A R O U N D T O W N 發光的城市 15 TAIPEI TIMES • FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2009 RESTAURANTS Ala-din Indian & Pakistani Kitchen (阿拉丁) these straitened times, it’s reassuring to know Address: 101 Raohe St, Taipei City (台北市饒河街101號) In that some things in life are still free. Just ask Telephone: (02) 2765-9991 those who have been to High Heels and Hi-Tops. Not Open: Daily from 5pm to 1am only do music-savvy foreigners and Taiwanese dig the Average meal: NT$350 for sit-down dining; NT$80 for roti rolls night, but the Top-40-loving type of clubber can also from the grill get a kick out of it. Details: English and Chinese menu; credit cards not accepted It’s the slowest month of the year, but the High Heels crew is touring the country with stops in Taipei, Ala-din Indian & Pakistani Kitchen (阿拉丁) is in the middle of Taichung and Kaohsiung. They’re also supporting the crowded Raohe Street night market, and if your stomach is Tittsworth at Plush on Jan. 29. growling it might be hard to resist the temptation to sate yourself Tittsworth is a world-renowned US DJ famous on the rows and rows of finger food and fried desserts you pass for playing “Bmore club”— a mash-up of club, rock, as you wend your way to the restaurant. But if you hold out long electro, drum and bass, hip-hop and house. enough, Ala-din’s roti rolls will satisfy your hungry belly and its The combination of five DJs and one MC Marcus( spicy curries will have your forehead beading with sweat. Aurelius, Cap, Sofa Kings aka LEO37 and Charles, Digit The restaurant’s grill and 2Hands) is rooted in hip-hop, but the crew swears is out in front to entice their party isn’t all about hip-hop. browsers with kebabs “There’s a lot of funk thrown in there along with and vegetables cooking electro, dancehall and even some sweet soul music on skewers; a plain and at the end of the night when everyone is feeling it,” narrow but neat dining Aurelius says. room stretches behind. With But that’s not the only thing that differentiates High the exception of a famous Heels from other parties. “We have a very unique DJ oamisua shop at 49 Raohe St rotation in that everyone gets a chance to play twice (饒河街49號), you’d be hard- a night, instead of once. And all the DJs involved pressed to find a better snack have very different styles,” says LEO37. “Thanks to (or light meal) in this night all these factors, we’re able to appeal to everyone. So market than Ala-din’s roti PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WALL even if you don’t like a song now, you will shortly … Glaswegian quintet Mogwai is on the road again promoting a sixth studio LP. rolls (NT$80): the chapatti is in that sense, everyone not only leaves happy, but they made right before your eyes take away some great songs and moments that they Go for the grill at Ala-din. from dough that’s twirled PHOTO: RON BROWNLOW, TAIPEI TIMES wouldn’t have received at a standard party.” then heated on a dry tava, But High Heels is more than just one night at a and the portions of meat and party with DJs. “We are also blogging like mad, giving vegetables come hot off the grill and are not to be scoffed at. out ‘MPfrees’ and sharing our musical knowledge and Mogwai: celestial euphony Because of their extensive menu and customizable set opinions with everyone else,” says Aurelius. meals, Ala-din’s ordering system for sit-down diners might On the Net: www.highheelsandhitops.wordpress.com. seem somewhat Byzantine — but, to be honest, the only High Heels and Hi-Tops lands tonight at 1981 Bar, 1, or solar wind? reason the process was complicated was the two waitresses 台北市延吉街 巷 弄 Alley 2, Ln 70, Yanji St, Taipei City ( 70 2 who hovered around our table and recited a list of options 號 1 ). Admission is free. From 11pm to 3am. Tomorrow several times despite our insistence that we wanted to take our it’s at the Pig and Whistle from 9pm to 4am, 199 Siwei 4th the stars had a sound, it would sound like time with the menu. Perhaps the staff is used to dealing with Rd, Kaohsiung City (高雄市四維四路199號). Entry is free. this.” A bold statement and the promotional PERFORMANCE NOTES: customers who lack basic familiarity with South Asian cuisine, What is dub, a term that is bandied about quite “If plug for Scotland’s post-rock ensemble in which case such over-attentive service might be a plus. liberally these days? According to Wikipedia, the Mogwai, which plays live tonight at The Wall (這牆). In the end, we picked a beef masala set meal (牛肉濃汁瑪沙 bastion of reliability and