It has my name on it!

OK, so the first time I saw this was at a shrine, with flowers and sake offerings, at the holier than holy Kamakura, near Tokyo.

I was with my mate, Briony Wright, and we both nearly flipped out - I mean, who is lucky enough to have a beer named after them? Complete with katakana subtitles?

Ye gods.

Ends up the beer was not so cool, though. Bergen Brau is actually from South Korea, is el cheapo (like me), and tastes like crap.

Oh well - the can is funky enough.

Andrez DJ/live soundsystem @ TTAK, Tokyo

Did a crap DJ and sound system set last weekend for the TTAK crew here in Tokyo, and you can download the 60-minute bugger for free right HERE, courtesy of the cool people @ Fun in the Murky:

ANDREZ BERGEN, LIVE/DJ SET @ TTAK, TOKYO 30 MAY 2009

Tracklist:

1. Andrez Bergen - Merian Cooper
2. Little Nobody - Compulsion (Bitch Shift remix)
3. Little Nobody - Compulsion (Wyndell Long remix)
4. Little Nobody - Robota (Jammin' Unit remix)
5. Veronica du Lac - Because It Pays So Thin (Bill Youngman remix)
6. Little Nobody - Compulsion (Luke's Anger remix)
7. Little Nobody - Compulsion (Donk Boys remix)
8. Funk Gadget - Blah Blah (Patrick Pulsinger remix)
9. My Exit Music - Donkey Powder
10. Little Nobody vs. DJ Fodder - Cocaine Speaking (Dave Tarrida remix)
11. DJ Fodder - Busted Piano (A Quickie Opening Movement)
12. Little Nobody - Fear Of A Black Bat
13. Little Nobody - Poiseworks (Funk Gadget remix)
14. Little Nobody - Metropolis How?
15. Little Nobody - Compulsion (Koda remix)
16. Little Nobody - Get Away From It All (AB- mix)
17. DJ Rush - Jack Your Body
18. Little Nobody vs. Someone B.I.G - I, Gottaman (Il Capitano's Contraband mix)
19. Luke's Anger - Working Overtime
20. Little Nobody - Compulsion (Gadget Cassette remix)
21. Little Nobody - Compulsion
22. Little Nobody - All Humanoids Must Not Escape
23. Little Nobody feat. Toshiyuki Yasuda - Robota (Paul Birken remix)
24. Little Nobody - Alright Already (Si Begg remix)
25. Little Nobody - Krinkle Kut
26. Little Nobody vs. DJ Fodder - Cocaine Speaking (Jason Leach remix)

Messy as heck and warts included...

I was also quite smashed, and was getting a fair way there before I started playing at 12, using a turntable, two CD players, an FM tuner, a laptop that kept bumming-up and crashing, an iPod, and a dictaphone. One of the channels (the one with the dictaphone) seemed to drop out somewhere at the beginning of the set, but I couldn't be bothered fixing it.

Tracklist looks terribly self-indulgent, what with all the Little Nobody references, but most of these little numbers are the rather brilliant remixes I've been getting this year, so I just really wanted to throw them out there on a half-decent system. And man they work. The DJ Rush track and the Luke's Anger number I added in 'cos I love 'em. As you probably know.

DJing isn't really my niche these days (when was it? Ha Ha Ha!), especially going principally digital, so it's messy and I know there were lots of annoying mistakes in there and moments when I completely zoned out, focused instead on the next beer or getting tangled in the headphones cord, but overall it went down a treat and at least I didn't bust the crossfader.

Iffy Bizness interview @ Elektrax

There's a brand new propaganda bomb/interview thingy with me up on the way cool Elektrax site, and I'm thinking one or two regular readers here may be curious - if, indeed, there are one or two people who actually peruse this site (slack-arse that I am, I never bother checking stats). Anyway, here's a sample of my crap philosophizing:

“Yeah, I’ve kind of lost count exactly how many names I’ve worked under,” Bergen acknowledges from his base of operations in Tokyo, Japan. “Most of them were conjured up either as a joke, or with specific musical perimeters in mind, but then the lines get blurred and I forget which category I’m supposed to be focused on. It’d be frustrating if I actually cared.”

The interview in its entirety, which some people may find relatively self-indulgent and/or inane, while others might perceive it as historically interesting, is online here.

Hype out.