’ promises an escape that sounds anything but idyllic, as terse robot voices intone the title phrase over stuttering, minimalist breakbeats.
‘Jidaigeki Brekky’ meanwhile offers up a side-trip into rattling mechanical beats and Zen dojo samples, before ‘Wish You Weren’t Here’ closes things off amidst a wash of gently meandering melodic pads and unpredictable, skittering rhythms.
A leftfield electronic delight that’s well worth getting hold of."
- CHRIS DOWNTON, 3D WORLD, Sydney (2008)
VARIOUS.
Little Nobody presents Reaction Hero.
2001
"Besides being a renowned Melburnian DJ and IF? label boss who has supported internationals such as Jeff Mills, Squarepusher and Coldcut in recent times, Little Nobody is Andrez Bergen, Onion journalist par excellence. Unlike many reviewers (this scribe included), Bergen puts his creativity where his pen is, performing and constructing his own party starters for the people. Many succumbed to the cerebral beats of his 'Action Hero' album, released March this year, turning the rare trick of uniting disparate genres into a cohesive body of speaker stormers. Never one to shy from advice or assistance, Bergen recruited a myriad of national and international talents to reconfigure his 'Action Hero' works, producing this 'Reaction' double CD of lengthy, happenin' remixes. Hardly precious at all is our Andrez, nor cheap what with 'Reaction Hero' clocking in at a lazy 32 tracks. What you get is big names such as Tobias Schmidt, Si Begg and Brixton interpreting Andrez's action, as well as Oz guns including Nick Littlemore, Cinnaman and B[if]tek's Nicole Skeltys.
There's a world of Cocaine Speaking, plenty of tech-house marathons and hours of intuitive, driving electronica. It's an enormous work and further illuminates Bergen's star." (8.5) - JOHN CHALMERS, Onion magazine, Adelaide (2001)
"Take one Little Nobody, a notorious indie electronic label, and a whole lot of remixers and the result is a double-CD of the most eclectic remixes around. Little Nobody, aka Andrez Bergen, has been a man around town for years. Beginning his days as electronic music editor for industrial's Dark Angel, Andrez has paid his dues as remixer, editor, journo and all round nice guy. Being such a top cat, Andrez had the idea of inviting established local producers (Son of Zev, 5000 Fingers of Dr T and Nod), convincing overseas big guns (Tobias Schmidt, Si Begg) and extending the chance to a few talented no-names (The Alcoiids) to take their hand at reworking some of his original tracks. The result is a pleasing hodge-podge that travels the electronic train through the sounds of techno, drum and bass and way-out electronica. While the addictive Cocaine Speaking appears as complete remix or tasty sample in many of the 32 tracks featured, the individuality of each producer dominates, producing one of the most interesting and unique remix albums around."
- CHLOE SASSON, 3D World magazine, Sydney (2001)
"Fans of a little leftfield electronic indulgence should look no further than this latest release from Melbourne's If? Records and label founder Little Nobody. Featuring 2 CDs and some 46 tracks, 'Reaction Hero' follows on from Little Nobody's recent album 'Action Hero' with remixes from some of the world's most respected electronic artists. The release spans twisted hip-hop rhythms, weird breaks and quirky techno featuring names such as Tobias Schmidt, Si Begg and Yamaoka as well as new material from Mr Nobody himself. This is certainly a diverse and difficult listen, but well worth checking out for its innovation and forward thinking sounds." - DANIEL STINTON, Hype magazine, Perth (2001)
"This has been around a while - I lost my copy temporarily, and I'm now rediscovering a whacking 32 remixes of tracks from Little Nobody's excellent 'Action Hero' of earlier this year. I'm not sure about remix projects - they're getting popular. Be honest, do you think you'll ever look back and say "Kids, nothing could recapture the magic of the old remix project days"? Does it mean there are only a set few ideas in electronic music which are passed around ad nauseam by a bunch of like minded geeks?
Or does it mean the electronic music community is so equipped that to dash off a limitless spectrum of variations on a theme is the work of an afternoon? I'll take questions at the end, meanwhile lets pass Reaction Hero before the quartz-coated objective of the Electroscope. Andrez Bergen, for it is he, remains adept at locating film dialogue with the word "Nobody" in it, and calling in quality acts for collaboration. Tal's version of 'Action Hero' is fabulously chaotic, as is the LN Elektronische Doors rockout from SBS's Alchemy, both standing our from and ocean of deep house remixes of Cocaine Speaking. The original version of Nobody's Driving from his previous album 'Pop Tart' nestles pleasingly and helps the second disc flow, there are a couple of good versions of the single Bare with the scratchy, attenuated vocals of Marcella and a great version of Kinky Kabukist by 5000 Fingers.
The first disc hits the floor with four more, but wears off badly. Other remixers include Tobias Schmidt and Si Begg from the UK, Artificial, Beam Up and Steve Law from Melbourne, Vocoderman and Brixton from Europe and Magnet Toy and Yamaoka from Japan. Pnau's Nick Littlemore hides in there as B-Side Me.