font of all knowledge: “The Taken from the opening sample of Yes! We Are a Long 拉, NT$650) for two, as well as a plate of beef kebab (牛肉巴比 dub sound consists predominantly of instrumental Way From Home on their debut LP Young Team, the line Q, NT$260). Another order for channa masala, or chickpeas remixes of existing recordings and is achieved by marks both a musical dawn and now a return to Taipei WHAT: Mogwai live at The Wall cooked in curry, was never delivered, but that ended up being significantly manipulating and reshaping the recordings, for the Glaswegian quintet, this time peddling their latest a good thing because of the amount of food in the set meal: the usually by removing the vocals from an existing music studio album The Hawk Is Howling. WHEN: Tonight at 8pm beef masala, a bountiful heap of basmati rice, naan, a plate of piece, emphasizing the drum and bass frequencies or Often likened to their better-known Icelandic peers vegetables, bowls of tomato and vegetable soup, Indian tea and 這牆 ‘riddim,’ adding extensive echo and reverb effects, Sigur Ros and the Canadian collective Godspeed! You WHERE: The Wall ( ), B1, 200, Roosevelt Rd Sec 4, Taipei City lemon honey juice. 台北市羅斯福路四段 號 panoramic LR delay, and dubbing occasional snippets Black Emperor, Mogwai — Martin Bulloch on drums, ( 200 B1). Tel: (02) 2930-0162 Diners have the options of having their curries prepared of lyrics from the original version.” Capiche? Stuart Braithwaite on guitar, Barry Burns on guitar and slightly spicy, medium spicy or very spicy. Our beef masala If you still don’t have a clue, get educated tomorrow various instruments, Dominic Aitchison on bass and John TICKETS: NT$2,800 at the door; NT$2,700 advance tickets was slightly spicy, but still hotter than curries at other 小白兔唱片行 at The Dub Supervisors. The sound system is being Cummings on guitar — are master-craftsmen of richly available at White Wabbit Records ( ) inside The popular Indian and Pakistani restaurants in Taipei, while the beefed up with a 1000-watt subwoofer for the show. detailed, layer-cake rock. Wall’s shopping complex chunks of beef were reasonably tender. The vegetables, how- “We have gathered an all-star line up of reggae A miscellany of tone and style, The Hawk features the ever, which included squash, peas and cabbage, were a tad bands, hip-hop MCs, rockers and DJs to assemble The band’s climactic heights, rock action and lucidity that are ON THE NET: www.thewall.com.tw; www.mogwai.co.uk overcooked and soggy and both drinks were forgettable, but Dub Supervisors,” says Saucey. “And because of all our found in varying degrees in its discography. A feature (or the basmati rice, soup and naan were delicious. The latter, busy schedules, we can only host this show once in a non-feature) most notable to first-time listeners would be a flatbread baked in a tandoori oven, was particularly good: blue moon.” the complete absence of lyrics or vocal melody. TT: Mogwai’s largely vocal-less cinematic sound seems to chewy and dense enough to scoop up plenty of curry with. The Dub Supervisors are High Tide, Stephan, Though The Hawk may be dissected in terms of style embody a faceless sense of romance, yet in past interviews The extra order of beef kebab outshone the beef masala. It Saucey, Rankin Kim, Shaman, Richie Patridge and and form, without words Mogwai’s greater message band members have come across as very grounded. How do was tender, savory and moist. — CATHERINE ShU selectors Ting, Katzu and Taili. Entry is NT$350 with remains clouded and is arguably better determined by the you think a relatively down-to-earth bunch of people have one drink. VU Live House, B1, 77, Wuchang St Sec 2, listener than the band. ended up generating such fantastical music? Taipei City (台北市武昌街二段77號B1). Doors open at Best-selling crime writer and fan Ian Rankin recently SB: I genuinely have no idea. Scottish people are quite 11pm and the party begins at 11:30pm. — QUEEN BEE commented on the absurdity of describing Mogwai’s down to earth, though I think we have a romantic element work. “It’s completely redundant ... Mogwai paint pictures too, but are a wee bit shy about it. in sound; no words needed,” he said. TT: Would you agree that your music has a sense of Meet The Sofa Kings. Nonetheless we thought it worth offering them the romance about it or not? Is it deliberate? PHOTO COURTESY OF JOE RUSSO chance. Last week, Stuart Braithwaite answered a few of SB: I do agree but don’t think it’s particularly our questions by e-mail.