Matt Ford - aka DJ Format - may have abandoned his Brighton base for the lights of London but he has retained the funky hip-hop formula which made his 2003 debut album, Music For The Mature B-Boy, an unexpected success.

His follow-up, If You Can't Join 'Em... Beat 'Em, presents similar feel-good grooves, featuring more of the tightly produced breaks and naggingly familiar basslines which Format digs up from the well-turned waste ground between The Beastie Boys, Jurassic 5, N*E*R*D and De La Soul.

The beats are topped off by fast-rhyming Toronto-based MC Abdominal, this time working with another Canadian rapper, D-Cisive, to produce a bouncy, easy-flowing concoction.

Format's philosophy is simple: If it ain't broke, don't fix it - and if there's no one around making hip-hop the way it used to be back when the Rebel MC was street tough, he's ready to step up to the decks.

Live, Format's presentation is raw - eschewing anything flash, the crowd at Concorde 2 got hiphop in its fundamentals: Two MCs, two decks and a DJ. But this didn't mean a lack of atmosphere. Abdominal proved himself an excellent frontman, encouraging maximum audience participation.

D-Cisive's more nasal delivery and stockier build made him Abdominal's ideal foil. "I like Brighton, home of Fatboy Slim," he rhymed, pointing at his MC partner.

"Fatboy (me), and Slim (him)."

Format continued to drop dope beats after the pair had left the stage. Was the old skool really this much fun back in the day?

Probably not, but there's nothing like a bit of funky nostalgia.