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THE VINYL WORD

MC Conrad, left, and TJ Bukem. PHOTO: COURTESY OF LUXY

Ever wonder what Luxy would be like if the always-crowded main room and the side-room switched places? Wonder no more. On the third day of the Lunar New Year holiday, Kaskade, a true house DJ from San Francisco and one of the most illustrious deep house producers/remixers under the internationally-acclaimed US-based record label, Om Records, headlined. The turnout was unbelievable: 2,500 people filled the place to the brim.

"There are way too many people here tonight," said Luxy habitue Andy Yu. "It's overwhelming. Even the hallway is packed. I could barely find a spot to dance. But Kaskade is awesome! Haven't heard this kind of deep groovy house in a while; it feels great."

"My legs are sore from dancing all night," said Alex Lo, another house music fan, who made a special trip from Taichung and who stayed in the upper level where there was more room to move freely. "I'd really like to get closer to the front but I'm not sure how to do that because it looks so packed down there," he said. "Nevertheless, to hear him playing so many of his own songs made us scream. The trip is definitely worthwhile!"

The other room fell out of favor that night. J6 , the music director of Luxy said, "There's no such thing as a hip-hop following here. It's more about where the bigger party is."

So will Luxy be taking house music into the main room more frequently in the future? "It will be on an occasional basis. Hip-hop is still going to be our main room music," J6 said. Whether you like that answer or not, house music has got a promising start at Luxy this year.

Another interesting foreign house DJ we saw there last week was Celeste, a female Thai DJ who expanded her career from Bangkok to Ibiza (Spain) last year and claims to be the first Asian female resident DJ on the Balearic island. (To listen to Celeste's tunes, visit www.myspace.com/sweetsoulsavage.)

Just watching the pretty DJ spinning records felt like a special treat to begin with. Technical aspects aside, her Balearic/soulful/funky disco house was refreshing and kept the crowd swaying and dancing throughout her set.

Talking about the best Asian country as far as dance music scene is concerned, the well-traveled DJ lauded Singapore for its multiple super clubs and record shopping. But the crowd in Taipei also left a great impression on her. "Compared to some other Asian cities, the people in Taipei seemed more educated and they enjoy dancing to house music very much," said Celeste, who just turned down a 3-month residency at a club in Beijing. "Taipei has got a nice vibe. I'd like to come back for sure."

On the local party forecast: Bump is back tomorrow with DJs Sona and Saucey at Bliss, located at 148, Xinyi Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市信義路四段148號). "We are hoping to bring the intimate deep house party vibe back to Taipei again. And we will re-arrange the furniture at the venue to make it more comfortable for a house party," Saucey said. Cover is NT$200.

Good news for junglists and music connoisseurs: LTJ Bukem and MC Conrad are coming to Luxy on Wednesday. The dynamic drum 'n' bass duo has never failed to deliver for the last 4 years in Taipei and their following is getting bigger and bigger each time. Ladies get in for free.
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