New striking strokes
23 February 2025
English hip-hop storyteller MIKE SKINNER and his musical vehicle THE STREETS roll
out his 1st new song of 2025 with single HOW TO WIN AT ROCK PAPER SCISSORS.
Pure The Streets.
Trippy and bouncy.
AUDIO
The making of the song.
18 October 2023
Artist: THE STREETS
Who: Birmingham (UK) born UK garage/alt hip-hop/electronic artist.
Active: 1993–present / 6 LPs and 1 mixtape
New album: THE DARKER THE SHADOW THE BRIGTHER THE LIGHT
DIY Mag says: “For the most part, ‘The Darker the Shadow The Brighter the Light’ has
a vitality to it and has a sense of drama and occasion to it that was perhaps lacking by
the time he wound down The Streets the first time around.” Score: 4/5.
TUTV: The new Streets expose very familiar territory. We’re used to his wicked vibes
and rapping storytelling. Quite normal after 6 LPs, but let’s not forget that Mike Skinner
was an innovative and groundbreaking artist for UK Garage music when he released his masterpiece debut LP Original Pirate Material in 2002. Impossible (to my ears) to match the brilliance of that album. So here we are, entertained, nothing more, nothing less.
Singles/clips: Troubled Waters / Each Day Gives
– TROUBLED WATERS –
– EACH DAY GIVES –
ALBUM
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THE STREETS: Instagram – Facebook
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
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
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
New sonic impulses…
25 June 2020
After nine years since Computers And Blues came out MIKE SKINNER and THE STREETS will release a new mixtape, featuring several guests, called ‘NONE OF US ARE GETTING OUT OF THIS LIFE ALIVE’, out 10th July.
So far London’s too much brandy hip-hopper gave us two tasters I Wish You Loved You
As Much As You Love Him and Call My Phone Thinking I’m Doing Nothing Better.
And here’s piece three. FALLING DOWN is about ‘bad days, bad dates,
bad vibes, and the constant effort to overcome it all‘ featuring Hak Baker.
“When you fail they rejoice/Falling down is an accident/Staying down is a choice.”
Dry your eyes and listen here…
.
Previous tracks/clips…
– Call My Phone Thinking I’m Doing Nothing Better –
(Feat. Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker)
– I Wish You Loved You As Much As You Love Him –
(Feat. Donae’O and Greentea Peng)
THE STREETS: Facebook
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
Knockouts from the past…
27 November 2019
THE STREETS‘ mastermind MIKE SKINNER, born on 27 November 1978, celebrates his
41st birthday today. Although it’s a sad love ballad let’s toast with ‘DRY YOUR EYES‘, as it was Skinner‘s greatest hit ever. NME called the track “a hairs-on-the-back-of-your-neck ballad for jilted lovers. Rarely has Skinner sounded so vulnerable, poignant and, well, normal.”
Here we go…
THE STREETS: Facebook
Today infamous punk combo IDLES played some songs live for BBC’s Radio 1 Live Lounge Session series. One of the performances was entirely surprising. It was a mash-up of songs by rapper Mike Skinner aka THE STREETS. The Bristol band made a collage of the following The Streets tunes: Turn the Page, Has it Come to This?, Geezers Need Excitement and Don’t Mug Yourself. Check it out right here…
IDLES: Facebook / THE STREETS: THE STREETS
(photo by TUTV!)
Going back in sonic history looking for memorable albums…
Here come Five Superb Albums, selected
by Turn Up The Volume turning 15 in 2019!
1. ‘Kasabian’ by KASABIAN –
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– 2. ‘The Libertines’ by THE LIBERTINES –
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– 3. ‘The Concretes’ by THE CONCRETES –
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– 4. ‘Aha Shake Heartbreak’ by KINGS OF LEON –
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– 5. ‘A Grand Don’t Come For Free’ by THE STREETS –
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