pumpkinslayer posted a photo:

@cmitw @niub and @pumpkinslayer having drinks in Sijhir
– Taken at 10:26 PM on January 26, 2010 – uploaded by ShoZu

My first album I ever bought, on cassette, was Technotronic’s Pump Up The Jam, which was released in 1989. Here’s the track by the same name.

I’m not sure if I really ever listened to this song that much, but it certainly was a keeper and has stuck in my mind for songs around that time. Snap’s I’ve Got The Power (1990)

Here’s another that I enjoyed. It should be noted that I bought very few albums back then, and now with the proliferation of Internet Radio, I never do anymore. Here’s KLF’s Last Train to Trancentral. Woo, woo, KLF. (1990)

2 Unlimited – Twilight Zone (1992). It was around this point in my searching that I realized that most of what I was exposed to was Eurodance. Never really got into the categories of music, just liked what I liked.

Here’s Snap! making another appearance with Rhythm is a Dancer. (1993, I guess)

2 Brothers On The 4th Floor – You’re Never Alone

2 Unlimited – No Limit

2 Brothers on the 4th floor – Dreams (Will come alive) (1994)

It was really after making friend with the other “Biker Mice” at school that my obvious liking for dance music was discovered. And although the exact type has changed, I remember the first time I listened to one of the Thunderdome series and Rave Massacre (primarily gabber and hardstyle) that I got a taste for harder electronic music.

Robert Miles’ Children was a big hit in 1995, which was nearing the end of high school for me. I enjoyed it, but those piano lines started wearing thin pretty quickly.

Also around the same time was Faithless Insomnia, which I do still enjoy listening to from time to time.

Full video (embedding disabled): Faithless – Insomnia

There was a lot of other music going on all the while, I still remember bands like Nirvana and Green Day, although I remember their songs and can appreciate them a little more now (mostly just reminiscing), they were never my cup of tea.

One thing has changed since that time is the amount of online radio I listen to. Due to this I can now classify what I like, simply because that is the only way to really find what I like online. Gabber, hardstyle, happy hardcore (I would never have thought I would), hardcore, electro, trance, goa are the main stuff I look for and that’s primarliy on DI.fm nowadays.

HiTechTaipei is done by my friend Paul and covers issues related to the Taiwan tech sector and includes his opinions on the goings on here.

I’ve enjoyed Paul’s writing style ever since I first read Christian Monitor, a site which he longer works on, which is still going after what I think is possibly seven years or more now.

And while I’m plugging his stuff, he also writes about his and Queenie’s adventures on their personal blog at DurbanBay.com.

Go check them out.

Simon’s pictures from MTB World Cup in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

My friend Simon went to see the world’s best mountain bikers last weekend. He posted his pictures of the event.

Wish I could have been there. Thanks Simon for taking all those pics.