Before Thievery
The flirtation between electronic music artists and world beat music goes further back than Thievery Corporation's trademark outernational sound. In the early 80's dub electronica artist Adrian Sherwood began recording a series of albums by African Head Charge, a shifting lineup of musicians led by percussionist Bongo I.
Bongo I of African Head Charge
On the 1994 album
In Pursuit of Shashamane Land producer Sherwood combined just the right elements of world music with a Western sensibility to earn a great deal of critical acclaim for African Head Charge. The opening cut on the album,
Heading To Glory Sherwood's mastery of organic dub techniques made the song a tour de force performance of world beat music.
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Public Image Ltd.
The groundbreaking post-punk band Public Image Ltd. began experimenting with atonal Arabic music and combining it with dub music as early as the late 70's. The title song to PIL's 1981 album
The Flowers of Romance is an intriguing fusion of Arabic music and dub.
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After leaving Public Image Ltd., bassist Jah Wobble continued to play Middle Eastern music infused with dub music studio techniques.
Betrayal is from Jah Wobble's first studio album,
The Legend Lives On, issued late in 1981.
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In reality, electronic music artists were experimenting with world music long before Thievery Corporation got into the game. The fusion of world music with electronica didn't begin with Thievery nor will it end with Theivery.