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The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free

Started by Utter Shit, May 01, 2004, 07:17:08 PM

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Utter Shit

I'm not going to try and convert the people that hate Skinner and what he's doing, his style is something you either get or you don't.

What I will say is that this is the best album I've heard in ages. It's got a depth I didn't realise he was capable of, and I've always liked him.

Well worth checking out, I reckon this is gonna be the soundtrack to the Summer of '04, the way Original Pirate Material was '02's CD...it has everything, from the bouncy pop track Fit But You Know It (and I'm sure you'll all agree that he's speaking the truth with that one) to some deeper, meaningful stuff like Dry Your Eyes and Could Well Be In. At the end of the day, it's the same old Streets style, social commentary done with a bit of humour, but it's on another level to his debut.

The only complaint I have about the album is that, at 11 tracks, it's too short...but the tracks are pretty long, a total of 51 minutes, and they're ALL great. I can't point out a track that I don't like, though there are obvious stand-out tracks. 'Fit But You Know It' is an obvious crossover hit, the same way 'Let's Push Things Forward' was on Original Pirate Material, but it's the deeper tracks that really stand out for me...'Dry Your Eyes' just gets better and better with each listen, same with 'Could Well Be In', the two tracks are basically two sides of the same issue, one about splitting up with a girl, the other about going out looking for a new girl...and the imagery he brings up is so easy to relate to, it amazes me how people still say that The Streets is just some guy talking about what he sees, it's much more thought-out than that. That said, one of my favourite tracks, 'It Was Supposed To Be So Easy' is exactly that - a basic social commentary, but very funny and the beat is just quality, real anthemic feel to it, and the chorus is just laddish brilliance 'Today I have achieved absolutely nowt/In just being out of the house I've lost out/If I wanted to end up with more now/I should have just stayed in bed like I know how//'...doesn't sound much written down, but couple it with the beat and it's great.

The production is much better on this album as well, sounds much less manufactured, even though his methods of creating it mean that it obviously IS very manufactured. He uses many more influences on this, with classical, orchestral, rock and even a REALLY basic, minimal piano beat on 'Could Well Be In' works perfectly with what he's trying to say in the song.

I'm beginning to agree with the zealots who say Skinner is a genius. Buy this album. Or alternatively, let the vitriol commence. You angry, scary bastards =(

The Streets are god awful and always were. The black guy can't sing nor can he write lyrics (as is obvious by how clumsy the chorus to Lets Push Things Forward sounds). How anyone can call that pikey tosser a genius is genuinely worrying.

Frinky

I liked all of the last lot of material they did - what was the single with the video in a club? I thought that was a fantastic song - what happens after you get bladdered every Friday? - the constant swishing between serious (and fairly depressing) and comic happiness is great... Certianly can't wait to get a hold of it.

Utter Shit

Quote from: "Frinky"I liked all of the last lot of material they did - what was the single with the video in a club? I thought that was a fantastic song - what happens after you get bladdered every Friday? - the constant swishing between serious (and fairly depressing) and comic happiness is great... Certianly can't wait to get a hold of it.
Weak Become Heroes? Awesome track, perfectly toeing the line between chilled and party style...love that track. The whole of Original Pirate Material was great, but this new album is even better, I know I keep saying it, but there's a depth that was missing from the first album. Great stuff.

TraceyQ

He is actually very, very good but he toes the line between being taken seriously and becoming GLC. If he keeps his wits about him this album will be massive... I've been noticing that The Sun's Bizarre column has been pushing the single to get to number one as the anthem of the year which he must be *chuffed * about.

imitationleather

That Victoria Newton who does the Bizarre column is really narking me off. She's trying to put a finger in every pie by going on about what rock bands we should all be listening to, how close Pete Doherty is to death, which Hollyoaks star got her fadge out at some awards ceremony, details of the new Blue album etc. etc. Chances are your average reader of The Sun isn't going to give two hoots about all these cutting edge 'rock acts' and if they do they're not going to use some sensationalist daily column as their main source of information.