It's hard to see the market for this when the original 'Action Hero' album was good and so self-contained, but nevertheless if you are a keen LN fan, better still a Cocaine Speaking nutter, there is some good music on here, and he's written very fulsome and entertaining sleeve notes on the collaborators." - JONATHAN SYKES, [clananalogue] Plastiq Digest, Sydney (2002)
"Doppio cd di remix dall'album 'Action Hero' di Little Nobody, attivo nella scena indipendente australiana più legata alle produzioni elettroniche. Uno spettro davvero ampio di lavori che spaziano dall'house all techno, includono divertissement digitali e astratte sperimentazioni hip hop-drum'n'bass, confinando con altri generi che fra beats, breaks e cambi di atmosfere ci rendono ulteriormente partecipi, qualora si avessero ancora dei dubbi, di quanto la contemporaneità in musica invada ogni angolo del pianeta. Molta carne al fuoco. Un primo cd con battute più sostanziose, fra cui la bella prova di Thobias Schmidt in 'Devolution Maybe?' e una serie di massicci remix di 'Cocaine Speaking' provenienti da artisti locali, fra cui emerge in particolare la techno ispirata dei Son of Zed. Nel secondo CD, maggiormente frammentario e un po' dispersivo, segnaliamo in particolare 'Jammed Up in Dub' di Brixton, un electro mantra d'ispirazione germanica, e una straniata cover di 'Light my fire' a cura dei LN Elektronische Ensemble oltre ad un contagioso mix di mister Si Begg, alias Buckfunk 3000. Nel complesso una miscela di elettronici ingredienti, remix dance e sperimentazioni assortite testimonianza dell'effervescenza nella terra dei canguri."
- Aurelio Cianciotta Mendizza, Italy
There's a world of Cocaine Speaking, plenty of tech-house marathons and hours of intuitive, driving electronica. It's an enormous work and further illuminates Bergen's star." (8.5) - JOHN CHALMERS, Onion magazine, Adelaide (2001)
"Take one Little Nobody, a notorious indie electronic label, and a whole lot of remixers and the result is a double-CD of the most eclectic remixes around. Little Nobody, aka Andrez Bergen, has been a man around town for years. Beginning his days as electronic music editor for industrial's Dark Angel, Andrez has paid his dues as remixer, editor, journo and all round nice guy. Being such a top cat, Andrez had the idea of inviting established local producers (Son of Zev, 5000 Fingers of Dr T and Nod), convincing overseas big guns (Tobias Schmidt, Si Begg) and extending the chance to a few talented no-names (The Alcoiids) to take their hand at reworking some of his original tracks. The result is a pleasing hodge-podge that travels the electronic train through the sounds of techno, drum and bass and way-out electronica. While the addictive Cocaine Speaking appears as complete remix or tasty sample in many of the 32 tracks featured, the individuality of each producer dominates, producing one of the most interesting and unique remix albums around."
- CHLOE SASSON, 3D World magazine, Sydney (2001)
"Fans of a little leftfield electronic indulgence should look no further than this latest release from Melbourne's If? Records and label founder Little Nobody. Featuring 2 CDs and some 46 tracks, 'Reaction Hero' follows on from Little Nobody's recent album 'Action Hero' with remixes from some of the world's most respected electronic artists. The release spans twisted hip-hop rhythms, weird breaks and quirky techno featuring names such as Tobias Schmidt, Si Begg and Yamaoka as well as new material from Mr Nobody himself. This is certainly a diverse and difficult listen, but well worth checking out for its innovation and forward thinking sounds." - DANIEL STINTON, Hype magazine, Perth (2001)
"This has been around a while - I lost my copy temporarily, and I'm now rediscovering a whacking 32 remixes of tracks from Little Nobody's excellent 'Action Hero' of earlier this year. I'm not sure about remix projects - they're getting popular. Be honest, do you think you'll ever look back and say "Kids, nothing could recapture the magic of the old remix project days"? Does it mean there are only a set few ideas in electronic music which are passed around ad nauseam by a bunch of like minded geeks?
Or does it mean the electronic music community is so equipped that to dash off a limitless spectrum of variations on a theme is the work of an afternoon? I'll take questions at the end, meanwhile lets pass Reaction Hero before the quartz-coated objective of the Electroscope. Andrez Bergen, for it is he, remains adept at locating film dialogue with the word "Nobody" in it, and calling in quality acts for collaboration. Tal's version of 'Action Hero' is fabulously chaotic, as is the LN Elektronische Doors rockout from SBS's Alchemy, both standing our from and ocean of deep house remixes of Cocaine Speaking. The original version of Nobody's Driving from his previous album 'Pop Tart' nestles pleasingly and helps the second disc flow, there are a couple of good versions of the single Bare with the scratchy, attenuated vocals of Marcella and a great version of Kinky Kabukist by 5000 Fingers.
