Electronic Beat Backs Band’s Political Takes

In the liner notes to its debut album, “Rafi’s Revenge,” Asian Dub Foundation acknowledges the Beastie Boys, Cornershop, reggae artist Sizzla and the late Pakistani singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan as influences. So it came as no surprise to find the London-based quintet--whose members are of Indian and Pakistani heritage--blending both B-boy posturing and the modal scales of Indian devotional music into its furious electro-dub assault at the Troubadour on Tuesday.

ADF’s rhythmic foundation is based on the loping bob of Jamaican dancehall music and the insistent clamor of electronic jungle beats. ADF created dramatic tension by either switching between the two or cross-weaving them, while guitarist Chandrasonic and bassist Dr. Das kept a liquid counter-melody gurgling underneath. Sampled elements of Indian music would occasionally creep into the mix, and Chandrasonic also worked heavy metal riffs into songs.

ADF’s lyrics are mostly politically charged commentary, which is stamped out by frontman Master D in a kind of mutant version of Jamaican “toasting.” It’s doubtful, however, that anyone in the crowd came to hear about racial strife in England. As the musicians bobbed and wove around one another, the crowd bounced in unison and even formed a small mosh pit at the front of the stage, caught up in the intoxicating cross-cultural tempest.