Asian Dub Foundation

Though it has not enjoyed quite the exposure or recognition of fellow tablas-'n'-breakbeats Londoners Talvin Singh and Cornershop, this collective—formed in 1993 at a music- technology workshop run by bassist Dr. Das (Aniruddha Das), with civil rights worker and DJ Pandit G (John Pandit) and a young Bengali rapper named Master D (Deeder Zaman)—has set a high standard for its uncompromising politics and clever mingling of very old and very new musical traditions. With postcolonial fury and a sample box, the group has made some of the most righ-teously and intelligently angry pop music to come out of En gland since the Clash, eagerly taking up the flame of anti- imperialist, multicultural rock in a new decade and a tense new world order.

Fact and Fictions finds ADF's sound—frenetic reggae meets drum-and-bass beats—fully formed. "We ain't ethnic, exotic, or eclectic/The only 'E' we use is electric," Master D barks in "Jericho," a song boldly introduced as speaking "for the consciousness of the nation."

The heat builds on Rafi's Revenge, with yet more controversial topics and a sound that pushes the bubbling tabla drums, slippery guitar patterns, and frenzied rhythms to explosive heights. "Naxalite," one of the most impassioned political songs since U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday," cries, "We must never give up/Until the land is ours . . . /'Til we have taken the power."

A mediocre live disc (Conscious Party) held the place while ADF recorded its most carefully articulated and varied album, Community Music. Toning down the inflammatory stuff, the group makes more cogent and nuanced social criticisms than ever before. "Real Great Britain" castigates the "shoegazer nation" that won't look its problems in the face, while "Collective Mode" and "Memory War" call for unity and truth in the face of propaganda.

Master D left the group at the end of 2000, and following a collection of remixes and miscellany, the group released Enemy of the Enemy, with a series of guest MCs taking D's place. None of them match his wild, lispy charm, and underwhelming guest spots by Sinéad O'Connor and Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien don't help either. (BEN SISARIO)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide