The weekend begins with a pair of Irish imports parachuting into Luxy. Chris Agnelli and Robbie Nelson have been a duo on the decks since 1997 as well as writing and producing their own trance dance material. Their classics Everyday and El Nino helped define the Ibiza sound. Their major remixes include tracks from U2, Ferry Corsten and Armin van Buuren. They've provided six guest mixes for BBC Radio One and appeared on Top of the Pops. Their gig tonight is the first leg of a tour that will take them to Singapore and Bali before buzzing on to Oz.
Swank makes a splash in Taichung tomorrow with the third annual Aquaboogie. Highlights this year include the poolside palatables as Taichung's FM Bar and Restaurant will be there all day serving up a limited menu, and Shawn Kidd from The Dive Cafe will be blending up his famous Rum Bellini's. Harbin beer will be on tap and there'll be plenty of free Swank T-shirts on the rack. On the music menu is "everything from hip hop to electro," according to the organizers, with Swank DJs Declan, D'Jones, Matty D and Kriz. Joining them will be Taipei's old skool principal, Marcus Aurelius and Jr. and Megan spinning deep funky house. Revevolution's Chi Funk and Boyan from Bobo's will also be on hand. Things will get going at 1pm and continue until 10pm. The pool is inside Zhongzhung Park, at 100 Xuexi Rd in Taichung (台中市北區學士路100號) Check out http://www.swank-dj.com for more information, including directions in both Chinese and English and a printable map. And if a long hot day in the sun isn't enough for you, Aquaboogie will dry off at Panerai Bar starting around 11pm. Admission is free and beers will cost NT$100. Panerai is located in Taichung at 560 Wenshin Rd Sec 1 (台中市文新路一段560號).
Also tomorrow night, albeit closer to home, Eden will host a special edition of Deep Inside. What's special? Well, as half of the regular Deep Inside duo, DJ Saucey, is on hiatus, DJ SL will be joined by Pierre and Marc Ketts of the Beat Symposium. Eden is at 12F, 98 Zhongxiao E Rd, Sec 4, in Taipei (北市忠孝東路四段98號12號).
PHOTOS COURTESY OF TAIWAN FOOD FESTIVAL
In other news, Brian McGuire, who dance floor fans will remember as the towering DJ from LA who paid an extended visit to Taipei over the winter, appeared on the UK's DJ Source Radio (http://www.djsourceradio.co.uk) with his set Live in Taipei this past Sunday. While the set wasn't live, it was a mix of sets he performed during his stay here. We learned of it too late to include in last week's The Vinyl Word, but tuned in for a bit of dance floor deja vu. Way to go, Brian, and we hope you make it back again soon.
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su
It’s hard to know where to begin with Mark Tovell’s Taiwan: Roads Above the Clouds. Having published a travelogue myself, as well as having contributed to several guidebooks, at first glance Tovell’s book appears to inhabit a middle ground — the kind of hard-to-sell nowheresville publishers detest. Leaf through the pages and you’ll find them suffuse with the purple prose best associated with travel literature: “When the sun is low on a warm, clear morning, and with the heat already rising, we stand at the riverside bike path leading south from Sanxia’s old cobble streets.” Hardly the stuff of your
April 22 to April 28 The true identity of the mastermind behind the Demon Gang (魔鬼黨) was undoubtedly on the minds of countless schoolchildren in late 1958. In the days leading up to the big reveal, more than 10,000 guesses were sent to Ta Hwa Publishing Co (大華文化社) for a chance to win prizes. The smash success of the comic series Great Battle Against the Demon Gang (大戰魔鬼黨) came as a surprise to author Yeh Hung-chia (葉宏甲), who had long given up on his dream after being jailed for 10 months in 1947 over political cartoons. Protagonist