Initiated by Eslite music stores (誠品音樂館) in 2007, the annual vinyl mart expands to two venues this year.
While Eslite Bookstore in Taichung hosts Vinyl Underground in August, Taipei’s Dunnan branch has already transformed its basement gallery into a showroom packed with some 12,000 records issued by nine music labels.
Compared to previous editions, which included exhibitions, live performances and DJ shows, this year’s focus is more on vinyl records, says Wu Wu-chang (吳武璋), head of Eslite’s record store.
Though classical music makes up the bulk of the collection, rare secondhand Chinese-language albums, many dating back 20 to 30 years, are prominent among this year’s offerings.
“The 1970s and 1980s were the golden age of vinyl records in Taiwan. So [the secondhand collection] is like a review of the Chinese-language music during that time,” Wu said.
Albums by former pop idols Teresa Teng (鄧麗君), Bobby Liu (劉文正) and Tsui Tai-ching (崔苔菁) are among the most collectable in the eyes of their now middle-aged fans.
More recent performers include Julie Su (蘇芮), Taiwan’s pioneering female rocker from the 1980s, erstwhile Mando-pop queens Sarah Chen (陳淑樺) and Tracy Huang (黃鶯鶯), boy band The Little Tigers (小虎隊) and 1990s Hong Kong pop group Grasshopper (草蜢). There are also a few records by The Wynners (溫拿五虎), a popular boy outfit in 1970s Hong Kong that will hold a concert at Taipei Arena ((台北小巨蛋)) on March 13.
One record that particularly caught this reporter’s attention was by a very young and handsome Chow Yun-fat (周潤發) singing the theme tunes from several movies he did in the 1980s.
To vinyl enthusiasts like Wu, the merits of the music format are multifold: LP records not only deliver analog sound superior to most digital recordings, but can be appreciated works of art in their own right.
Some of the records at Vinyl Underground are of historical value, reflecting the values of the times in which they were made.
For example, The Songs of Ching Ching (菁菁之歌), a Mandarin-language record, was produced in the 1970s when all forms of media were closely controlled by the state. The tune entitled Song of Swimming (游泳歌) encourages listeners to go swimming and lead healthy lifestyles so Taiwan can “re-conquer the Mainland (反攻大陸).”
Patriotic sentiments can also be found on retired entertainer and singer Chang Ti’s (張帝) record The Nation (國家), made two years after the US broke diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979. A sermon encouraging Taiwanese not to forget their roots, the title track prompted a wave of Taiwanese expatriates to return home, Wu said.
Next year is Kaohsiung’s turn to co-host the fest.
As mega K-pop group BTS returns to the stage after a hiatus of more than three years, one major market is conspicuously missing from its 12-month world tour: China. The omission of one of the group’s biggest fan bases comes as no surprise. In fact, just the opposite would have been huge news. China has blocked most South Korean entertainment since 2016 under an unofficial ban that also restricts movies and the country’s popular TV dramas. For some Chinese, that means flying to Seoul to see their favorite groups perform — as many were expected to do for three shows opening
A recent report from the Environmental Management Administration of the Ministry of Environment highlights a perennial problem: illegal dumping of construction waste. In Taoyuan’s Yangmei District (楊梅) and Hsinchu’s Longtan District (龍潭) criminals leased 10,000 square meters of farmland, saying they were going to engage in horticulture. They then accepted between 40,000 and 50,000 cubic meters of construction waste from sites in northern Taiwan, charging less than the going rate for disposal, and dumped the waste concrete, tile, metal and glass onto the leased land. Taoyuan District prosecutors charged 33 individuals from seven companies with numerous violations of the law. This
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry consumes electricity at rates that would strain most national grids. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) alone accounted for more than 9 percent, or 2,590 megawatts (MW), of the nation’s power demand last year. The factories that produce chips for the world’s phones and servers run around the clock. They cannot tolerate blackouts. Yet Taiwan imports 97 percent of its energy, with liquefied natural gas reserves measured in days. Underground, Taiwan has options. Studies from National Taiwan University estimate recoverable geothermal resources at more than 33,000 MW. Current installed capacity stands below 10 MW. OBSTACLES Despite Taiwan’s significant geothermal potential, the
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chair Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) returned from her trip to meet People’s Republic of China (PRC) dictator Xi Jinping (習近平) bearing “a gift” for the people of Taiwan: 10 measures the PRC proposed to “facilitate the peaceful development of cross-strait relations.” “China on Sunday unveiled 10 new incentive measures for Taiwan,” wrote Reuters, wrongly. The PRC’s longstanding habit with Taiwan relations is to repackage already extant or once-existing policies and declare that they are “new.” The list forwarded by Cheng reflects that practice. NEW MEASURES? Note the first item: establishing regular communication mechanisms between the Chinese Communist Party
RSS