The first disc hits the floor with four more, but wears off badly. Other remixers include Tobias Schmidt and Si Begg from the UK, Artificial, Beam Up and Steve Law from Melbourne, Vocoderman and Brixton from Europe and Magnet Toy and Yamaoka from Japan. Pnau's Nick Littlemore hides in there as B-Side Me.
It's hard to see the market for this when the original 'Action Hero' album was good and so self-contained, but nevertheless if you are a keen LN fan, better still a Cocaine Speaking nutter, there is some good music on here, and he's written very fulsome and entertaining sleeve notes on the collaborators." - JONATHAN SYKES, [clananalogue] Plastiq Digest, Sydney (2002)
"Doppio cd di remix dall'album 'Action Hero' di Little Nobody, attivo nella scena indipendente australiana più legata alle produzioni elettroniche. Uno spettro davvero ampio di lavori che spaziano dall'house all techno, includono divertissement digitali e astratte sperimentazioni hip hop-drum'n'bass, confinando con altri generi che fra beats, breaks e cambi di atmosfere ci rendono ulteriormente partecipi, qualora si avessero ancora dei dubbi, di quanto la contemporaneità in musica invada ogni angolo del pianeta. Molta carne al fuoco. Un primo cd con battute più sostanziose, fra cui la bella prova di Thobias Schmidt in 'Devolution Maybe?' e una serie di massicci remix di 'Cocaine Speaking' provenienti da artisti locali, fra cui emerge in particolare la techno ispirata dei Son of Zed. Nel secondo CD, maggiormente frammentario e un po' dispersivo, segnaliamo in particolare 'Jammed Up in Dub' di Brixton, un electro mantra d'ispirazione germanica, e una straniata cover di 'Light my fire' a cura dei LN Elektronische Ensemble oltre ad un contagioso mix di mister Si Begg, alias Buckfunk 3000. Nel complesso una miscela di elettronici ingredienti, remix dance e sperimentazioni assortite testimonianza dell'effervescenza nella terra dei canguri."
- Aurelio Cianciotta Mendizza, Italy
LITTLE NOBODY.
Game Over.
2008
"Ex-pat Melbourne producer Andrez Bergen (aka Little Nobody) has been a bit quiet on the local release front since his relocation to Japan a few years ago, but this four-track download-only EP released through Addictech signals his re-emergence.
In its original mix form, Game Over certainly carries all of Bergen's signature eccentric traits, blending snatches of bizarre vocal sampling with asymmetrical electronic rhythms and squelching, near-acid synths, but in this case, it's the reworkings that really impress. The Juice & Jelly mix heightens the paranoia factor, adding menacing vast sub-bass synth drones and contorted horror movie score samples to stellar effect, before the Pakistani Tory mix injects some exotic atmosphere, with the addition of hypnotically swirling Middle Eastern strings.
Finally, the closing Dereliction Due gets just as spacious and deconstructed as its title suggests. Head-bending stuff from Little Nobody that's well worth investigating."
- CHRIS DOWNTON 3D World magazine, Sydney, March 2008
In its original mix form, Game Over certainly carries all of Bergen's signature eccentric traits, blending snatches of bizarre vocal sampling with asymmetrical electronic rhythms and squelching, near-acid synths, but in this case, it's the reworkings that really impress. The Juice & Jelly mix heightens the paranoia factor, adding menacing vast sub-bass synth drones and contorted horror movie score samples to stellar effect, before the Pakistani Tory mix injects some exotic atmosphere, with the addition of hypnotically swirling Middle Eastern strings.
Finally, the closing Dereliction Due gets just as spacious and deconstructed as its title suggests. Head-bending stuff from Little Nobody that's well worth investigating."
- CHRIS DOWNTON 3D World magazine, Sydney, March 2008
LITTLE NOBODY feat. MARCELLA.
Bare (Remixes) EP.
2000
SINGLE OF THE WEEK
"Little Nobody sits at the more experimental end of the Melbourne electronic scene, creating a wonderfully intelligent and artful work here. 'Bare' is an imaginative blend of early 20th century German cabaret, 1980s Australian electro (hear the influences perhaps of Ash Wednesday and Ollie Olsen's Orchestra Of Skin & Bone) and today's refreshingly global electronic scene. And amongst the many reinterpretations of the song are 8-Bit's gloriously retro Eurotronica mix (very Telex) and Kandyman's hypnotic and swaggering industro hop restructuring."
- ANDREW MAST, Beat Magazine, Melbourne (2001)
"Little Nobody sits at the more experimental end of the Melbourne electronic scene, creating a wonderfully intelligent and artful work here. 'Bare' is an imaginative blend of early 20th century German cabaret, 1980s Australian electro (hear the influences perhaps of Ash Wednesday and Ollie Olsen's Orchestra Of Skin & Bone) and today's refreshingly global electronic scene. And amongst the many reinterpretations of the song are 8-Bit's gloriously retro Eurotronica mix (very Telex) and Kandyman's hypnotic and swaggering industro hop restructuring."
- ANDREW MAST, Beat Magazine, Melbourne (2001)
