If you've ever seen him in concert, you're sure to remember the name. Dirt Star is the indie-pop, punk-rocking guy with a Keebler elf haircut and cosmonaut suit. He might have been writhing around in his own spilled beer in front of the stage when you saw him. That might ring a bell.
He and his band of outer-space musicians have been frequent visitors to Spring Scream in years past and semi-regulars at Taipei's Underworld. Now he's returning from his adopted home of Shenzhen, China, to release his debut album The Score here in Taipei.
He's planned a weekend of events, starting with the album party and show at the Living Room tomorrow night, followed by a "Greet Dirt Star mini-show plus interview and autograph session" at Mo! Relax Cafe on Sunday afternoon.
Shino (林曉佩) and Hong Kong hip-hop DJ TKO will make cameo appearances at the Living Room gig.
But why put a DIY punk/indie-rock band in the Living Room?
"My original idea was I wanted to have 50 rockers in one room, really tight and sweaty and packed," Star said in a crackly phone call from Shenzhen. "I've never been there. I'm really excited."
What's the music like? Star says his shows were once described as "a rocket blasting off without a pilot" and that they are "as entertaining as the universe is vast," but even listening to the CD on your home stereo keeps the dopamine flowing.
I could make allusions to half a dozen obscure bands that Dirt Star sounds like (vocals reminiscent of Dynamite Hack!), but the best way to taste the band's fruity flavors is to sample the couple of tracks offered online (http://www.bubblegreentea.com).
Star put The Score together with a little elbow grease from Wan-ting (晼婷), the former Ladybug and current 7" Vinyl Records engineer. They cut the guitars and vocals to tape, "or rather hard disk" Star points out, then he stole away to his secret cave in the verdant hills of Shenzhen and went mad-scientist with it.
"The album was finished over a year ago," Star said. "Then I basically revamped every song like 20 times in a year."
His long-time collaborators K Sauce, Ant, Yen-hui, and Wen Feng provided the riffs, words, drums and squeaks, though not necessarily respectively. Star's not saying who did the squeaking.
The production quality is worth a mention. The Score was mastered at Hong Kong's Noise Asia Records by Dickson Dee, who deserves kudos for bringing the sound out of the box and putting it in the listener's head. He's kept Star's freshman effort from sounding like one.
Lastly, to get The Score in the hands of the multitudes, Star and his friends set up Bubble Green Tea records to "help bring the indie subculture of Greater China to the world."
Their Web site, promotional efforts and the album itself are enough to make you think "Gee, these punk-rock kids have their act together," which isn't something you'd normally think about punk-rock kids.
The launch party for The Scoreis tomorrow at 9:30pm at the Living Room, located at 3F, 8 Nanjing E Rd, Sec 5, in Taipei (台北市南京東路5段8號3F). Entrance is NT$300 and includes two drinks. Star's mini show will be at Mo! Relax Cafe on Sunday at 3pm. Mo! Relax Cafe is at 20, Ln 60, Taishun St, Taipei (台北市泰順街60巷20號).
In the March 9 edition of the Taipei Times a piece by Ninon Godefroy ran with the headine “The quiet, gentle rhythm of Taiwan.” It started with the line “Taiwan is a small, humble place. There is no Eiffel Tower, no pyramids — no singular attraction that draws the world’s attention.” I laughed out loud at that. This was out of no disrespect for the author or the piece, which made some interesting analogies and good points about how both Din Tai Fung’s and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) meticulous attention to detail and quality are not quite up to
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) hatched a bold plan to charge forward and seize the initiative when he held a protest in front of the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office. Though risky, because illegal, its success would help tackle at least six problems facing both himself and the KMT. What he did not see coming was Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (將萬安) tripping him up out of the gate. In spite of Chu being the most consequential and successful KMT chairman since the early 2010s — arguably saving the party from financial ruin and restoring its electoral viability —
It is one of the more remarkable facts of Taiwan history that it was never occupied or claimed by any of the numerous kingdoms of southern China — Han or otherwise — that lay just across the water from it. None of their brilliant ministers ever discovered that Taiwan was a “core interest” of the state whose annexation was “inevitable.” As Paul Kua notes in an excellent monograph laying out how the Portuguese gave Taiwan the name “Formosa,” the first Europeans to express an interest in occupying Taiwan were the Spanish. Tonio Andrade in his seminal work, How Taiwan Became Chinese,
April 28 to May 4 During the Japanese colonial era, a city’s “first” high school typically served Japanese students, while Taiwanese attended the “second” high school. Only in Taichung was this reversed. That’s because when Taichung First High School opened its doors on May 1, 1915 to serve Taiwanese students who were previously barred from secondary education, it was the only high school in town. Former principal Hideo Azukisawa threatened to quit when the government in 1922 attempted to transfer the “first” designation to a new local high school for Japanese students, leading to this unusual situation. Prior to the Taichung First
RSS