WELCOME TO DISSIDENTEN
Dissidenten are instinctive travelers in the post-Theodor Fontane mold. That German man-of-letters – and traveler – once wrote that more than the wisdom of all the wise ones, what matters is travelling, travelling, travelling. Only by travelling and imbibing and inhaling another place’s culture can we really get under its skin. Dissidenten – self-proclaimed enemies of the state of confusion – took Fontane’s maxim to heart and took his principle to the max. with music.

Recent Comments
- Sibusiso on DISSIDENTEN LIVE SERIES – ‘Fiesta de la Mercè’ BARCELONA – SEPTEMBER 23, 1986
- Cristina on DISSIDENTEN LIVE SERIES – ‘Fiesta de la Mercè’ BARCELONA – SEPTEMBER 23, 1986
- Udo Joh on DISSIDENTEN LIVE SERIES – ‘Fiesta de la Mercè’ BARCELONA – SEPTEMBER 23, 1986
- Nahid on DISSIDENTEN LIVE SERIES – GÖTTINGEN – June 27th 1987
- helmut on DISSIDENTEN LIVE SERIES – Zürich – December 7, 1984


Where rock intersects with North Africa
Western interest in music from across the globe was, of course, in currency for many, many years before the phrase ‘world music’ was coined back in 1987. After all, we were already a couple of decades on from The Beatles’ absorption of Indian culture and the Rolling Stones first falling in love with the music of Morocco. Dissidenten are no Johnny-come-latelys either, having notched up three decades at the chalkface, in the process being anointed as “the godfathers of worldbeat” by none other than Rolling Stone. Although they’d refuse to put limitations on their inspirations, their primary focus follows Mick and Keef to North Africa, a fascination still held today: their most recent album Tangier Sessions finds them melding the region’s music to a meaty rock sensibility. Even though charismatic frontman Hamid Baroudi is no longer in their ranks, a Dissidenten performance remains a heady, exotic ride fuelled by enchanting melodies and diamond-hard rhythms.
(Biography written by Nige Tassell 2011)
And some thunder too – they were brilliant at Womad this year, so good we couldn’t tear ourselves away to see the main headliners on the final night!. Still political, still concerned, with solid Germanity and a shiny metal hurdy gurdy!