If choice is a sign of progress, then Taipei is moving up the ladder this weekend with major dance parties tonight and tomorrow night at some of the city's nightclubs.
Room 18 will be front and center by throwing the Big Beat Boutique frontlined by DJ Touche and James Lavelle from the Mo'Wax crew tonight. Lavelle, who founded the Mo'Wax label that features DJ Shadow and DJ Krush, as well as his own trip-hop outfit called UNKLE, has been the man behind groundbreaking acid jazz and break beat for more than a decade. Before starting Mo'Wax, Lavelle was into New York hip hop and early electronica and later the acid house and break beat styles that changed dance culture in England in the mid-1990's, which makes his own music a mind-blowing fusion of all these genres.
Another option for tonight is to check out high-energy DJ Mea at Plush for what promises to be a full-on Californian progressive techno assault. If the James Lavelle show is too tempting, though, you can catch Mea again at 2F tomorrow night for an evening called Girls on Top with other lady DJs Vesta and Nina of Taiwan.
But if you go to 2F for the DJ Mea show, it might cut into your time at Deep for the party called Velvet Curve, being organized by Lady J Productions. "We're looking for something different and uplifting. It's going to be a house party and we want people to come out and smile for once," said Janis Robinson, who provides the J in Lady J Productions.
Velvet Curve has lined up Room 18 resident DJ Chozie to headline the show with his signature progressive house and break beats and has a roster of expat DJs who have cut their teeth at places like 2F, as well as live act Alien Resonance. The theme, "an evening of style and funk," should clue people in that the music is going to be heavy on the funky bass lines with some refreshing soul and trip hop thrown in.
Deep has tended to aim rather upmarket, but that's led to some confusion as to whether it's a wine bar or a dance spot. Velvet Curve may help clear the air with some loungier music that would make standing on the sidelines listening to the music as enjoyable as actually dancing to it.
For something entirely different tomorrow, think about heading to Chiufen, the once quaint town that appeared in Hou Hsiao-hsien's (
Big Beat Boutique
Room 18, tonight 9:30pm, NT$800 at the door. DJ Mea, Girls on Top
Plush, tonight 10pm, NT$700; 2F, tomorrow 10pm, NT$600 or NT$500 in advance at Tower Records and Rose Records
Velvet Curve
Deep, tomorrow 9pm, NT$700 at the door, or NT$500 in advance at Deep and Tower Records (available today only)
Mama I'm Very Happy (Mama我很快樂)
Chiufen Elementary School, tomorrow 6pm, free. To get there, take the train to Ruifang (瑞芳) and then the No. 19 bus or a taxi
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