The lights were on and everyone was home at Eden last Saturday as the latest in the series of "Deep Inside" parties hit another level, with the East Coast sound of Stevie Wondaful and Dave Cee.
The New York-flavored beats and build-ups seemed to suit the crowd and when DJ Stevie Wondaful hit the decks and got into a groove everyone was dancing, or trying to find a place where they could get it on.
PHOTO: JULES QUARTLY, TAIPEI TIMES
Party organizer SL said before the free event, held every month at Eden, that he hoped it would put a glow on everybody's faces. Mission accomplished. It was refreshing to hear dance music that tended toward the underground, but still had a kick.
PHOTO: JULES QUARTLY, TAIPEI TIMES
The same night, still in New York, DJ Disciple was at Luxy, where the list of grade-A DJs keeps on getting longer. Born into a musical family (his father played piano for Miles Davis, his brother played bass for George Benson), Disciple mixed up his Brooklyn musical influences along with a 40-year range of tunes -- all put down with a lot of style. It was a good night out for music on Zhongxiao East Road.
This week, Marcus Aurelius and Jon Watson of Tensegrity Productions are back with another Friday-night-with-a-difference at Luxy. AK1200 and MC Dino step up to the plate with a US jungle/drum 'n' bass evening. AK started playing electronic grooves in 1989 and became influential through his record store in Orlando, Florida, called The Hottie Shoppe. AK1200 debuted with Shoottokill and his new record, Close Range, is the sound of the summer for D 'n' B. DJs Alicia Hush, Reason and Elements will be supporting.
At Room 18 the "White House" parties are picking up on Thursday (dress code: white; a mix of deep house and smooth people) and the next one's on the 26th this month. Tonight at the Warner Village nightspot it's a dress-in-black hoe-down called, unsurprisingly, "Friday 13th." Dark, grimy gangster rap and hip hop will be the sounds of the night. Momma Mini! is the weekly Saturday night mini-skirt party, which entitles you to free entry if you wear a small skirt. It also gets you a free drink and a "lovely gift from Lancome." Organizers said guys in minis were welcome. "We need sexy, hairy legs too!"
At Ministry of Sound (MoS), project manager Peter Bowden said tonight and tomorrow "is going to be a full live set from G Club. Coming up we've got DJ Sneak, Leroy from Prodigy (that should be big) and an Ibiza foam party, a proper one."
The Vinyl Word pick is a seaside affair. Noodle has been added to the lineup and will one of the 25 DJs playing tomorrow night at "Lush on the Beach" in Ilan, facing Turtle Island. There will be two main stages and three main areas laid out for the party.
"This is a free party and the only way the promoters can get money back is by buying drinks on the beach, which will be cheap (NT$80 for a Corona)," said Francis Pepin, one of three organizers of the event. "There will be a fire on the beach, carpets to lie down on and even a little forest nearby that acts as windbreaker. We're marinating fruits into alcohol for the lush punch now."
As for whether Typhoon Rananim would disrupt plans, Pepin was adamant. "It's on, it's on, whatever the weather it's gonna be the same. We're gonna have tents set up on the beach and an indoor area, so whatever happens it's still gonna happen."
Cleanups of the beach have already happened, the mayor is behind the event and the Web site http://www.djmart.info/UDMC/photo/2004081401.htm provides full information. Basically, get yourself to Ilan Train Station and there will be NT$50 shuttle buses to take you to the party every 30 minutes. It starts at 6pm and carries on until 9am.
The Vinyl Word: "Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light." (with thanks to Dylan Thomas.)
What was the population of Taiwan when the first Negritos arrived? In 500BC? The 1st century? The 18th? These questions are important, because they can contextualize the number of babies born last month, 6,523, to all the people on Taiwan, indigenous and colonial alike. That figure represents a year on year drop of 3,884 babies, prefiguring total births under 90,000 for the year. It also represents the 26th straight month of deaths exceeding births. Why isn’t this a bigger crisis? Because we don’t experience it. Instead, what we experience is a growing and more diverse population. POPULATION What is Taiwan’s actual population?
After Jurassic Park premiered in 1993, people began to ask if scientists could really bring long-lost species back from extinction, just like in the hit movie. The idea has triggered “de-extinction” debates in several countries, including Taiwan, where the focus has been on the Formosan clouded leopard (designated after 1917 as Neofelis nebulosa brachyura). National Taiwan Museum’s (NTM) Web site describes the Formosan clouded leopard as “a subspecies endemic to Taiwan…it reaches a body length of 0.6m to 1.2m and tail length of 0.7m to 0.9m and weighs between 15kg and 30kg. It is entirely covered with beautiful cloud-like spots
For the past five years, Sammy Jou (周祥敏) has climbed Kinmen’s highest peak, Taiwu Mountain (太武山) at 6am before heading to work. In the winter, it’s dark when he sets out but even at this hour, other climbers are already coming down the mountain. All of this is a big change from Jou’s childhood during the Martial Law period, when the military requisitioned the mountain for strategic purposes and most of it was off-limits. Back then, only two mountain trails were open, and they were open only during special occasions, such as for prayers to one’s ancestors during Lunar New Year.
March 23 to March 29 Kao Chang (高長) set strict rules for his descendants: women were to learn music or cooking, and the men medicine or theology. No matter what life path they chose, they were to use their skills in service of the Presbyterian Church and society. As a result, musical ability — particularly in Western instruments — was almost expected among the Kao women, and even those who married into the family often had musical training. Although the men did not typically play instruments, they played a supporting role, helping to organize music programs such as children’s orchestras, writes
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