VARO

VARO
began in 2004 as the most recent project of Wan-ting—one of the founding members of the seminal Tawanese punk band Ladybug—and has steadily established itself as one of the most solid indie-electronica performance groups from Taiwan. In keeping with their namesake, Varo creates surrealistic compositions through interweaving layers of analog and electronic sound and music. Varo’s unique expression has gained it recognition as one of the only indie-electronica acts from Taiwan to find its way to international media. Not only has Varo gained wide scale exposure in Taiwan, it has also earned reviews and radio play in well-known avenues of media abroad. Not long after it’s inception, Varo’s music had already made its way to The Wire, where it received a review and landed their music a spot on The Wire’s “Office Ambient” playlist. Their music spread even further within the UK—making its way to the BBC, where it received radio play and mention on BBC Radio 3. More recently, the band has begun subtly building exposure Stateside—finding its way to Waterloo Records and is listed by Austin DJ turned fashionista and shop owner John Gomi as one of his “Top 10 in da crates”. Since it’s inception, Varo has presented itself as an ever-changing medium for musical expression—continually adding layer after layer to the already subtly complex amalgamation of sounds, rhythms, and mixed media upon which it was founded—building upon others who have established themselves in the realm of indie-experimental-electronica, yet presenting a form of musical expression that maintains itself as distinctly, and uniquely, Taiwanese.
by El Natan (aka Senor Cheesy)



Jun.2006 warm up for FOURTET



VARO - AMORES PERRORS MV
Varo make loop driven and guitar heavy soundtrack music for movies that do exist. Many of the tracks take their titles, with degrees varying between facsimile and fitnesse, from cult movies. But these are no simple soundtrack covers. They are instead complete reinventions, inspired metafictions and provocative re-imaginings.
by Nick Southgate/THE WIRE ISSUE 255 MAY 2005
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Talking to WanTing,the waifish guitarist behind Varo,one of Taiwan 's more insteresting group, you get the sense that artists are not so much reacting to any musical lineage,but to an environment of information overload.
Varo's music reflects a way of glossing this information overload and the attendant feeling that brings,which in WanTing is an intense pining to connect with with "what's happening everywhere else"- meaning mostly the West.
The approach is postmodern in that
Her group's (Varo) stage sets are totally decentred, s[reading guitar,bass,drums,laptops, a MIDI controller and vocal evenly across the performance space,while she cues the major beat and fills over them with guitar- melodies,chord progressions,cranking noise,and uncannily diverse changes in texture and mood.
by David Frazier
the Wire issue 265 M arch 2006