“Taiker Techno Music” in Taiwan - 全球在地化之感官經驗及其文化表現：以「台北101」與「閃亮三姐妹」為例

Techno. Techno initially is only an alternative music distanced from the mainstream of pop music but because its musical uniqueness connected to dancing and club culture and its stress on self-creativities, Techno has appealed to a large number of young people.

Moreover, Techno’s PLUR⁴¹ spirit has gained wide recognition from the audience, who projects their desire on Techno or Rave in search of spiritual peace to believe that a Utopia of Peace, Love, Unity and Respect does exist. Such worldwide popularity of Techno convinces those global investors that this is a lucrative enterprise and the international corporations therefore try their best to propel the global circulations of Techno and related cultural products to make Techno a globally profitable cultural economy.

II. “Taiker Techno Music” in Taiwan

The forming of the global popular involves several factors in the process of cultural globalization. The global popularity of Techno music has much to do with the flows of capital and image through the global media. According to Simon During, the global popular includes at least four levels: “financing; governmental regulations; technology and market appeal of particular stars” (810). During’s analysis of the global popular helps explain how Techno becomes popular in the socio-economic context of Taiwan. In the example of Shining 3 Girls, this group’s popularity indeed depends on the flow of capital, governmental

regulation (the revival of the performance of electronic float), technology (musical

41 P.L.U.R. stands for peace, love, unity and respect.

techniques) and the characterization of particular star charisma (Shining 3 Girls’ unique performing style). As mentioned above, the lucrative potential of Techno music has caught the eyes of international music corporations to popularize it as much as possible. Brand making via multimedia is one of the most effective marketing strategies to promote such image-producing products as music, cinema or TV shows. Music is acoustic, and provides the pleasure of the hearing. Yet is the enjoyment of music limited to the hearing? In what senses/ways can listening to the music also be connected to the visual imaginations or the visuality of music itself? To what extent do the visual and the hearing complement each other? Promotions of music products in this high-tech age should appeal as much to the pleasure of the hearing as that of the visual through the media representations of the artists, including their images, actions and dancing, which are essential elements of Techno music.

Since Techno underscores the harmonious communications between rhythm of music and bodily movements for physical and mental release, it would be easier to catch the audience’s attentions if resorting to the media’s visual representations.

Techno music is distributed by every means possible with the aid of transnational capital flow and advanced technologies, including TV commercials, broadcasting stations, music videos or through the Internet. In the media, Techno is strategically labelled as “the global popular” to create its ambivalent popularity to the consumers. By ambivalent popularity, I mean Techno music, before it actually becomes the global popular, must have been packaged

as an “always already” global popular culture like the givenness of a famous brand product to achieve its real global popularity. For example, to propagandize Techno music, promoters will first put tags such as “New Music Power” (音樂新勢力) or “New Fashion Guide” (流行新指標) on Techno to visually enchant the consumers so as to make this type of music look as if it

had been a new global trend and widely popular throughout the world.

For a densely populated island like Taiwan, Techno functions as a “yearning space”

for all the listeners who seek for mental and physical emancipations. Since “seeing is believing,” those floating images associated with Techno such as “fashion,” “freedom,”

“avant-garde,” “progress,” “liberation” and “vigor” readily induce the audience into the Techno world and convince them that it is the globally trendy music that should not be missed. Techno music in this sense fulfills the audience’s transnational imaginations by connecting them to the world because consuming the Techno music in the same pace with the world ensures their positions in this “Global Techno Tribe” to make them believe all of them are members of the global village. As the famous DJ @LLEN of Taiwan mentions, “we are the local kids who are creating the world of our own; bodies in Taiwan, yet our minds have already synchronized with our people of global techno tribe, surfing into the hyper space and time with computers and speeding on the super highway of technology” (9).⁴² Techno,

42 This passage is quoted from the introduction of Electronic Bible of Dance Music《電子聖經舞曲》. It’s written in Chinese and the English version is my own translation. Its original Chinese version says, 「我們是在創造我們自己的世界的在地仔，肉體在台灣，心靈卻已經在電腦超時空和資訊高速公路上與全球各地的電音族人同步」(9)。

acoustically as well as visually, casts the image of false equality of a global community to make believe everybody live in a world of peace, love, unity and respect (P.L.U.R).

