Checking out lover's rock

Fans of the local music scene, be it indie, mainstream, ambient or folk are in for a hectic couple of days starting this evening, when a dozen of Taiwan's leading acts take to stages throughout the capital over the Valentine's weekend.

The fun begins tonight, when post-rock combo, Tin Pan Alley (錫盤街), hosts a release party at The Wall for its debut longplayer, Entering Another Tunnel (進入另一個隧道). Led by ex-female four-piece, Ladybug (瓢蟲) guitarist, Wan-ting (捥婷), the jangle guitar heavy post-rock act will sharing the stage with Sai Lu-lu (賽璐璐), another off-shoot of the once hugely popular all female combo, and indie scene newbies, Chasing Sparrow (追麻雀). The show starts at 9pm and tickets costs NT300.

If post-rock isn't your thing, then local politico-anarchist combo, LTK (濁水溪公社), will be getting up to its old tricks at the Underworld (地下社會). Crushing rumors about the long-serving punks' demise, the group's mouthpiece, Ko Ren-jian (柯仁堅) led his over-the-top combo on a mini-tour and set fire to instruments, smashed bottles and ridiculed authority with large doses of heavy distortion. LTK will be supported by Apple Monkey (蘋果猴子) and Kuohsi (國璽) and Mojo. The show starts at 9:30pm and tickets cost NT$250.

Ambient, alt-pop and folk take center-stage tomorrow, when three-piece, keyboard-driven combo Tizzy Bac brings its brand of Saint Etienne-inspired alt-pop to The Wall. Supporting and providing audiences with a contrast to Tizzy Bac will be rockers Menglo (夢露) and gothic metal act Lamentation(天譴九歌). The show starts at 9:30pm and tickets cost NT$300.

Elsewhere tomorrow, at the Underworld, local trip-hop and ambient acts 78BPM and Nylas will be getting all Portishead-like and atmospheric from 9:30pm onwards. One of Nylas' first outings since its superb mini-debut album, Where Are You My Dear Uncle K, hit record store shelves, the ambient two-piece trippsters will be out to impress. Tickets cost NT$300.

Taiwan's foremost man of music, Chen Ming-chang (陳明章) will be putting his Tamsui River Band (淡水走唱團) through its paces once again tomorrow night, when the folksy troupe take to the floor at Taipei's popular indie-venue, Witches Pub.

While Chen hasn't been as active in the studio in recent years as many of his fans would like, the guitarist and his backing band still pack a punch, especially when they fill sets with some of their mildly political and less pop-addled material. The show starts at 9:30pm and tickets cost NT$250.

Finally, Chang Cheng-yue (張震嶽), the icon of Gen-Y Taiwanese rockers will be performing a selection of his guitar and techno hits and misses with his backing band, Free Night, at Taipei's Red House Theatre. It will be the first of a mini-season of popular music gigs set to take place at the predominantly classical venue over the coming weeks. Coming shows will feature teen popsters IPIS (蟑螂合唱團) and Lin Wei-tse (林暐哲), who made her name performing with Faith Yang (楊乃文). The show starts at 8pm and tickets cost NT$600.