Taipei City / New Taipei City. In the summer, it has a glowing electric hum with exposed wires and brutalist concrete. Lanes that end in tiny neighborhood shrines, gods, incense, elevated highways jammed with silent battery-powered scooters. Millions hypnotized by their phones, the smell of fermenting tofu in 100% humidity.
From this environment grew Future Proof, a recurring invocation of club nights and day festivals where composers and performers from both local and foreign backgrounds explore shifting electronic undercurrents. It then shifted into a label releasing the 21-song compilation “Wolong” in November, 2017 followed by releases of four other local electronic artists. As 2018 closes, a second compilation appears, “Zhonghu”.
This release highlights even more experimental compositional approaches. Some pieces are scrambled patchworks of noisy sequencers and atonal analog angst, while others rotate menacingly with sequences that interlock like illusionary gears. Melodies coalesce from tuned electronic percussion patterns with submerged synth pads and drones hidden in the background. Both serial and parallel connections are being made and circuit-bent in the network.
Taipei City / New Taipei City. A typical metropolis, based in a country that does not exist. A separate, lateral ecosystem of electronic sound, neither current nor retro, has evolved on its own.