Studio DRY · WET combines a bar and kitchen, a garden terrace and an open music studio in the former Maolago space on Fuxing West Road. The DRY side is concerned with sound, electronics, sampling and archives, while the rest of the venue leaves room for food, drinks and a fairly relaxed evening.
Large vintage speakers sit beside the bar, with a small music cave set into the room. The exact playback chain has not been published. Glitchy and warped electronic music runs at a controlled volume, with a new selection of DJ mixes rotated through each month.
This is a social listening space rather than a silence-first room. People come to eat, drink, talk, listen and make music, and the open studio gives the concept more substance than a pair of attractive old speakers. Go for left-field electronic selections and a room that treats sound as part of the work, not an afterthought.