I was digging through a crate of vinyl from my misspent indie youth last night and came across the brilliant Free Satpal Ram by Asian Dub Foundation, one of the finest agit-prop records of the 1990s and a searing indictment of the British legal system that convicted a young man trying to ward off a racist attack of murder and kept him in prison, after he had served the recommended sentence, because he maintained his innocence. Thankfully, the European Court Of Human Rights intervened in 2002 and affirmed the fact that the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, had no right to overrule the parole board that had wanted to free him two years earlier.

Musically, it's spectacular, an incendiary blend of punk, dub, bhangra and hip-hop that contributed to the album, Rafi's Revenge, picking up a 10/10 in the NME, back before people started getting perfect scores for a combination of borrowed Blondie riffs and nice hair.


The case

Buy ADF stuff

Asian Dub Foundation - Free Satpal Ram