In this “time-space compressed” era of globalization, Techno happens to open a transcendental space to compensate for “the lack” of those who live in a fragmented space in their everyday life. The process of globalization has been profoundly reorganizing time and space, among which space has been dramatically altered. Spatial changes would directly influence everyday life of local subjects who are interacting with their living space every day. Taiwan’s highly-populated living space has encountered more drastic compressing and compartmenting because of the globalizing process. Bodily compression and pressures, due to the shrinking living space, propel people in Taiwan look for bodily outlets, visually or acoustically, to release themselves by consuming Techno. Techno usually adopts strong beats, high tempo and space music (空音) to create an illusory and fantasy world where one may enjoy extending imaginations of unlimited freedom without bodily confinement. As Sharon Zukin suggests, “Cultural activities are supposed to lift us out of the mire of our everyday lives and into the sacred spaces of ritualized pleasures” (1). In order to traverse the various cultural boundaries to become the global popular, Techno should be promoted as a borderless popular music to which everyone is accessible. By culturally universalizing Techno music as a shared culture assisted by capital flows and market expansion, international corporations successfully turn Techno into a form of the global popular.

In this sense, Techno music can no longer be de-politicized as an “innocent” cultural expression; instead, we need to carefully examine the cultural economy of Techno music and its ideological re-formations. Consumption of Techno, as the most popular music in the western countries like U.K., U.S., and Germany, makes one feel elevated as the first-world’s citizen, even in Taiwan, and produces an ideal image of the global village for whoever

“buys”⁴³ Techno. Techno music not only creates an infinite sense of space but also evokes cultural imaginations of modernization and progress. Techno music in its fantastic sense might fulfill our global imaginary; for instance, dancing with Techno at raves as one performative ritual will lead all the participants to one virtual reality. In the real sense of our everyday life, however, our living space is being constantly compressed. Rather than actually releasing us from everyday compression of space, consuming Techno music might merely contain our desires. If we keep naturalizing Techno as a simple music form of the global popular without investigating its capitalist logic and the process of ideological making on the global scale, we might not be able to reveal the localities in the music landscapes of Taiwan.

Re-politicization of Techno in its socio-economic context does not mean to deny the localities but to elaborate the complex relationship between the popularity of Techno and global cultural economy. Only through critical examinations of the cultural complexity and

43 “Buy” used here carries two levels of meanings: one means that you accept this music ideologically and thus internalize this music; for example, we say “I buy it” in English implies you take or accept it. The other one means that you economically or practically spend money on this type of music.

its power relations can the localities of music in Taiwan be highlighted. It is well observed that music market in Taiwan is basically highly commercialized and relatively lacking music uniqueness.⁴⁴ It seems to many that Taiwan does not have any unique contemporary popular music of its own but follows mostly American and Japanese music market.

Taiwan’s pop music is practically led by the American music market. Even so, I might hasten to add, it does not entail any global music system would overwhelm each national music market and consume all its local varieties. Taiwan’s local music is not passively receiving whatever comes. As Robinson Campbell argues in Music at the Margins, the undeniable process of globalization and the invention of transnational cooperation has attributed to the “commercialization of all aspects of life, combined into a demand for preservation of local cultural identity, a phenomenon we refer to as indigenization” (228).

Inspired by Cambell’s concept of indigenization, I argue that the blending of local elements and global tastes as one’s cultural representation contributes to self-creation of local music in the age of globalization. Techno as the global popular in the local contexts of Taiwan consists of complicated local factors intricately converged in the localization of Techno music, involving Taiwan’s music market, music industry, consumer culture and gender politics. Absorption of local music elements and adaption of Techno into the environment of

44 This statement is not to deny many Taiwan’s music historical periods, including our Taiwanese music creations in the sixties or Chinese music creations in the forties. Most importantly, Taiwan’s folk music in the seventies is usually regarded as a significant historical period of Taiwan’s music culture. See Chao-wei, Chang.

