What do you get when you take a bunch of German dudes, put them in India, have them form a band, then have them bounce around all over Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East?  You get Dissidenten, that’s what.

I’d never heard of these guys before, but their 1986 EP Fata Morgana caught my eye the other day in the “Miscellaneous D” section at Silver Platters and their background seemed interesting.  The record consists of three tracks, all remixes – “Fata Morgana” off of 1984s Sahara Electric, and “Telephone Arab” and “Mata Hari” from 1986s Life at the Pyramids.

I have no prior experience with Dissidenten, so no clue as to how these remixes differ from the originals.  The music is hard to categorize – there are definitely pop/rock elements, as well as a “world beats” kind of thing with the integration of non-Western sounds.  The poppiness has a sort of new wave feel in a way, but the ultimate sense you come away with is one of “otherness” – the general structure is familiar, but surrounded by Eastern and African influences.