Clearly she just wants to look like she's cool and also if any of these bands she champions get big she can take some of the glory. Oh yeah, and have any of you seen her being interviewed on TV? It's funny how your newspaper column photo always makes you look three stone lighter and ten years younger, isn't it?

TraceyQ

Quote from: "imitationleather"That Victoria Newton who does the Bizarre column is really narking me off. She's trying to put a finger in every pie by going on about what rock bands we should all be listening to, how close Pete Doherty is to death, which Hollyoaks star got her fadge out at some awards ceremony, details of the new Blue album etc. etc. Chances are your average reader of The Sun is going to give two hoots about all these cutting edge 'rock acts' and if they do they're not going to use some sensationalist daily column as their main source of information.

Clearly she just wants to look like she's cool and also if any of these bands she champions get big she can take some of the glory. Oh yeah, and have any of you seen her being interviewed on TV? It's funny how your newspaper column photo always makes you look three stone lighter and ten years younger, isn't it?

She's as bad as the 3am girls for plundering the day before's popbitch board, I wouldnt take any notice. The proles that read the Sun will only find Mike Skinner interesting because he looks like them (the irony is wasted) and The Libs cos they can make up lies about how many rocks of crack Pete shoves down his japs eye to feed his "£250 a day habit".

imitationleather

I'm not saying that the articles are strictly lies (the ones about Pete being a crack addict are horribly true, unfortunately), I just don't see how printing stuff like that helps anyone.

Oh well.

Anyway, to pull this back on topic... I really loved The Streets when the album came out, but then after a while I grew to loathe it. Tracks like 'The Irony of it All' are frankly embarrassing and some of the rhyming is terrible. However, I stuck it on a few days ago in anticipation of the new LP and I've fallen in love with it again. I've heard mixed things about this new album, it's a concept album about a relationship, isn't it? Mike Skinner: The new Pink Floyd.

Can't wait to get my hands on it...

Utter Shit

Quote from: "imitationleather"Anyway, to pull this back on topic... I really loved The Streets when the album came out, but then after a while I grew to loathe it. Tracks like 'The Irony of it All' are frankly embarrassing and some of the rhyming is terrible. However, I stuck it on a few days ago in anticipation of the new LP and I've fallen in love with it again. I've heard mixed things about this new album, it's a concept album about a relationship, isn't it? Mike Skinner: The new Pink Floyd.
It's a concept album in a loose way, really it's just a continuing of the OPM idea, social commentary with a sense of humour...there's a vague connection between the songs, but not in a 'oh, well you've got to listen to track 4, or track 6 won't make sense' sort of way. I think the concept idea is just something that can make you view it in another light.

As for The Irony Of It All, well I'm the biggest Streets fan going, and even I hate that bastard song. It's like a novelty record, great fun for a couple of listens, but no staying power whatsoever. The video's bloody brilliant though.

23 Daves

Mmmm.... The Streets... yeah... the thing is, I do find some of it a bit too embarrassing to take seriously.  "Fit But You Know It" in particular does sound like some whining insecure adolescent's view of a gorgeous woman, but because he's Mike Skinner we're all going "Oh that's bang on the nail!" rather than "Get a life", which I'm sure most of his audience would if it had jangling guitars behind it and he sang like Morrissey.

I've got "Original Pirate Material", but I didn't bother bringing it to Australia with me.  I found it didn't have much staying power as a whole - great for a couple of listens, but it lacked sufficient depth to keep me listening for much beyond that.  The fact is there are several hundred urban poets out there writing material to Skinner's standards and also delivering it in precisely the same mockney accent.  He's a lucky chap.

Also, I saw the video for "Fit But You Know It" over here in Melbourne, and felt strangely depressed rather than whimsically patriotic.

no_offenc

I'm about halfway through the album, and it sounds so far more mature in its style (not as "oi oi it's garage boyeee" and more laid back and stuff) and he seems more confident with himself throughout n all.