Who is singing his/her own songs: the history of folk music movement in Taiwan.張釗維：《誰在那邊唱自己的歌：台灣現代民歌運動史》. Here, I mean the music market after the eighties, which has become more and

Taiwan’s music market give birth to the vernacular music expression, “Taiker Techno Music.” Artists such as BOB (芭比姊妹), Jeannie Hsieh (謝金燕) and Shining 3 Girls (閃 亮三姊妹) could be three significant representatives of “Taiker Techno Music.”

From the aspect of music components—especially, the tempo, beats and lyrics—“Taiker Techno Music” demonstrates local differences from “Techno.” In effect, one of the distinctive features of Techno is its mechanical beats and tempo, stressing its technical mixing, remixing and sampling rather than its lyrics or performance. “Taiker Techno Music,” however, is famous for its colloquial, funny, and sometimes “obscene” Taiwanese or Mandarin Chinese lyrics, to get close to the everyday life of the audience. With a careful examination, one will find numerous familiar local objects, scenes or language expressions adopted in “Taiker Techno Music” to create cultural familiarity of local Taiwan. First of all, these lyrics are usually easy to understand, direct and blatant, mostly related to the theme of “love.” The reason why “Taiker Techno Music” uses these characteristics is to correspond to the cultural expressions and imagination of Taiker groups as its primary audience to make these Taiker consumers identify with this music. Take Shining 3 Girls for example, colloquial, local/vulgar and sensual/sensuous lyrics make their songs memorable and sexy:⁴⁵

“When mobile phone is ringing, 「行動電話響的時候，

In this raining afternoon, 在這個依然下著大雨的午後，

45 All the following Chinese or Taiwanese lyrics are translated into English by myself.

You, big stupid head, big devil head, ^{你大笨頭大魔頭，}

big taro head, big pig head, ^{大芋頭大豬頭，}

You are fooling me again…” 你又在騙我了、、、」

<Give Me Several Seconds> ^{〈給我幾秒鐘〉}

“Come, come, come to date me; 「快來快來約我，快來快來約我，

I am your new babe. ^{我是你的新寶貝。}

Come, come, come to date me; 快來快來約我，快來快來約我，

love story is playing tricks. ^{愛的故事在做崇。}

Come, come, come to date me; 快來快來約我，快來快來約我，

never waste your youth. ^{青春千萬別浪費。}

Come, come, come to date me; 快來快來約我，快來快來約我，

you will regret if delayed…” 慢了你就要後悔、、、」

<Come, Come to Date Me > ^{〈快來快來約我〉}

“On fire, my whole body is burning for you, 「著火了，我全身都為你發燙

On, on, on fire, ^{著著著火了，}

in the night when my mind goes crazy, ^{在情緒變亂的夜晚，}

On fire this time, would you help me out? 這次我火了，誰能來幫我一點忙

On, on, on fire, ^{著著著火了，}

would be different if you were with me…” 有了你就會不一樣、、、」

<Sparkling Glamour> ^{〈魅力四射〉}

In addition to the colloquially expressive lyrics, some of their songs use Taiwanese words and vernacular Taiwanese expressions. Take “Pa” (帕) for instance, it is one local

Taiwanese word and its meanings vary within different contexts. When we describe someone’s style as “pa” or “pa li pa li” (帕里帕里) in Taiwanese,⁴⁶ it means he/she is very fashionable. Or sometimes when we say “pa-chi-a,”(帕妻仔) “pa” here converts to a verb to mean “to court somebody” so “pa-chi-a” is to court women. Another example is “Too many dinosaurs but few handsome guys.” Dinosaurs, widely used among the youth in Taiwan, metaphorically refer to ugly men or women. Moreover, their lyrics absorb everyday objects familiar to all its audiences such as “Pearl Milk Tea.” This is to take advantage of Taiwan’s daily drinking (food) culture to localize “Taiker Techno Music” into our everyday life.

