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Vinyl junkies get ready for a fix

The collection of LP records at the Eslite record store range from the rare to the raw. PHOTO COURTESY OF ESLITE

As Taiwan has recently jumped on the global bandwagon of appreciating handmade goods as a counterpoint to the evasiveness of digital technology, it was only a matter of time when interest turned to vinyl records. Starting this weekend, Eslite music department initiates a 10-day feast on LP records that offer a completely different music-listening experience than the digital encoding of sounds.

"There is a surge of renewed interest in vinyl records in the US and Europe over the past five years and we think it's time for local music lovers to revive their old love or be introduced to the refined tradition," said the head of Eslite record store Wu Wu-chang (吳武璋), who has stocked LP records since last year.

Despite the small location, the event comprises numerous including exhibitions, record and equipment sales to live performances and forums led by music professionals and critics.

Album-cover designs by Xiao Qing-yang (蕭青陽) hang on the walls of the basement gallery. Nominated for a Grammy in the Best Package Award category in 2005, Xiao is best known for his lauded works for Taiwan Colors Music (角頭音樂) and a long list of album are for stars Chang Chen-yue (張震嶽), Faith Yang (楊乃文) and Cheers Chen (陳綺貞).

For Your Information: What: Vinyl Underground — Renaissance of LP（黑膠文藝復興運動） Where: Art gallery at Eslite Bookstore Dunnan branch (誠品敦南 B2藝文空間), B2, 245 Dunhua S Rd Sec 1, Taipei (台北市敦化南路一段 245號B2) When: Tonight through March 18 from 11am to 11pm. For detailed schedules on forums and music performances, visit www.wretch.cc/blog/eslitemusic

"Through the exhibition of Xiao's cover designs, we want to show the tradition of LP-record making where the album covers are deemed as important as the music itself. Some were created by famed artists and have become collector's items," Wu explained.

In the jammed show room, a great variety of new and secondhand vinyl records are up for sales with stock from Joy Audio's collection of jazz and classical music and electronica and dance music from Species Records (有種唱片). The collection also includes of 1950s to 1990s rock and pop-music albums and avant-garde rock and metal sounds further add a colorful diversity to the fair.

Visitors also have a chance to browse the classical and hard-to-find vinyl treasures from celebrity collectors such as musicians Joy Topper (豬頭皮) and Summer Lei (雷光夏), eletronica-giants Lim Kiong (林強) and Taipei Times DJ poll winner Victor Cheng, architect and art curator Roan Ching-yueh (阮慶岳 ) and music critic Cora Tao (陶曉清).

If you are a LP novice and don't have gear to get into the vinyl groove, a wide range of equipment for both newcomers and professionals alike is on sale at the event. "One of the aims of our exhibition is to give everybody easy access to the sound of vinyl," said Wu, adding that the record store has seen an increasing number of young people expressing interests in its LP collection.

During the exhibition, live music performances by local indie bands and jazz outfits will pay tributes to music greats such as Miles Davis, Clifford Brown, Graham Coxon and Louis Armstrong. Jazz musician Peng Yu-wen (彭郁雯) will kick off the series tonight at 8pm. All performances are free of charge.

More gigs will follow if weather permits, as a troupe of 10 local DJs will show off their mixing and scratching at a party on Sunday.

"CDs and computers can never fully convey the full beauty of sound," Wu said encouraging "PC-bound music lovers, to come and join us in feeling the humanness and warmth of vinyl records."

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