Haylstorm The Cycle CD

MoShang loads his latest sonic jewel case, "Chill Dynasty", with only gems, finding that deep soft spot only the best chillout reaches. From the jazzy uptown images of "Or Else", to the scenery of a bright mountain sunrise in "Tall Tale", to "Soli" and its sophistication of 70's fusion with stylistic update, MoShang colors vision with sound, making each track a fine aural canvas. 'Easy' exudes the time-enduring qualities of an adult-contemporary hit and is already well-received with radio audiences prior to its release, featuring the intoxicatingly lush vocals of Sonja V. melting a soul like butter from her very first vowel."Chill Dynasty" proves MoShang's consistent quality and mastery as an artist, composer, and producer. Meet the Eastern world's Sven Van Hees - MoShang proves Chill Dynasty a classic beyond its time.

- Tim Quigley, groovera - Groovera Chilled Web Radio***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.

Kevin Crompton had played in a few bands, including a punk band called Illegal Youth with his high school friend, Al Nelson, but hadn't yet committed himself to being a full-time musician.

Gary Smith was working in a record store where he would play interesting new music. Gary and Kevin both were fans of Japan and it was inevitable that they would start talking about David Sylvian, the lead singer of Japan.

Joe Vizvary had spent the three years since graduating from UBC playing in various bands, touring bars and beer parlours throughout BC. His band NV had started playing original material, but was running out of steam. Joe had also started recording his own 4-track demos of some new electronic music that was not right for NV. He saw a note in an entertainment column in The Georgia Straight about a band looking for a keyboard player with gear.

Dale Martindale was attending The Emily Carr School of Art in Vancouver after finishing high school in Chilliwack, a suburb about 100 kilometres outside Vancouver. Dale had started spending time at various clubs around town that played new music. A few people had mentioned that he looked like Steve Jansen, the drummer for Japan.

Glen Nelson, whose brother Al had played in Illegal Youth with Kevin, had gone from The Mobile Clones, who had released a 7 inch single, to e , an experimental electronic band.

When Joe's band NV finally ended in April 1981, he called the number he had seen in the Georgia Straight, and ended up talking to Don for hours about music and their ideas about what kind of band they saw themselves in. Both seemed to have the same ideas about forming an electronic-based band that would concentrate on writing music about moods and textures. A few days later, Don, Gary, Kevin, and Joe (along with Pin-ups singer Gary Johnson) met to see if they might form a band. A mutual interest in the types of music everyone listened to became apparent, particularly in groups like Yellow Magic Orchestra, Kraftwerk, Japan, Ultravox, and many others. A rehearsal was arranged and after playing a few songs together, on April 29,1981, Images In Vogue was born.