Mike Skinner

MIKE SKINNER And THE STREETS Released His Classy Debut Album 20 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Back in time

27 March 2022

Artist: THE STREETS
Who: The musical project of Mike Skinner (age 42) from the Midlands, UK
Active: 1993-present / 5 studio LPs and 2 with The D.O.T,
a collaboration with musician/DJ Robert Hayes

Anniversary album: ORIGINAL PIRATE MATERIAL – debut LP
Released: 25 March 2002 – 20 years ago

AllMusic said: “Original Pirate Material, is an excellent listen — much better than the heavy-handed hype would make you think. Unlike most garage LPs, it’s certainly not a substitute for a night out; it’s more a statement on modern-day British youth, complete with all the references to Playstations, Indian takeaway, and copious amounts of cannabis you’d expect. Skinner also has a refreshing way of writing songs, not tracks, that immediately distinguishes him from most in the garage scene.”

Turn Up The Volume: Skinner is a spoken-word waterfall telling stories about what he sees around him in daily life with great rhymes, non-stop beats and symphonic synth orchestrations in the back. No fillers. Classy hip-hop-pop achievement by a rapping geezer.

Key Single; Let’s Push Things Forward

Full album…

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THE STREETS: All Albums – Facebook

THE STREETS – Third LP ‘THE HARDEST WAY TO MAKE AN EASY LIVING’ Came Out 15 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

12 April 2021

Band: THE STREETS (Birmingham)
Michael Geoffrey Skinner’s baby.

Album: THE HARDEST WAY TO MAKE AN EASY LIVING – third LP
Released: 10 April 2006 – 15 years ago

A bad review (for a chance). American indie online mag Stylus Magazine wrote:
“An exercise in empty nothingness. But it’s not Bacchanalian coked-out excess nothingness,
it’s the joyless hollow-eyed actions of a man who is waiting for the next fix and doesn’t care what bullshit has to come out of his lips in order to get paid.” Oops!

Singles/clips: When You Wasn’t Famous / Never Went To Church

– WHEN YOU WASN’T FAMOUS –

– NEVER WENT TO CHURCH –

Full album…

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THE STREETS: Facebook

Trip Pop Duets – ‘None Of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive’ By THE STREETS…

Posted on by JL

12 July 2020

Who: Mike Skinner and THE STREETS (London, UK)
Album: None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive – sixth longplayer
Released: 10 July 2020

NME says: “Now a settled family man, who still parties hard, but parties hardly Skinner’s now doing things on his own terms, rather than bowing to the beck and call of record labels, lawyers and PR companies. As a result, things seem a little less exhausting. Instead of spunking huge budgets on lavish videos, he’s now filming his own on an iPhone, which he also used to mix this on rather than in a flash studio… A duets record by any other name, Skinner’s effortlessly taken the temperature of the best left of centre sounds of 2020, bringing in everyone from Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker to heart-on-sleeve punks IDLES, British rap hero Ms Banks and G-folk originator Hak Baker… This is the sound of The Streets having a whole lot of fun and worrying very little about the consequences… ‘None of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive’ isn’t just a testament to Mike Skinner’s intriguing evolution but also proof of his keen eye for curation. It’s good to have him back – and all of his mates, too.” Score: 4/5.

Singles: Call My Phone Thinking I’m Doing Nothing Better / I Wish You Loved You As Much As You Love Him / Falling Down

– CALL MY PHONE THINKING I’M DOING NOTHING BETTER –
(Feat. Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker)

– I WISH YOU LOVE YOU AS MUCH AS YOU LOVE HIM –
(Feat. Donae’O and Greentea Peng)

– FALLING DOWN –

Full album…

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THE STREETS: Facebook

THE STREETS And TAME IMPALA Team Up For ‘CALL MY PHONE THINKING I’M DOING NOTHING’

Posted on by JL

New sonic impulses…

MIKE SKINNER‘s successful hip hop project THE STREETS returns nine years after their longplayer Computers And Blues came out. The new track CALL MY PHONE THINKING I’M DOING NOTHING is the first single from The Streets’ new mixtape ‘NONE OF US ARE GETTING OUT OF THIS LIFE ALIVE’, out in July, featuring several guests.

For this song, Skinner teamed up with Tame Impala‘s mastermind Kevin Parker. In the clip you see Skinner trying to phone all his friends from a winter sports location while Kevin Parker sits in a sunlit apartment. It looks like a sonic social distancing message.

Watch/listen here…

THE STREETS: Facebook

THE STREETS – Released Debut Album ‘ORIGINAL PIRATE MATERIAL’ 15 Years Ago…

Posted on by JL

Looking back in time… memorable moments in sonic history!

7sevenmix

‘Original Pirate Material’ by THE STREETS
Released 25 March 1992 – 15 years ago

What the press said…

NME
“What we’re dealing with here is an album that owes a lot to garage, but also quite a lot to
the all-night garage, too. By turns dark, funny and heartbreaking, the songs on ‘Original Pirate Material’ are snapshots of ordinary life as a young midlands resident, set to innovative two-step production: tales of love, going out, being skint and getting drunk.”
4/5

ALL MUSIC
“Skinner’s debut is an excellent listen, much better than the heavy-handed hype would make you think. Unlike most garage LPs, it’s certainly not a substitute for a night out. It’s more a statement on modern-day British youth, complete with all the references to Playstations, Indian takeaway, and copious amounts of cannabis you’d expect.”
10/10

PITCHFORK
“One-man MC/DJ package Mike Skinner has an obvious talent for forging damn sharp hip-pop hooks that supercede his inherent verbal handicap. Given the fact that it does, eventually, manage to overcome the horrific-sounding concept of British hip-hop, it seems pretty reasonable to give it a recommendation. Bloody good show, I say.”
8/10

Music, maestro, please…
Here are my three fav tracks

LET’S PUSH THINGS FORWARD

HAS IT COME TO THIS?

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STAY POSITIVE

THE STREETS: Discography