Contemporary
Electronic musician TM404 from Sweden will perform live tonight at The Wall (這牆), Taipei’s most prominent venue for indie rock artists. Also on the bill are a troupe of young, Taiwanese sound artists including HH, Lin Chin-han (林志翰) and Chang Yen-tzu (張晏慈). Tainan-based heavy metal band Burning Island (火燒島) will take the stage on Sunday with Bloody Tyrant (暴君) and Sideffect (賽德費). On Thursday, the venue hosts the latest installment of the Audition Night series designed to showcase new talent. Participating bands include Nipple Orange Band (捏爆柳丁), herfriends and Mofo Party (脫序派對).
■ B1, 200, Roosevelt Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路四段200號B1), tel: (02) 2930-0162. On the Net: www.thewall.com.tw
Photo courtesy of Kafka on the Shore
■ Shows start at 8pm
■ NT$900 tonight, NT$400 on Sunday and NT$250 on Thursday. Tickets for all shows, with discounts on advance tickets, can be purchased online through www.thewall.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Grunge/alternative rock band Cadmium Red from Japan shares the stage with Taiwan’s Slack Tide tonight at Underworld (地下社會), a small basement club in Taipei. Psychedelic rock outfit Nipple Orange Band (捏爆柳丁) takes the stage tomorrow, and it is Japan’s OKAN and local hardcore/alternative rock outfit General Sky on Wednesday.
■ B1, 45 Shida Rd, Taipei City (台北市師大路45號B1), tel: (02) 2369-0103. On the Net: www.upsaid.com/underworld
■ Shows run from 9pm to 11pm. Underworld is open daily from 9pm, closed on Sundays and Mondays
■ Entrance for music shows is NT$300 on Fridays and Saturdays, which includes one drink, and NT$100 on Wednesdays
Punk rockers Feed Pigs (餵飽豬) perform tomorrow at Roxy Rocker, a basement hangout for indie rockers and fans in Taipei. Wednesday’s roster is pop rock group LGF from Singapore and Taiwan’s disco/post-punk outfit New Sunglasses (新墨鏡).
■ B1, 177, Heping E Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市和平東路一段177號B1), tel: (02) 2351-8177. On the Net: roxyrocker.com
■ Shows start at 9pm. Roxy Rocker is open daily from 8pm to 4am, closed on Mondays.
■ Free admission to all shows. Cover charge is one drink
Tonight’s show at Indie rock club Revolver features local acts Giant Lobsters (大龍蝦樂團) and The Fan (奮樂團) as well as South Korean groups Juck Juck Grunzi and Yello Loko. It is folk group TuT and Drontonics on Wednesday, followed by punk rockers Inhuman Band (非人物種) and blues rock band Celluloid (賽璐璐) on Thursday.
■ 1-2, Roosevelt Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路一段1-2號), tel: (02) 3393-1678
■ Show starts at 10pm tonight, 9:30pm on Wednesday and Thursday
■ Entrance is NT$300 tonight, NT$200 on Wednesday and NT$250 on Thursday. Admission includes one drink
Pop rocker FourKeys Band shares the stage with solo act Christ (伍澤) tonight at Witch House (女巫店), an intimate coffeehouse-style venue in the National Taiwan University area. It is Lemon Whirl Jazz Band tomorrow.
■ 7, Ln 56, Xinsheng S Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市新生南路三段56巷7號), tel: (02) 2362-5494. On the Net: www.witchhouse.org
■ Shows start at 9:30pm. Restaurant/bar with queer/feminist bookstore and large collection of board games, open 11am to midnight Sundays through Wednesdays, 11am to 1am Thursdays through Saturdays
■ Entrance for music shows is NT$300
All-boy pop/rock band What Century (花世紀) appears at Riverside Live House (河岸留言西門紅樓展演館). Tomorrow’s lineup includes Mando-pop singer Hsiao Hung-jen (蕭閎仁) and Aboriginal group Original Brew (原味醞釀).
■ 177 Xining S Rd, Taipei City (台北市西寧南路177號), tel: (02) 2370-8805. On the Net: www.riverside.com.tw
■ Shows start at 8:30pm
■ NT$400 for all shows. Tickets can be purchased online through www.riverside.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Led by saxophone player Tung Shuen-wen (董舜文), jazz combo Standard Time (標準時間) perform at Riverside Cafe (河岸留言). It is folk duo Light Engine (光引擎) and The Linlaus (拎老師樂隊) tomorrow. Pop singer and pianist Ray (劉軒蓁) and acoustic group Daydreams (白日夢) appear on Sunday, followed by Mr Busy (大忙人) and Singaporean duo Phaze (瘋十代) on Wednesday. Thursday’s lineup includes Bandage (OK繃) and solo act Iris (林綾).
■ B1, 2, Ln 244, Roosevelt Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路三段244巷2號B1), next to Taipower Building (台電大樓), tel: (02) 2368-7310. On the Net: www.riverside.com.tw
■ Show starts at 9:30pm tonight, 9pm tomorrow, on Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday
■ NT$400 tonight and tomorrow, NT$350 on Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday. Tickets can be purchased online through www.riverside.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Kafka on the Shore (海邊的卡夫卡), a coffee house-cum-music and arts venue in the National Taiwan University area, hosts noisy experimental rock group The Sign of Human (記號士) on Sunday with experimental singer-songwriter Wang Yu-jun (王榆鈞) as the special guest.