So my verdict so far - dead good.  At least as good as the first one.

Pilf

Mike Skinner holds the irony shield which can deflect any criticism, but really he's just a talentless arse.

dan dirty ape

It's a great progression from 'Original Pirate Material'. He sounds like he knows he's on the top of his game all the way through.  'Blinded By The Light' is an even more on-the-money evocation of doing pills than 'Weak Become Heroes'. It's just a shame I read a Guardian article before I heard the album that outlined the entire storyline, giving away all the little twists in songs like 'Get Out Of My House', and telling you how he eventually gets the grand back.  

'I'll never darken your towels again'

hands cold, liver warm

As i don't eat kebabs, I find it hard to relate to the streets.

fanny splendid

I saw 'Fit But You Know It' performed on Jonathan Ross' show. Anyone care to explain what is so great about it?

I'm obviously missing something.

dan dirty ape

I get why Skinner's stuff is so divisive. The music is completely DIY (actually, that's one of the reasons why I dig him. 'Too Much Brandy' sounds drunk like The Alkaholiks' 'Only When I'm Drunk' sounds drunk.) he raps like a Burberry boy showing off to his mates on public transport, with a flow that no one could ever describe as smooth (but one that fits the music and the say-what-you see commentary like a glove), and his photoshoots often resemble Ian Curtis' snaggletoothed chav kid brother out on the pull (and unlike Goldie Lookin' Chain, he isn't completely taking the piss), but his best stuff (which the single isn't) is as funny and incisive as his champions say it is.

fanny splendid


Frinky

Quote from: "Utter Shit"Weak Become Heroes?

Thats the one, I thought that was rather fantastic, yes.

another Mr. Lizard

I was a big, big fan of 'OPM' and said as much on this very board at the time. However, I feared that Skinner might just end up repeating himself, and was a little worried on first hearing 'Fit But You Know It'...

...until he managed to work the word 'oyez' into the lyrics!

Business as usual. The man's a genius.

I gather the new album is a little more introspective/depressing  - fine by me, I loved 'Stay Positive' on 'OPM' and would love to hear him do more of this type of thing (probably what Joy Division would have sounded like on a third album had Curtis lived).

Utter Shit

Quote from: "another Mr. Lizard"I gather the new album is a little more introspective/depressing  - fine by me, I loved 'Stay Positive' on 'OPM' and would love to hear him do more of this type of thing (probably what Joy Division would have sounded like on a third album had Curtis lived).
Definitely that...'Dry Your Eyes' makes me wanna cry like a baby, it's just brilliant. It's probably the most minimalist production on the album, a very basic acoustic guitar riff, strings in the background and some slow drums, it's all about Skinner's delivery and he really doesn't disappoint. Great emotion in that song and, while it's a tired cliche, it's the sort of story everyone can relate to.

mwude

I hated the first album.  Actually that's not true at all.  I loved the beats & the production in general, but couldn't stomach his nasal whiney shite voice.  Not the lyrics necessarily, although a lot of the posing wide-boy wrapped up in a big ball of irony stuff grated very quickly.  I just found his psuedo-cockney tone ultimately irritating.  As Pitman wisely said: "...like The Streets who talks like a cockney / Aren't you from Birmingham you knob? / We don't give a frig about your frigging aerial / So stick it up your arse with your Pirate Material."

The new one irritates me far less though.  I can actually imagine myself listening to it more than once & not screaming "get someone else to rap, you utter tit!" throughout it.  I don't know if he's changed, or if I'm just able to blank out his bleating nowadays.  The tunes underneath remain just as good, if not better than Pirate Material - although nothing quite on a par with Weak become heroes.

He should still just produce for other people though.  And he's meant to be shambollically atrocious live isn't he?

