New monthly night Caress continued last Saturday, the second installment of esoteric fun and a refreshing "no boundaries" music policy. A solid electro set from Schism pounded out tough, gritty beats with gnarly basslines, and a whole lot of soul thrown in. Exactly how good electro should be; not, you will note, a degenerate cacophony of tinny hi-hats and mindless grunting.
It was followed by a live PA with Stefan Kostarelis leathering an electric guitar over some experimental breaks by Hooker. Interesting stuff, and it would be good to see more collaborations — especially live — in a city so full of talented musicians, producers, and engineers. Bringing together elements of live and electronic music is certainly something Caress would do well to exploit.
An added attraction to the aural entertainment at Caress is the visual appeal of the great little venue itself. The VT Art Salon (B1, 45-47, Yitong St, Taipei, 台北市伊通街45-47號B1) is not only chock-full of, well, art, but it's one of the few spaces in the city where you can hang round the bar and listen to tunes in an intimate setting. Though, please, stop fondling the mannequins after hitting far too much of the lethal German home brew. You wouldn't do it in a museum, now, would you? Actually, maybe you would.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ARTIST
Luxy has two big nights tonight and tomorrow, giving us all reason to stash our sleeping bags and toothbrushes in the lockers, and camp out there for the whole weekend.
Tonight, Solutions continue their impressive sojourn at Sabbatical and if the last two weeks of stomping on the dance floor weren't enough for you, the boys will be joined by special guests Miguel Migs and Julius Papp, both renowned as much for their production wizardry as their skills purveying the finest West Coast house music on the decks. Expect a heaving dance floor, and sweaty shirts all round.
The madness starts again tomorrow, which is birthday bonanza night: Luxy and Taiwannights (www.taiwannights.com) celebrate their third and first anniversaries respectively. They play host to the awesome James Zabiela alongside, like, 463 other DJs over three rooms for what looks set to be a good old knees-up.
Still not found something to do? You could always stay in and not watch the television, as TNA wrestling is on Star World.
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