It might have been unusually cold in Taipei, but LTJ Bukem and MC Conrad made ladies night at Luxy the hottest action in town last Wednesday, also their best gig in Taiwan since 2004. Conrad did a lot more singing this time, adding jazzy, soulful and sometimes dubby layers to LTJ's specialty-blend of deep and grooving drum 'n' bass with his mesmerizing voice. The energy level was roaring high from start to end. It's hard to believe a drum 'n' bass party kicked off to such an extent in Taiwan.
"There is a major difference between this and the kind of parties where they have to use go-go dancers to get people excited," said Julia Chien, a drum 'n' bass fan from Taoyuan. "It's all about music and dancing here tonight. And it would be perfect if they were playing in the big room."
Other drum 'n' bass lovers wished for a revival of the local scene. "What you see tonight may make you believe that drum 'n' bass parties are big in Taipei, but actually they aren't," said Bryan Beemish (aka MC Beemer), who opened for LTJ and Conrad on their first visit. "There hasn't been any big drum 'n' bass parties like this in a long time."
PHOTO: COURTESY OF GARETH JONES
Party animals flocked to The Zoo in Taichung for Latex, a house party hosted by DJs Gareth Jones and Matty D (from Swank) last weekend. The Vinyl Word got caught up on the way and didn't get there till 2am, but the timing turned out to be just right. There was enough time to groove to some nice house beats as well as chill with laid-back Taichung folks and watch a fire-spinner doing his thing on the patio.
For those who are unfamiliar with Taichung nightlife, The Zoo is a cozy new venue in the popular bar/club strip on Daguan Road, near The Pig Pen and Lion King and features an indoor dance room and an outdoor patio and bar behind a sleek-looking white fence.
Spring Scream weekend is approaching, which means it's time to get warmed up. Here's a few events to get you in the mood.
* House at Paulina (tonight). This solid weekly house gig has been going for a while and gets lots of props for its deep, sexy and funky house music selected by producer/remixer/DJ Sona from Dallas, one of the finest foreign DJs in Taipei. (No cover charge. 167, Anhe Rd Sec 2, Taipei City, 台北市安和路二段167號).
* I Love Taiwan at P.P. (tonight). Show your love as DJs from South Africa, San Francisco, Canada and Taiwan gather in Kaohsiung. Hip-hop, house and electro grooves. (NT$250, B1, 10 Szuwei 4th Rd, Kaohsiung City, 高雄市四維四路10號B1).
* Jam On It at China White (tomorrow). Billed as a special event for those who love to party and socialize with foreigners. DJs Jr, Megan, Saucey, Gareth Jones spin house all night long. (NT$350, 2F, 97-101 Dunhua S Rd Sec 2, Taipei City, 台北市敦化南路二段97-101號2樓).
Rock 'n' Rave" at Liquid Lounge (tomorrow). By the Boogie Crew (the same people who threw the off-the-hook Xmas massive in Taichung last year.) Rock 'n' roll-influenced electronica is hot: Rockers rave and ravers rock. DJs Freaky Squeaker, Matty D, Victor Yeh and Ripper will be in the mix, accompanied by vocalist Kolette. (NT$350 before 12am, 98 Chungming S Rd, Taichung City, 台中市忠明南路98號).
Feb. 9 to Feb.15 Growing up in the 1980s, Pan Wen-li (潘文立) was repeatedly told in elementary school that his family could not have originated in Taipei. At the time, there was a lack of understanding of Pingpu (plains Indigenous) peoples, who had mostly assimilated to Han-Taiwanese society and had no official recognition. Students were required to list their ancestral homes then, and when Pan wrote “Taipei,” his teacher rejected it as impossible. His father, an elder of the Ketagalan-founded Independence Presbyterian Church in Xinbeitou (自立長老會新北投教會), insisted that their family had always lived in the area. But under postwar
The term “pirates” as used in Asia was a European term that, as scholar of Asian pirate history Robert J. Antony has observed, became globalized during the European colonial era. Indeed, European colonial administrators often contemptuously dismissed entire Asian peoples or polities as “pirates,” a term that in practice meant raiders not sanctioned by any European state. For example, an image of the American punitive action against the indigenous people in 1867 was styled in Harper’s Weekly as “Attack of United States Marines and Sailors on the pirates of the island of Formosa, East Indies.” The status of such raiders in
On paper, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) enters this year’s nine-in-one elections with almost nowhere to go but up. Yet, there are fears in the pan-green camp that they may not do much better then they did in 2022. Though the DPP did somewhat better at the city and county councillor level in 2022, at the “big six” municipality mayoral and county commissioner level, it was a disaster for the party. Then-president and party chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) made a string of serious strategic miscalculations that led to the party’s worst-ever result at the top executive level. That year, the party
As much as I’m a mountain person, I have to admit that the ocean has a singular power to clear my head. The rhythmic push and pull of the waves is profoundly restorative. I’ve found that fixing my gaze on the horizon quickly shifts my mental gearbox into neutral. I’m not alone in savoring this kind of natural therapy, of course. Several locations along Taiwan’s coast — Shalun Beach (沙崙海水浴場) near Tamsui and Cisingtan (七星潭) in Hualien are two of the most famous — regularly draw crowds of sightseers. If you want to contemplate the vastness of the ocean in true
RSS