MoShang
Made in Taiwan
© 2004 Onse Plate (634479053900)
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In Taiwan, the chill-out lounge and the temple gardens are within comfortable walking distance from one another... on your way, you will hear ads blared from blue-trucks, street processions, Buddhist funeral chants, snippets of songs wafting from windows.
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In Taiwan, the chill-out lounge and the temple gardens are within comfortable walking distance from one another... on your way, you will hear ads blared from blue-trucks, street processions, Buddhist funeral chants, snippets of songs wafting from windows.
Like a musical diary, "Made in Taiwan" reflects one foreigner’s first impressions of Asia and captures moments from everyday life. Whilst taking delight in its strangeness, it places it in the more familiar musical context of western electronica with styles ranging from downtempo to breakbeat.
Whereas an Asian audience will be more familiar with the sounds that are so exotic to foreigners, they will hear these sounds interpreted in a fresh and personal way. Either way, "Made in Taiwan" is a unique and engaging listening experience.
MoShang is a sound jeweler living in Taiwan. He collects rough audio-diamonds from the streets of Taiwan (be they overheard conversations, street-ads blared from the ubiquitous blue-trucks, street processions or funeral chants) and fuses them with traditional Chinese instruments and laid-back beats to create a unique blend of downtempo electronica he likes to call "Chinese Chill".
Although he is slightly embarrassed to admit it, MoShang (aka Jean Marais) started his musical career as a choral singer in his native South Africa in the early 1980's. Around the same time, he received his first computer - a Commodore VIC-20. His passion for music and computers would eventually culminate in the release of his debut solo album "Made In Taiwan" in 2004.
Along the way, MoShang was the front man of Duusman (an Afrikaans language art rock band), played the saxophone for Tsunami (on the Gallo Jazz label), and produced 10 tracks on three award-winning music and poetry albums with the celebrated South African poet Breyten Breytenbach. He was half of the Afrikaans pop-duo 12Hz with Riku Latti (their debut "Nou" has been described as the most progressive Afrikaans album ever) and he received a South African AVANTI award for his music to the short film "Angels in a Cage".
Moshang's track "Nun Other" was a finalist in the 2005/2006 International Songwriting Competition.
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"Hi!!! I Bought your cd! It's some phat beats you've got in there plus the use of hehe - Delay Lama to create that monk funeral chant thingee... it's sweet!"
Gene Boo, SoundClick message board
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"Fabulous CD. I ordered it off CDbaby a week or two ago. Very enjoyable. I played 'Dragonbeat' for the Chinese New Year at our little local club night. Perfect."
DJ Evily, Myspace message
reviews
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nice sound
author: moira monsoonHi like your sound and songs, just discovered you on soundclick through the grovera website. I sell my cd too on cdbaby. Really like yours!!!
an enticing listen... never misses a beat
author: Gavin Phipps for Taipei TimesWhen Jean Marais moved to Taichung two years ago, he figured that the quickest way to get to grips with the unfamiliar city sounds was to take to the streets with his mini-disc player and record everything he heard. Having amassed several hours of the city's most vibrant sounds, Marais then decided to take his folly to the next level and record an album featuring an eclectic mix of some Taichung sounds and electronica. Entitled Made in Taiwan, the result of Marais's offbeat stroll through the streets of Taichung was released last month. A far cry from his previous recording ventures, which included working with pop-duo 12Hc and poet Breyten Breytenbach in his native South Africa, Marais's latest album is a blend of ambient world beat and then some chill-out electonica. The fusion of street sounds, which range from the clatter of traffic to the hum of monks chanting and the reverberation of a public karaoke performance, with samples of Oriental instrumentation and ambient world beat-based electronica make Made in Taiwan an enticing listen and, thanks to Marais's studio smarts, one that never misses a beat. His ambient creations might seem a bit over the top; but Marais isn't out to make a statement he's simply out to entertain. And regardless of theme, be it a funeral, dragon boats or learning Mandarin, all of the tunes are fresh, tight and, most importantly uncluttered. If it's simplistic, yet original localized chill-out you crave then, Made in Taiwan is not a bad place to begin.
full of inspiration, surprises, emotion, energy... full marks!
author: Kobie Botha for LitNetSo last Friday I cruise into the LitNet office and Erns hooks me up with a CD by the artist Moshang. Jean Marais, or MoShang, originally comes from Bellville, now lives in Taiwan, and makes music of his experiences in the East. He walks around with his MiniDisk permanently ready for action and records sounds that inspire him – then he uses these recordings in his studio. MoShang’s new 13-song LP called Made in Taiwan is a colourful art piece – the kind one encounters very rarely. One notices this immediately from the bright yellow/blue/red patterns on the album’s cover … very nice. If I have to classify it in a musical genre, it would probably be “Surrounding Electronic”. The musical structure is most unusual for electronic music, which is very refreshing and enjoyable. The longest song on the LP is 4:52, which is much shorter than the standard seven-minute song on classic dance music LP’s, and this keeps things interesting. MoShang’s music touches one’s soul and gives insight into his world – a world full of inspiration, surprises, emotion, energy and a healthy table spoon of weirdness. From the jazzy “Street Song” to the up-tempo “Under My Skin” MoShang succeeds in creating a genuine Eastern theme throughout the whole album. Full marks! (translated from Afrikaans)