Pitchfork

Ever since the Beatles traveled to India and came back with a case of "Norwegian Wood," every Boho bum with a guitar and a pair of wire- rimmed glasses has claimed Indian music and instruments in the name of psychedelia. From the Fab Four growing beards and sitting around puffing on hookahs to Kula Shaker's Crispian Mills chanting and trying hard to make us forget that he's the spawn of original Parent Trapette Hailey Mills, white British musicians have spent three decades upping their coolness quotients at the expense of traditional Indian music (and usually a rhythm- heavy Punjabi form known as Bhangra).

That alone is reason to get excited over the recent surge of Indian- Britons making names for themselves in a pop music climate that has been indelibly shaped by Indian culture, but it's not the only reason. Indian- Brits aren't only keeping up with their pale, sickly counterparts, they're outdoing them at every turn.

Cornershop's "Brimful of Asha" was probably the catchiest single released last year, and Tjinder Singh had a whole album's worth of catchier songs waiting in the wings. Echobelly's Sonya Aurora- Madan has one of the sultriest accents in pop music and her attitude is all Brit pomposity. DJ Talvin Singh's "two tablas and a microphone" style of drum-n-bass is a force to be reckoned with in the world of dance music. Same goes for State of Bengal's Bhangra 'n' bass. And that's just a sampling of musicians. Britain's Indian community in 1998 is like the Bronx in 1979 or Kingston, Jamaica in 1975-- there's so much talent and innovation that even the bad groups sound pretty good.

The past talent pools of Jamaican reggae and Bronx hip-hop aren't lost on Asian Dub Foundation. The London- based collective includes furious dancehall/ hardcore rap from Deeder and deep dub bass manipulation by Dr. Das (lest you think dub in ADF is just a catchphrase). Also thrown into the mix is Pandit D's frenetic scratching, Sun J's sundry sound manipulations and Chandrasonic's guitar waves. If it sounds hybrid that's because it is. Asian Dub Foundation incorporate reggae, hip-hop, Bhangra, drum-n-bass and punk into something altogether refreshing.

And the reason why it's refreshing (as opposed to grounded in any one of the genres it absorbs) is because no one part is emphasized or de-emphasized. "Black White" opens with a sonic sitar, which collapses over phat drum breaks, which pause long enough for a few reverbed riffs, and all the while Deeder is belting out his rhymes with the rage of Zach de la Rocha and the rolled tongue of Shinehead. Asian Dub Foundation create fury out of disparity.

The fury is catchiest on opening track "Naxalite" whose frenetic sitar loop sets the perfect drone as Deeder chases the breakbeats with his rhymes. The politically- charged "Free Satpal Ram" (an anthem for an Indian- Briton still imprisoned for killing a racist in self- defense) hits as hard as Public Enemy's "Fight the Power," and at twice the bpm. The most these junglists ever chill out are on the deep- dub jungle fusion of "Culture Move" (with jungle legend Navigator) and the semi- instrumental "Charge," which is sewn together with a rubbery vibe sample and reverb guitar that leaves tracers with or without illicit enhancers.

The name has caused more than one observer to skim over Asian Dub Foundation for fear that it's some bizarre Asian take on reggae. It is bizarre, and there is reggae. But there are so many other elements that the genre police wouldn't know where to start writing tickets. That's what makes Rafi's Revenge an amazing-- and amazingly funky-- album. To borrow a song title from Mad Richard Ashcroft, "This Is Music," no more and certainly no less.