If you are asked by the almighty Public Enemy to support them at a show then what does that tell you? It tells you that you have been hand-picked by one of the greatest bands (never mind hip hop bands) of the last 1000 years to be worthy of sharing the same stage as them because they like you.
Luckily for Sublime Wizardry they took this as a cue to go all out and proceeded to ensure that Chuck could happily nod his head in the wisdom that he could proceed on stage to a nicely warmed-up, hyped crowd.
To understand the attraction of SW you only need to listen to their latest EP, entitled rather introvertly 'Best Of The Bunch' which should give you a good idea of where they are musically.
Kicking off with an immediate ball-grabber is the wikka-wikka, dj-led All Day Sucker which shows off the deft skills of DJ Tones as he cuts up a storm whilst simultaneously reminding you that the dj IS the heart of hip hop.
Europeans seem to have a strong sense of how to make a tense, moody track when it comes to hip hop (or Br*tc*re) and this is exemplified no more so than on the cut When The Chaos Comes with its' repetitive menacing brass tone hitting you with more excessive force than a copper at a G-20 summit protest.
As long as you're enjoying your hip hop hard then Ironball Throwdown will give you a chubby of gargantuan proportions with a slamming guitar lick wailing over a rock break. There's some great old school samples hidden in the mix and this breaks up the beat nicely.
You'll notice that I haven't made reference to the lyrics yet and that is only because I always check for the music and production in a track first. The Remarkable 1 and The One Native Son can chuck out deep lyrics (Can She Be Heard) or flip the script and rock it on some old school level just as easily.
Sublime Wizardry wear their old school credential on their sleeves and make no effort to conceal the fact that they're not new jacks ("we're bringing back that old school feeling, positive vibes and the hip hop healing"). The overall feeling of this EP is that they can rock it however they want but on their own terms with a sound they can be proud of. It's hardcore, make no mistake but the guitar-samples (Merlin on the production) lend it the mildest whiff of a pop-sounding feel - and that's not meant as put-down. In fact it has the potential to blow up on the charts with it's crossover appeal and no way feel as if it's selling out.
Brighton has always been seen as the more chilled-out version of London - or maybe that's just me - with more of an edge to create music. The work on offer here displays the lads' eclectic tastes in music and is always moving, never wanting to stay put in one fixed style as can be heard from one track to another; funky, old school, hardcore, poignant or party-rocking boom-bapness. Is that the climate? The natural aroma of the soothing sea air? Whatever it is it's a change from the ocean of wanksta gangstas that continue to misappropriate our culture and steer it on boat chartered to the Land Of Shite making it unrecognisable to many of us.
Available now on Show & Prove Records, you should pick this up if you want to stay ahead in the game.
More details:
http://www.sublimewizardry.com/shop-2 Buy! Buy! BUY!
www.facebook/sublimewizardry.com
www.soundcloud/sublimewizardry.com (try before you buy!)
www.twitter/@SublimeWizardry
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