Watcha Clan: Diaspora Remixed

Watcha Clan participates in a loose musical movement you could call Nomadic Trad Bohemian World Beat. Musicians, the most prominent of them being European, group together, find indigenous ideas here and there, and combine them. The urban savvy introduces itself to folk notions, as beliefs about travel, freedom, and open-minded creativity coalesce into a gypsyish ideal. An old romantic dream gets updated.

Diaspora was the Clan’s fifth album, and as usual with remixes, it’s interesting to discover what the different remixers keep and remove. Personalities emerge. Earthrise SoundSystem thinks “Goumari” should stomp. Shazalakazoo thinks it should spin. Spark believes it should jitter and churn. Earthrise likes the instrument that seems to be a masenqo, but Spark doesn’t. Some prefer singing women to sound like mystics, but others want them to sound like disco witches. Everyone argues their case and creates a diverse postscript to the source album.