The Streets: One-off Or Major Player?

I do agree though that modern "Rock" music has boiled down to either nu-metal angsty "fast then really loud, like, you know, Nirvana" (Korn, System of a Down) or shouty, petulant "I'm the new Iggy and here are my Stooges" (Any of the bands you mentioned in your initial post)

Miss Dynamite won the Mercury Prize.

First off, you need to get some "Anger Management" as part of your daily diet as well as working on your mental retention skills.

I heard on the radio today that the category that the Streets fell into for the Mercury Awards was titled "Urban"...also, if you read my post completely you would have noticed that I stated "whatever that means" in relation to the "Urban" categorization.

Holy shit, you called The Streets "urban"??? Get your head outta your ass - they're UK Garage! For fuck's sake, do you write for Pitchfork or something? Moron.
-- ILM Guy (ilmguy@ilxor.com), September 19th, 2002.

Is it just me, or does this post stink of a disgruntled Pitchfucker?

Pitchforker

Bit of a my subconcious sneeking in there...

hi everybody.

"The judges we spoke to intimated [Miss Dynamite] wasn't a clear winner by any means, rather more a compromise, with Doves, Streets and Joanna MacGregor close by."

Doves? Fuckin' Doves? Now there's one band I just don't get.

Awards aside, Mike Skinner's very good indeed, Original Pirate Material is fantastic and I bet he's still amazed it made it out of his bedroom. However, I wouldn't be surprised if it's all he's gonna do that's ever gonna matter - shame.

It all depends on a. his continued lyrical ingenuity and b. whether or not the big nasty music industry pushes him into a box he doesn't fit...

He's heowge here in Australia, mainly due to Aussies' penchant for a bit o' the owd cockernee action, and also cos of a *horrible* house remix of "Weak Become Heroes" (see point b. above).

ps his website rocks too - www.the-streets.co.uk

I'm gonna have a little dance now, seeya later!

Someone has made an Ian Dury comparison to Skinner already, yes? Even if he's from the Midlands or wherever...

This ties in a bit with that thread Nitsuh started - why do we expect bands/artists we see as 'original' to then be 'original' in a different way instead of exploring the areas they've already opened up?

What he could do next is change the concept, change the name, change the persona, and address wholly different issues, possibly in a similar way. It'd be different, but potentially interesting...

Also, Skinner is producing the second album himself, so I doubt it'll be shinier. It can imagine it being more experimental (more bassline solos please!). I'd be interested to hear the Black Twang remix (especially if it's of "Tricksta"!) because, as I think he proved on the Roll Deep Mix of Let's Push Things Forward, he's just as adept a garage/hip hop producer as he is an MC.

so a two-off, then

did anyone actually listen to that fourth album in the end? what was it like? someone or other told me there's a wob-step version of "blinded by the lights" out now.

There is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIccuhoLKHY&feature=related

major one off. needs to bow out gracefully now, do the occasional show where he plays the first album in full, produce some half decent rappers like he shouldve done years back, or judging from his recent beats, maybe not do that and just sign them to his label (or has that closed now?) and never record again, only doing the occasional puffy-like background murmuring or intro-ing records. maybe he should just become a radio dj. or become a tv presenter. he should have done a series on geezers years back. mitchell brothers need to be barred from ever recording.

Streets Score came on random the other day and reminded me why I liked Skinner. I quit The Streets after album 3 but i've make an incredible playlist from those 3 + the singles + mixes. Who cares what else he does, he's made his contribution.

I still listen to the first three albums pretty regularly, but "Everything Is Borrowed" feels like he slaved too long over some ideas that weren't too
great to begin with - why go to the trouble of recording a full orchestra if you're just going to truncate, quantize, and bit-crush it 'til it sounds like
some random loop you got from a sample CD? The b-side tracks that he issued on his earlier singles (I'm thinking specifically of tunes like "Give Me My Lighter Back"
and "Deluded In My Mind") are actually much stronger songs.

I'm always pleased when a track from the first album comes up on shuffle. The second album is enjoyable too, but the flow is too self-concious so comes out a bit stilted. In contrast, there's a disarming intimacy to OPM.

http://the-streets.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/photo.jpg

That is a fantastic album cover.

ilx and tears

Is that the UEA ziggurats?

waiting for his logo to turn into a lukewarm cup of chamomile with "the streets" written in script.

Fantastic cover. Also references teh classic ORiginal Pirate Material cover. Where's news about this?

"Trust Me" is fantastic, btw.

Well, between the hives, the vines and the strokes, can we even tell these people apart? Huh? HUH? HUUHHH!?

― Lord Custos Alpha (Lord Custos Alpha)

Yeah I was hoping the quality of music inside also calls back to OPM. Hated the last one so much that Skinner needs to do a lot to get back into my good graces.

THe last one is garbage. The first two are all-time classics, especially OPM.