“Since we have been back from our last Taiwan tour,” said Diccon Mayfield of the Supermilkmen, which play tomorrow at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel, in Jhonghe City, Taipei County, “we have played with the likes of Calvin Harris, Rusko, Crystal Fighters, SubFocus, DJ Yoda and also played at Mixmag’s summer jam at the legendary Egg Club.” Not bad for a DJ duo who had barely played together live before landing on these shores in March.
Since playing at Bliss and the now defunct Rise at DV8, Mayfield and Joseph Shells’ stars have been in the ascendancy. “We have been geeking out in the studio producing for Killa Kela, who is one of the world’s top beatboxers and huge right now, as well as Bashy, who is up there with Dizzee Rascal in Europe at the moment,” said Mayfield. “One of the most exciting things for us was getting to number one twice on Hype Machine’s hot play list above people like Chemical Brothers and Jay Z.”
They arrived here yesterday on the first leg of a nine-day tour of Asia.
Supermilkmen’s first major EP, entitled Dancefloor Liquor, comes out in October and features Bashy, said Mayfield.
One of many parties tomorrow up north, the Four Points’ lineup includes Marcus Aurelius, vDub and Mr Blends on the ones and twos, plus Babble-on and Shaman from THC (Taipei Hip-hop Crew, H中P在台北) on the mic.
Supermilkmen vs the Fantastic Four, tomorrow at Four Points by Sheraton Hotel (福朋喜來登飯店), 631, Jhongjheng Rd, Jhonghe City, Taipei County (台北縣中和市中正路631號). Admission is NT$700 before 11pm and NT$800 after, includes a drink. There is a shuttle bus from Jingan MRT Station (景安捷運站) between 9pm and 11pm. Visit www.supermilkmen.com for other gigs in Taiwan.
Perhaps the edgiest named of nights to hit Taipei, Hard as Fuck at China White is hosted by Bobby Bonestorm, Edify and Anti-Hero, playing a mixture of Baltimore club and electro, plus the genre of the moment, dubstep, whose two-step heavy bass line has been blowing up the airwaves.
“A common refrain I heard in the earlier days of dubstep [often from my own lips],” says Bonestorm, “was ‘I have been waiting for this sound for a long time.’”
“Dubstep has deep roots and can be traced back to Jamaica and the mobile sound system,” says Bonestorm. “It was the communal convergence around amplified bass where music was driven beyond a solely aural experience and became [a] physical force.”
From there it evolved from the dub music of the 1970s with Lee “Scratch” Perry and then became part of the 1980s post-punk bands such as The Clash and The Police.
“The mid 1990s are where I start to see the coils of modern dubstep start to writhe and unwind,” continues Bonestorm. “This awakening can be witnessed in the early industrial dub fusions of Mark Stewart, Tackhead Sound System, Techno Animal [aka J.K. Flesh and The Bug], and Scorn, a true pioneer.”
As with many a style, “it has evolved ... moving in innumerable different trajectories such as techno bass, wonky, funky, aquacrunk, West Coast style and bangers,” says Bonestorm.
To sample Bonestorm’s wares, a mix is available for download from www.waakao.com/en/music/djs/193-bobby-bonestorm-busted-dome-mixtape-dubstep.
For hard, heavy and extremely current tracks, China White will be big and bassy tomorrow.
Hard as Fuck at China White, 2F, 97-101, Dunhua S Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市敦化南路二段97-101號2樓) tomorrow from 11pm until 5am. Admission is NT$300 on the door and includes a drink.
Sept.16 to Sept. 22 The “anti-communist train” with then-president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) face plastered on the engine puffed along the “sugar railway” (糖業鐵路) in May 1955, drawing enthusiastic crowds at 103 stops covering nearly 1,200km. An estimated 1.58 million spectators were treated to propaganda films, plays and received free sugar products. By this time, the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corporation (台糖, Taisugar) had managed to connect the previously separate east-west lines established by Japanese-era sugar factories, allowing the anti-communist train to travel easily from Taichung to Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港). Last Sunday’s feature (Taiwan in Time: The sugar express) covered the inauguration of the
The corruption cases surrounding former Taipei Mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) head Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) are just one item in the endless cycle of noise and fuss obscuring Taiwan’s deep and urgent structural and social problems. Even the case itself, as James Baron observed in an excellent piece at the Diplomat last week, is only one manifestation of the greater problem of deep-rooted corruption in land development. Last week the government announced a program to permit 25,000 foreign university students, primarily from the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, to work in Taiwan after graduation for 2-4 years. That number is a
In a stark demonstration of how award-winning breakthroughs can come from the most unlikely directions, researchers have won an Ig Nobel prize for discovering that mammals can breathe through their anuses. After a series of tests on mice, rats and pigs, Japanese scientists found the animals absorb oxygen delivered through the rectum, work that underpins a clinical trial to see whether the procedure can treat respiratory failure. The team is among 10 recognized in this year’s Ig Nobel awards (see below for more), the irreverent accolades given for achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think.” They are not
This Qing Dynasty trail takes hikers from renowned hot springs in the East Rift Valley, up to the top of the Coastal Mountain Range, and down to the Pacific Short vacations to eastern Taiwan often require choosing between the Rift Valley with its pineapple fields, rice paddies and broader range of amenities, or the less populated coastal route for its ocean scenery. For those who can’t decide, why not try both? The Antong Traversing Trail (安通越嶺道) provides just such an opportunity. Built 149 years ago, the trail linked up these two formerly isolated parts of the island by crossing over the Coastal Mountain Range. After decades of serving as a convenient path for local Amis, Han settlers, missionaries and smugglers, the trail fell into disuse once modern roadways were built