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The Vinyl Word

Victor Calderone will play a five-hour set at Texound tonight. PHOTO COURTESY OF TEXOUND AND CHRIS SOSTAD

Welcome to The Vinyl Word, a new regular feature on the dance-music scene in Taipei and beyond that will take a look inside the clubs and at the star DJs to find what's keeping the country up all night.

It wasn't a club night and it wasn't an outdoor event either, but the vibes were good in Taichung on the 19th to 21st floors of the Golden Plaza Rooftop Garden at the final Chi Funk party last weekend.

Quiet to begin with, "Purgatoria: A Heaven and Hell Party of Epic Proportions'" went on til 9:30am, with maybe 400 people in total and 250 at dawn. Fresh air currents, views of a big waning moon and the city's lights added to the atmosphere, which was uniformly friendly and mostly entertaining.

The music bounced along with a 70s funk Parliament feel and hit mixes were Rolling Stones Miss You with plenty of maracas, and a couple of tunes from K Fancy and DJ Saucey, who tag teamed and kept it fresh until RainboWarrior wrapped up with a four-hour set of his progressive tribal concoctions, lifting off with a spun-out version of Donna Summer's I feel Love.

DJ Saucey on the decks as DJ K Fancy finds something to smile about at the final Chi Funk party in Taichung last weekend. PHOTO COURTESY OF TEXOUND AND CHRIS SOSTAD

Though there were diversions, such as the fire-twirling shows and some questionable MCing, and even a wine bar and art spaces, the principal parts of a good party (getting mildly wasted, doing a jig and maybe getting laid) were all there. It was so good at one point that dimming the lights on eight years of Chi Funk parties seemed premature.

In fact, before playing his set at around 4:30am Chi Funk spokesman RainboWarrior didn't sound so sure it would be his last. He did confirm, though, that he and the other foreign and local DJs and artists that comprise the Chi Funk collective, would be taking off for either Spain or Brazil to spread the Chi Funk gospel. We hope they will be back soon.

Still in Taichung, Taipei's 2nd Floor is moving in on the action at the old E-Power super club. The place has been renamed [not unsurprisingly] Underpark and the team from Loop productions at 2nd Floor will be taking over promotions later in the year.

And that's not all for 2nd Floor, which is spreading its tentacles further into clubland with the opening next week of LUXY, a 1000-ping, three-floored monster on Zhongxiao East Road in Taipei.

Next week we will report further on the set up of the new club and its opening night. Names already being dropped as foreign guest DJs include Nick Warren, Laurent Garnier and -- if it comes off it could be the gig of the year -- DJ Tiesto.

In news elsewhere, DJ Chozie is in China for a Carlsberg beer tour and will likely be spending less time in Taipei to spin at the new Room 18 in Beijing.

The enterprising Aussie has built a strong following in Taipei and elsewhere and it's fair to say that no one on the scene can test him at the moment for building a set and producing genuine dancefloor excitement. It's the same old story, Taiwan's loss is China's gain.

This week's pick is Victor Calderone at Texound tonight. The Brooklyn-born-and-raised DJ made his name as a resident at the legendary Roxy. His credits include remixes of Madonna's Frozen, Sting's Desert Rose and Bette Midler ... all of which means he should go down well at the city's top gay dance club.

Check out Texound, B1, 217 Nanjing E Rd, Sec 3, Taipei (台北市南京東路三段217號地下一樓). From 11pm to 9am, entrance NT$800 or NT$600 before 1am.

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