Dissidenten

Although the trio Dissidenten specializes in the exotic sounds of Africa, all three of their members -- Uve Müllrich, Marlon Klein, and Friedo Josch -- hail from Berlin, Germany. Originally formed in 1981, the trio issued a few self-financed singles, before touring Asia for the better part of a year. By 1982, the group had relocated to India, where they lived in the palace of Maharaja Bhalkrishna Bharti of Gondagaon in Madja Pradesh in central India. This proved to be the location where Dissidenten's debut full-length recording was written; the album, Germanistan, saw the group joined by such outsiders as the Karnataka College of Percussion, female singer Ramamani, and American saxophonist Charlie Mariano. A year later, it was time for the trio to move once more, this time to North Africa (more specifically, to Tangier, Morocco), where renowned author and composer Paul Bowles introduced the trio to some of the area's best instrumentalists -- resulting in Dissidenten's sophomore effort, Sahara Elektrik, produced by Abdessalam Akaaboune. The mid-'80s saw the group score their first big hit (in Spain and Italy) with the dance track "Fata Morgana." Subsequently, the group launched a sold out tour of Spain, which led to a John Peel recording session in England, and increased interested in the band throughout the remainder of the world (the group was especially embraced by Canada, where Sahara Elektrik topped the independent charts). The trio decided to set up shop in Spain during 1986, which was where they recorded their third recording, Life at the Pyramids, issued the same year. To support the release, Dissidenten set out on a world tour, a standout performance being the opening night at the 1988 New Music Seminar at the Palladium in New York City. Dissidenten's first...