“Polish your ten nails red, 「十隻指頭嘛擦紅紅，

put powders on your face ^{胭脂水粉嘛加減抹，}

Put on perfume and go ‘pa-ing’… 香水噴袂煞，啊，來去帕一下、、、

Wearing the shortest skirts and ^{裙愛穿短短，}

the low-cut dresses to go ‘pa-ing’ 衫愛露較低，來去帕一下、、、」

46 Such locally-specific languages are particularly used among Taikers.

(put on your sexiest dress

to hook up somebody you like) …”

<Go Pa-ing> ^{〈來去帕一下〉}

“Give me a cup of pearl milk tea, 「來一杯泡沫珍珠茶，

and two straws stick together. ^{兩支吸管來黏相偎。}

Don’t you know that I am waiting? 心裏的等待，你敢不知？

Give me a cup of pearl milk tea, ^{來一杯泡沫珍珠茶，}

and two hands hold together. ^{兩雙手咱來牽作伴。}

Pearls are like my feelings, ^{珍珠是阮的感情，}

always countless to you… ” 給你永遠算袂清、、、」

<Pearl Milk Tea> ^{〈泡沫珍珠茶〉}

“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, Count on me. 「不要怕，不要怕，我給你靠

Too many dinosaurs but few handsome guys, 恐龍多多，帥哥太少，

Prince Charming is missing. ^{王子不見了。}

As long as we support each other, ^{只要我們常相依靠，}

we will never become unwanted…” ^{不會沒人要…」}

<Count on Me> ^{〈給你靠〉}

These distinctively local characteristics found in the lyrics of “Taiker Techno Music”

elicit the “uncanny” feelings toward “Taiker Techno Music,” which shows great contrasts to our typical imagination of Techno as global. This contrast produces local intimacy of the global popular. To understand this transformation of Techno, we should first of all consider Taiker Techno Music’s target consumers, namely the group of Taikers. Simply put, the displacement of the bourgeois’ cultural tastes with Taikers’ is one critical factor attributing to the alteration of “Taiker Techno Music.” I argue that these Taikers who listen to Shining 3 Girls’ music fundamentally manifest gender and class differences with different cultural

capital from those consumers of Western Techno. In fact, Techno consumers in the West basically have already acquired the cultural learning to “appreciate” Techno music, mainly the taste of middle class, while in Taiwan, Taikers dominantly comprised by lower middle-class people who will occasionally been regarded vulgar.⁴⁷ To make “Taiker Techno Music” culturally accessible and acceptable to the groups of Taiker, those colloquial and localized lyrics intended for Taikers’ culture thus become important and necessary.

This local variation of Techno music in lyrics is furthermore related to the particular KTV culture in Taiwan. Going to KTV has now become one of the most common recreations for Taiwanese people since singing in KTV is a dominant way to release one’s pressure and to gain pleasure.⁴⁸ Having revelry at KTVs and attending Rave Parties have

47 Taikers in Taiwan are regarded vulgar but I would prefer calling folk.

48 See “Leisure Politics: the pleasure and power relations in KTV” by Shu-mei Chang〈休閒的政治-KTV的快感與權力關係〉by 張淑玫 for related issues and further discussions about the leisure politics of KTV.

one purpose in common: to get liberation through music in different ways. One would

“sing” with the music in KTVs but “dance” with the music at Rave Parties. This explains why lyrics are so much emphasized in “Taiker Techno Music” but not in original Techno because Techno in the West is basically created for dancing while “Taiker Techno Music” is for dancing as well as for singing. Presently, music corporations’ most effective marketing strategy in Taiwan is to cooperate with KTV business to promote their music products and

在文檔中全球在地化之感官經驗及其文化表現：以「台北101」與「閃亮三姐妹」為例 (頁 71-85)