Asian Dub Foundation - '94-Now: Collaborations' Album Review

Tracklist:

1 “No Fun" featuring Iggy Pop

2 “Comin’ Over Here" featuring Stewart Lee

3 “Broken Britain" featuring Chowderman

4 “1000 Windows" featuring Sinead O’Connor and Ed O'Brien

5 “Raj Antique Store” featuring Likkle Mai & Dry and Heavy

6 “Taa Deem” featuring Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

7 “Culture Move” featuring MC Navigator

8 “Free Saptal Ram (Bendran Lynch Remix)” featuring Primal Scream

9 “Toulouse” featuring Zebdra and Chandrasonic

10 “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos” featuring Chuck D (Live at Somerset House)

11 “Collective Mode” featuring Audio Active

It seems strange to think that Asian Dub Foundation have been gracing our stereos and stages now for over thirty years with a sound that still sounds as fresh as the first time you heard it.

If you aren't aware of them, Asian Dub Foundation are a cultural and musical melting pot, taking elements of electronica, dub, hip hop, rap, bhangra and punk. They draw from several different cultural and political references creating something that's fairly unique. Imagine Joe Strummer and the Beastie Boys jamming with guitars, sitars and tablas through a huge east London soundsystem and you'll get a brief flavour of their delights.

“94-Now: Collaborations” is exactly what the title says it is; a series of songs they've performed and recorded over the past three decades, some covers and some originals but all worth listening to.

Up first is a dub heavy version of The Stooges “No Fun" featuring the vocal talents of one Iggy Pop. Here, it loses its it’s original punk boots and instead adopts and Indian funk instead. It's a glorious mash up of styles that works perfectly to set the scene for what to expect, especially when Mr Pop shouts “come on you bhangra bashing bastards!” So much fun!

Next up is the comedian Stewart Lee featuring pro-immigration “Comin’ Over Here" who sharply reminds us that Britain has been the destination for many foreign groups and races for centuries, something the far right seems to be totally oblivious to. “Broken Britain” with Chowderman seed a dubstep beat married to a fast metal guitar line, a cultural mosh pit that socks you into it’s vortex.

Album highlight “1000 Mirrors" sneaks up on you, featuring the unmistakable vocal talents of the much missed Sinead O’Connor and Radiohead's Ed O’Brien. Lyrically, it tackles the injustice behind a woman serving a life sentence for killing an abusive husband. Originally featuring on the “Enemy of the Enemy” album, it still has the power to send chills down your spine.

LiKkle Mai & Dry and Heavy help turn the mood back up with “Raj Antique Store" just before the unmistakable voice of Pakistani superstar Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan graces us on “Taa Deem". His voice is revered across the globe and you can hear why from this performance as it follows traditional qawwali (a form of Islamic devotional singing) but performed by ADF, where it’s treat with great reverence.

MC Navigator handles the vocals on “Culture Move" which features some fantastic sampled break beats to add to the traditional instrumentation. “Free Saptal Ram (Bendran Lynch Remix)” highlights the plight of Ram who's conviction in 1987 for murder has drawn allegations of mistreatment and injustice due to his race. On the track, ADF are joined by Scottish rockers Primal Scream to highlight his plight (Ram was freed after 15 years imprisonment but there are still many questions unanswered from his case).

“Toulouse" drops a massive funky beat on the listener before a live version of Public Enemy’s “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos”” featuring Chuck D drops. The collection wraps up with “Collective Mode" featuring Audio Active, a more chilled track than previous offerings but still quite dubby, which is just what you'd expect. The bass lines throb a drums are layered with reverb.

The collection is a great way to celebrate their thirty years together as a band. It pulls together album tracks, singles and rarities into one handy package. It dips it’s toes in Asian Dub Foundation’s deep waters acting both as an introduction for a new listener and a reminder of the band's power and wide sonic palette to people who know the band. There's something here for everyone, from deep funk to agit punk, dub to the chilled sounds suited to a dark room at three in the morning.

Long may their party continue.