How Album Art Built a Taiwanese Vinyl Collection
Cultural producer Angie Lin shares her journey collecting vinyl in Taiwan
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This week, we have a guest piece from new friend Angie Lin. I connected with Angie just a couple of months ago while chatting with independent label Psychic Hotline, where she works as a creative consultant. Upon meeting, she shared a handful of Taiwanese album covers that serve as visual inspiration for her Los Angeles-based Mahjong collective, East Never Loses. I, of course, immediately needed to know more about this incredible vinyl collection, which she began collecting while visiting Taiwan. As a love letter to the country, Angie created the album Sounds of Taiwan in collaboration with Taiwanese artist Lim Giong, set to release this Friday, November 7th, on her label Pure Person Press. In the spirit of discovery, Angie takes us down memory lane while crate digging in Taiwan.
(PS: Listen to Angie’s NTS Show while reading)
Hunting for old records in Taiwan is always an adventure. They aren’t neatly shelved or labeled. Instead, they hide in flea markets and cramped corners of antique shops. Most of my collection has been built through relationships forged with shop owners, collectors, and friends across the island. Through these relationships, I have built a pretty incredible record collection.
Most of these records were collected during my time in Taiwan in 2018. I didn’t even own a turntable in my tiny apartment, and with my limited Chinese reading abilities, I had to rely entirely on the artwork when digging. Every pick was guided by an image, a feeling, a visual spark.
Below are some of my favorite finds, along with the stories of how their covers convinced me to take them home.
Teresa Teng: The One and Only – Live in Japan
Teresa Teng is the one and only—Taiwan’s most iconic voice. Back in 2018, Taiwanese records were relatively inexpensive, but Teresa was the exception. Everyone knew her value. This record was less of a find and more of a gift. One of my most important musical relationships in Taiwan was with Vinyl Uncle. I met him at Fuhe Flea market, and he helped me source one rare record after another. He sold me this record at an incredible discount the last time we met, a parting gift right before he passed. You can read my entire story with Vinyl Uncle and hear the mixes I created from them via Dublab.
Tatung Collection, Vol. 2
Every Taiwanese kid grows up with a Tatung rice cooker. So when I saw the word TATUNG on this album cover, I was immediately hooked. The green mid-century concentric circles represent abstract versions of the Tatung rice cooker itself. Inside, the music is just as charming: playful covers of classics that were hugely popular at the time, like “Love’s Theme.”
Return to Anping
Everything about this cover charmed me. From his little belly, casual pose, and that incredible jade ring. I bought it without even knowing who he was. Later, I learned Yu Tian is one of Taiwan’s most famous singers with a distinctive low baritone. What’s fascinating is that Yu Tian later became a politician in Taiwan, not an uncommon path for an artist back then.
Ren Xiang Sings New Folk Songs
The design of this record is simple but so effective. It reminded me of an old photograph of my mother, full of youth and possibility, like a portrait taken on the first day of school. The music feels just as warm, with sparse guitar, gentle folk melodies, and vocals that wrap around you like a memory.
Love You Stealthily
Asia Records has one of the largest and most affordable discographies in Taiwan. This album was one of the first I found from them, part of their Favorite Formosan Folk Songs series. I loved the slightly off-kilter English translation of loving someone “stealthily,” and the cover captures the style and mood of the era so well. These releases are full of emotional crooners singing about the moon, the rain, and all forms of yearning.
Sounds of Taiwan
This album is an eco-musical project that I started with legendary Taiwanese artist Lim Giong four years ago. We invited Taiwanese and American artists to create new music using his field recordings of Taiwan, with the hope of portraying the island’s people, nature, and spirituality through sound.
The album art is by Chang Chao Tang, one of the earliest photographers to thoughtfully document Taiwanese culture. To me, this record exists to help preserve Taiwan for future generations, especially as the island’s future remains uncertain. The cover photograph perfectly captures that feeling of uncertainty and hope, highlighting the delicate relationship between man, nature, and their future together.
Sounds of Taiwan will be released via my label PURE PERSON PRESS on November 7th. There will be an album listening party and live performance on the release date, where I will also DJ some of my favorite Taiwanese records one by one! Come and celebrate with me.
To both mine and Angie’s chagrin, many of these early vinyls went to press without visual artist credits, a sign of the times (not just in Taiwan). Thankfully, today, many designers are receiving the recognition they deserve. In 2022, Li Jheng-han & Yu Wei won Taiwan’s first Grammy for the record packaging for Pakelang by 2nd Generation Falangao Singing Group & The Chairman Crossover Big Band. The CD design echoes an oceanic landscape with layers of tertiary shapes that resemble silhouettes of notable Taiwanese figures, all housed within a hazy transparent blue box. Upon opening the case, the mountainous layers slide out, revealing a booklet and a CD.
This incredibly interactive and detailed packaging is a signature of Li Jheng-han’s work. In 2020, he created a vinyl package in three parts for Emerge Band’s Time. When the record is inside the sleeve, the fan sees a tearful eye. Upon removing the vinyl, an illustration of a family overlooking a sunset on the ocean comes into frame. According to Taiwan Today, he and his collaborators juxtaposed “dark elements of Taiwan’s past with symbols of its bright future on the album’s cover.”
Other Taiwanese visual artists to admire include Aaron Nieh, Joe Fang, Godkidlla, Blackzao, and Yen Po Chun.
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Yay Angie!!!
Beautiful Art 🎨 and compelling commentary. I was gifted a bunch of Taiwanese cassettes by one of our manufacturerers in the 80's. The music was interesting but the art was amazing just the same as in your fab article. I was an office products salesman prior to Staples destroying the market. It led me to go to law school and continue an endless pusuit of music, acting, and writing so no complaints. But for the blatant violations of the Robinson-Pattman Act antitrust statutes I'm still the binder clip king. Predatory pricing changed my life and made me a hustler struggling to make ends meet. Ha! Everyone thinks all lawyers are rich. It's a wounded profession. A few minor victories last week might do us some good. SNAP! Todd said that all we needed was "Just One Vctory" and we're on our way... we'll see 👀
Time will tell but now that Blue Sky and their corporate ilk will own everything and every media outlet. We'll own nothing. But nothing is what I want. So another blessing! But great music in a well designed package will always get me giddy for Christmas 🎄
The arts... they can never take thay away from us. AI sucks the life out of art or as Chuck D said "Don't Believe the Hype" because it's not the answer its the problem. Nah mean?