PEST CONTROL
Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 2008

5 am at Han-Hsien International Hotel and the pest control man is spraying the lobby with chemicals designed to kill the numerous mosquitoes that tend to congregate in there. Quite a different sound to the player piano that usually infuses the soundscape in the evening with sweet aural perfume. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Surface.

POP-SONG SHOOT-EM-UP
Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 2008

An arcade game at RueiFeng night market with glorious 4-bit sound. It’s a kind of pinball machine, where one appears to be shooting down pop songs, as everytime you score a hit, the currently playing melody is interrupted by a bomb sound effect. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Surface.

ARCADE GAME
Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 2008

One of the many arcade games at RueiFeng night market. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Surface.

NUMA NUMA
Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 2008

The song Dragostea Din Tei (also known as the Numa Numa song) by Moldovan one-hit wonder O-Zone was a summer hit in Europe in 2003-04 and then took East Asia by storm in 2006. For some time, it was virtually impossible to leave the house without hearing the song blaring from some speakers somewhere. Two years later, at RueiFeng night market in Kaohsiung, the spectre of the tune lingers on in ghastly, disfigured 4-bit beeps seeping out of a row of arcade machines like putrid toxic sludge. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Surface.

BALLOONS
Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 2008

Balloons being filled with air, to be used in one of the shoot-em up stalls at RueiFeng night market. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Surface.

CHILDHOOD PHOTOS
Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 2008

Mum and auntie are posing for photos with their children on Chichin island. It takes a few attempts to get the perfect shot. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Surface.

ISLAND LEISURE
Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 2008

Evening on Chichin island: an elderly gentleman is enjoying a bit of karaoke, while a couple of teenagers play a basketball arcade game, which seems to be particularly popular in Taiwan. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Surface.

GONG YUAN LU
Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 2008

Gong Yuan Lu is a street lined with small shops dripping in motor oil, where parts of engines and other industrial equipment get recycled and resold. As part of the rebranding of Kaohsiung, all of these shops will be closed by June 2008 and razed to make way for a new park. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Surface.

SUGAR CANE
Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 2008

Accompanied by relentless Taiwanese eurodance, the recorded voice stoically continues to repeat its promotion of sugar cane juice at this stall close to the defunct Ciaotou Sugar Refinery. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Surface.