■ 2F, 2, Ln 244, Roosevelt Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路三段244巷2號2樓). On the Net: kafkabythe.blogspot.tw
■ Show starts on 8pm. Cafe/bookstore opens noon to midnight Sundays through Thursdays, noon to 2am Fridays and Saturdays
■ Cover charge is one drink
Tomorrow, Los Angeles-based singer and songwriter Liu Fang-i brings music from her new album to A House, a venue dedicated to a cappella and with a focus on classical, jazz and world music.
■ 18, Alley 5, Ln 107, Fuxing S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市復興南路一段107巷5弄18號), tel: (02) 2778-8612. On the Net: ahouse.vocalasia.com
■ Show starts at 8pm
■ NT$350, available online through www.walkieticket.com. Admission includes one drink
On Fridays at Italian restaurant Capone’s, it’s live music from electric blues band Bopomofo (ㄅㄆㄇㄈ). On Saturday, drummer Abe Nbugu Kenyatta leads a band playing music from his hometown of New Orleans. Yvonne sings classic jazz tunes Sunday nights. Mondays feature Leavy crooning light standard jazz songs, followed by jazz duo Mary Jane and Nathan on Tuesdays. On Wednesdays, it’s Latin music from guitarist Roberto Zayas. Jazz singer Angel appears on Thursdays.
■ 312, Zhongxiao E Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市忠孝東路四段312號), tel: (02) 2773-3782
■ Live music from 9pm to 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays, 8pm to 10pm on Sundays and 8:45pm to 10:45pm on weekdays
■ On Fridays, minimum charge of one drink. On Saturdays, minimum charge is NT$300
Acclaimed Aboriginal singer Samingad (紀曉君) performs every Thursday at EZ5 Live House, which hosts Mando-pop singers backed by a live band every night. Other highlights include Mando-pop songstress Julia Peng (彭佳慧) on Tuesdays and male crooner Shin Lung (辛龍), who performs every Saturday.
■ 211, Anhe Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市安和路二段211號), tel: (02) 2738-3995. On the Net: www.ez5.com.tw
■ Shows run from 9:45pm to 12:30am
■ Entrance fee (includes two drinks) ranges from NT$600 to NT$850, depending on the performer
Amis group Betel Nuts (檳榔兄弟) takes the stage tonight at Tiehua Music Village (鐵花村), an arts village composed of a music venue, craft shops and a weekend arts fair in Taitung. Also on the bill is young folk singers from Taiwu Elementary School (泰武國小) chanting ancient tunes of the Paiwan tribe. The venue hosts the third edition of its music competition tomorrow that aims to provide a platform for young musicians and offers cash awards totaling NT$100,000.
■ 26, Ln 135 Sinsheng Rd, Taitung City (台東市新生路135巷26號), tel: (089) 343-393. On the Net: tw.streetvoice.com/users/tiehua
■ Show runs from 8pm to 10pm tonight, the competition begins at 5:30pm tomorrow. Music venue and crafts shops open 2pm to 10pm Tuesdays through Sundays. Weekend arts fair opens 6pm to 10pm every Friday, 3:30pm to 10pm every Saturday and Sunday
■ NT$250 tonight and NT$200 tomorrow. Tickets can be purchased online through tickets.books.com.tw
Event
Taipei Discussion and Learning meets every Sunday at Wisteria Tea House (紫藤廬) to hear lectures and discuss topics such as philosophy, science, anthropology, globalization and alternative medicine. All discussions and lectures are conducted in English. This weekend’s lecture by Pierre Hirsch asks the question: Is sleep universal? It discusses the significance of sleep throughout evolution.
■ Wisteria Tea House (紫藤廬), 1, Ln 16, Xinsheng S Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市新生南路三段16巷1號)
■ Every Sunday at 8pm
■ Entrance is free. For more information visit www.taipeidiscussionandlearning.blogspot.com
A few weeks ago I found myself at a Family Mart talking with the morning shift worker there, who has become my coffee guy. Both of us were in a funk over the “unseasonable” warm weather, a state of mind known as “solastalgia” — distress produced by environmental change. In fact, the weather was not that out of the ordinary in boiling Central Taiwan, and likely cooler than the temperatures we will experience in the near-future. According to the Taiwan Adaptation Platform, between 1957 and 2006, summer lengthened by 27.8 days, while winter shrunk by 29.7 days. Winter is not
Taiwan’s post-World War II architecture, “practical, cheap and temporary,” not to mention “rather forgettable.” This was a characterization recently given by Taiwan-based historian John Ross on his Formosa Files podcast. Yet the 1960s and 1970s were, in fact, the period of Taiwan’s foundational building boom, which, to a great extent, defined the look of Taiwan’s cities, determining the way denizens live today. During this period, functionalist concrete blocks and Chinese nostalgia gave way to new interpretations of modernism, large planned communities and high-rise skyscrapers. It is currently the subject of a new exhibition at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Modern
March 25 to March 31 A 56-year-old Wu Li Yu-ke (吳李玉哥) was straightening out her artist son’s piles of drawings when she inadvertently flipped one over, revealing the blank backside of the paper. Absent-mindedly, she picked up a pencil and recalled how she used to sketch embroidery designs for her clothing business. Without clients and budget or labor constraints to worry about, Wu Li drew freely whatever image came to her mind. With much more free time now that her son had found a job, she found herself missing her home village in China, where she
In recent years, Slovakia has been seen as a highly democratic and Western-oriented Central European country. This image was reinforced by the election of the country’s first female president in 2019, efforts to provide extensive assistance to Ukraine and the strengthening of relations with Taiwan, all of which strengthened Slovakia’s position within the European Union. However, the latest developments in the country suggest that the situation is changing rapidly. As such, the presidential elections to be held on March 23 will be an indicator of whether Slovakia remains in the Western sphere of influence or moves eastward, notably towards Russia and