It may be dark, cramped, and populated by strange creatures, but for those looking to support Taiwan’s underground music scene, Underworld (地下社會) is the place to be this weekend.
The second installment of Welcome to the Underworld, a music party thrown by promotion group and music label Back 2 The Future (B2TF, 回到未來), takes place this Sunday. Eight bands have been invited to play at the event, which will be professionally recorded.
“We want to put the focus on Taiwan’s bands,” says Wang Yuan Kang (王元康), aka Chosen (王秋生) from Back 2 The Future. “Actually there are a lot of good Taiwanese bands, and nobody does live recordings of them.”
The first installment of Welcome to the Underworld, which took place last month, consisted of bands ranging from Taiwan’s old-school indie-rock icons 1976, to up-and-coming indie-electronica act Sunset Rollercoaster (落日飛車).
Part 2 promises to be even more diverse, with no shortage of big names from the Taiwanese independent music scene, including dance-electro rockers Go Chic, who are fresh off a performance at Austin’s internationally renowned South by Southwest festival and the release of their debut album I Am Confused. The band’s sound is reminiscent of Le Tigre, with vocalist Ariel Zheng (鄭思齊) gyrating all over the stage to trashy beats and screaming synthesizers.
Other notable acts include Lily et Coco (哩扣), a refreshingly melodic post-rock band, 88 Balaz (88顆芭樂籽), whose high-octane brand of indie rock is a crowd favorite, and She Bang-a (死蚊子), which plays a quirky blend of instrumental experimental rock.
They will be joined Varo, an indie-electronica band that has garnered some international attention with airtime on BBC Radio 3, crust-punk and speed-metal band Bazooka (鐵拳火箭) and veteran blues-rockers Celluloid (賽璐璐). Metal-heads Ashen round out the lineup with some brutal grindcore.
Back 2 the Future was formed in April of 2008 with the aim of bringing international acts to Taiwan and giving exposure to local musicians. It has put on performances by artists including Carsick Cars from Beijing, Melt Banana from Japan and Dandi Wind from Canada.
“We just want to be a cool label.” says Wang. “Other labels and promoters always invite artists we don’t like, so we decided to do it ourselves.”
In addition to organizing live shows, the group compiles music from its favorite artists on CDs that it distributes for free. The upcoming live compilation culled from the Welcome to the Underworld recordings will be the fourth such volume that can be downloaded for free at www.indievox.com/back2thefuture.
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