Watcha Clan - Diaspora Hi-Fi: A Mediterranean Caravan (2008)

Posted By: aasana
Date: Jan. 22, 2018

Watcha Clan - Diaspora Hi-Fi: A Mediterranean Caravan (2008)
EAC Rip | FLAC (tracks+.cue+.log) | 1:05:34 | 447 MB
Electronic, African, Reggae, Tribal | Label: Piranha

Marseille has a reputation for being France's most culturally integrated city and remained calm when race riots plagued others in 2005 and 2007. It seems appropriate that a band like Watcha Clan should emerge from this milieu, but just as politics and art aren’t always great bedfellows, their socially progressive stance and multiple stylistic reference points don’t necessarily make for great music. For quite some time, some cultural commentators have insisted that 'fusion is future'; whether or not that's true, mish-mash isn't.

With a sleeve that proudly boasts of songs in Arabic, Hebrew, Yiddish, French, English and Spanish, Watcha clan seem almost competitively multi-cultural. A cynic might say their overly eclectic approach attempts to jump on just about every world music bandwagon going, and like the proverbial jack-of-all-trades, they end up master of none. Diaspora Hi-Fi almost sounds like a 'various artists' compilation.

Drum 'n' bass and reggae are their preferred rhythmic templates, onto which they graft gnawa (Goumari), Balkan gypsy brass and Ashkenazi/Sephardic flavours (Balkan Qoulou, Marashtein, Tchiribim), Egyptian-style strings and rai flute (Les Courbes De Ton Corps), to name a few examples. Gypsy Sugar adds ham-fisted guest rappers. Main vocalist Sista K has one of those strident voices you'll either love or hate, and she's occasionally joined by Nassim Kouti on vocals and guitar, as on the rather lovely Arabo-Andalusian interlude of Ch'ilet La'Yani. The similarly peaceful intro to Oued El Chouli suggests Souad Massi before taking off into a dub reggae lope powered by Moroccan garagab castanets and accelerating into Sufi trance mode.

It's one of the few examples of a truly convincing marriage of styles on an album that otherwise largely struggles for focus. The bonus video of Eli shows the band in full flight, but the impression is that they had more fun making it that their audience did listening to it. The cover says it all, really; Sista K is pictured cupping her hands over her ears as if to say it’s all too much. There are quite a few moments on Diaspora Hi-Fi where you may well want to do the same.

Tracklist:
01. Watcha Clan - Les Hommes Libres
02. Watcha Clan - Goumari
03. Watcha Clan - Ch'ilet La'yani
04. Watcha Clan - Balkan Qoulou
05. Watcha Clan - Tchiribim
06. Watcha Clan - Marashtein
07. Watcha Clan - Mean Diaspora
08. Watcha Clan - Call Of Hagar
09. Watcha Clan - Les Courbes De Ton Corps
10. Watcha Clan - Gypsy Sugar (Warhan Warhan)
11. Watcha Clan - Eli
12. Watcha Clan - Travellin' Shoes
13. Watcha Clan - La Patera
14. Watcha Clan - Lei Le Ha
15. Watcha Clan - Qued El Chouli

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008

EAC extraction logfile from 9. July 2008, 17:38

Watcha Clan / Diaspora Hi-Fi

Used drive : TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-M1612 Adapter: 1 ID: 1

Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No

Read offset correction : -472
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Installed external ASPI interface
Gap handling : Appended to previous track

Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 320 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\FLAC\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "artist=%a" -T "title=%t" -T "album=%g" -T "date=%y" -T "tracknumber=%n" -T "genre=%m" %s


TOC of the extracted CD

Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 4:43.27 | 0 | 21251
2 | 4:43.27 | 5:13.36 | 21252 | 44762
3 | 9:56.63 | 1:25.39 | 44763 | 51176
4 | 11:22.27 | 3:47.71 | 51177 | 68272
5 | 15:10.23 | 3:29.47 | 68273 | 83994
6 | 18:39.70 | 3:16.43 | 83995 | 98737
7 | 21:56.38 | 1:17.09 | 98738 | 104521
8 | 23:13.47 | 3:24.14 | 104522 | 119835
9 | 26:37.61 | 4:29.51 | 119836 | 140061
10 | 31:07.37 | 5:17.47 | 140062 | 163883
11 | 36:25.09 | 6:31.42 | 163884 | 193250
12 | 42:56.51 | 6:12.72 | 193251 | 221222
13 | 49:09.48 | 5:41.01 | 221223 | 246798
14 | 54:50.49 | 5:14.11 | 246799 | 270359
15 | 60:04.60 | 5:29.34 | 270360 | 295068
16 | 68:06.19 | 10:59.58 | 306469 | 355951


Track 1

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Watcha Clan - Diaspora Hi-Fi [flac]\01 Les Hommes Libres.wav

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Peak level 98.3 %
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Track 2

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Watcha Clan - Diaspora Hi-Fi [flac]\02 Goumari.wav

Peak level 98.3 %
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Track 3

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Watcha Clan - Diaspora Hi-Fi [flac]\03 Ch'ilet La'yani.wav

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Peak level 79.0 %
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Track 4

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Watcha Clan - Diaspora Hi-Fi [flac]\04 Balkan Qoulou.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
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Track 5

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Watcha Clan - Diaspora Hi-Fi [flac]\05 Tchiribim.wav

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Track 6

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Watcha Clan - Diaspora Hi-Fi [flac]\06 Marashtein.wav

Peak level 98.3 %
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Track 7

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Watcha Clan - Diaspora Hi-Fi [flac]\07 Mean Diaspora.wav

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Track 8

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Watcha Clan - Diaspora Hi-Fi [flac]\08 Call Of Hagar.wav

Peak level 98.3 %
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Track 9

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Watcha Clan - Diaspora Hi-Fi [flac]\09 Les Courbes De Ton Corps.wav

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Track 10

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Watcha Clan - Diaspora Hi-Fi [flac]\10 Gypsy Sugar (Warhan Warhan).wav

Peak level 98.3 %
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 11

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Watcha Clan - Diaspora Hi-Fi [flac]\11 Eli.wav

Peak level 99.9 %
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Track 12

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Watcha Clan - Diaspora Hi-Fi [flac]\12 Travellin' Shoes.wav

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Track 13

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Watcha Clan - Diaspora Hi-Fi [flac]\13 La Patera.wav

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Track 14

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Watcha Clan - Diaspora Hi-Fi [flac]\14 Lei Le Ha.wav

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Track 15

Filename C:\EAC Rips\Watcha Clan - Diaspora Hi-Fi [flac]\15 Qued El Chouli.wav

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Peak level 98.3 %
Track quality 100.0 %
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