Utter Shit

Quote from: "mwude"He should still just produce for other people though.  And he's meant to be shambollically atrocious live isn't he?
I've seen a couple of live televised performances and he's just been very obviously pissed off his face. Not in a 'drinking loosens me up and makes me perform better' way, more a 'well, I wanna get pissed, so I will' kinda way. Which in a way, is the way it should be...there's nothing pretentious about it, he's not trying to live up to his gimmick...it's the other way round if anything, re-inforcing the fact that what he says is honest and truthful...The Streets are formed from what Mike Skinner really is, rather than Mike Skinner's on-stage persona coming from what people think The Streets is. If that makes ANY sense whatsoever. Maybe I'm just buying into the gimmick so much that I've convinced myself that it's not one.

european son

Quote from: "mwude"He should still just produce for other people though.  And he's meant to be shambollically atrocious live isn't he?

i've seen him live thrice;

Reading 2002. Manchester Academy 2002, Glastonbury 2003.

without exaggeration i can say that the first gig was one of the best live shows i've ever been to in my entire life.

i thought he might not be able to pull it off live. i was wrong. the songs were played flawlessly, but brilliantly funked up and given a whole new edge. the live band were as tight as, and the beats and grooves were there.

segeuing "Lets Push Things Forward"-"Ghost Town", and "Weak Become Heroes"-"Music Sounds Better With You" was the coolest thing i've ever heard in my life. ever.

Manchester was a great gig, but too similar to the first to overly impress me.

Glastonbury he was drunk off his tits. and his voice was shot to fuck, the best thing about the set was his "Will Fuck For Coke" T-shirt.

but this "atrocious live" talk is rubbish.

GoochDogHigh5s

Skinner has got his head screwed on,he went off the rails last year but now he seems to be ok.
I can't wait to hear the album

Jet Set Willy

I'm finding a lot of songs on the new album pretty annoying and can't stand Dry Your Eyes, which is dissapointing as I love Original Pirate Material, and really do think that it deserves all the acclaim that it got.

But on the new album "Blinded by the Lights" is absolutely fucking brilliant! I agree wholeheartedly with Dan Dirty Ape's
Quote'Blinded By The Light' is an even more on-the-money evocation of doing pills than 'Weak Become Heroes'.
, as well as being a heartbreaking story about someone in denial about the fact that his girlfriend's cheating with a friend, and the use of drugs to avoid having to think about it. Absolutely fucking brilliant, so I'm going to keep giving the album a chance!

gazzyk1ns

I like The Streets too, surprised someone singled out "The Irony Of It all" for criticism... There are some good lines in there, like the student saying the line which ends in something like "...never mind, I just completed Gran Turismo on the hardest setting"

I've only heard the single from the new one so far, I think it's growing on me but I find the bit where he says "yes yes oh yay" a bit... er, suspect.

Frinky

I think that's what does it for me in the most part, though - that deliberatly off-kilter method that always keeps your brain on its, er, toes - if that sort of thing was done with an instrument, it probably wouldn't work - but when it's a vocal, you get used to it, I suppose, and then it becomes some sort of a crazy hook for you to cling onto. I didn't like that bit at first, but now I think it's pretty cool.

I hated the first one, genuinely hated it all apart from Don't Mug Yourself. Weak Become Heroes, yes, I hated it.

I've just listened to the new one in the sun barbecue on the go, a few beers and I can't wait to go and convince my mates to put it on again. The lyrics are fantastic, much much more depth, ambiguity and pathos there. Not really much 'irony' at all. The real irony with the first record was the number of people he was supposedly mocking who held him up as some kind of hero-chimp.

I love the tunes as well, zero garage really, much more downtempo, but I didn't find it depressing at all. Dry Your Eyes is brilliant in my opinion. Remember I HATED the first album. I still don't like the space between every word and the deliberateness of his 'flow' but it's tolerable and the lyrics and tunes more than act as a sufficient sweetener.

I'm off.

gazzyk1ns

Quote from: "The Boston Crab"The real irony with the first record was the number of people he was supposedly mocking who held him up as some kind of hero-chimp.

Hehe "Ali G syndrome"...

mayer

given the new LP a couple of whirls, and i have to say that i'm a touch disappointed with it at first listen, as i was when i first heard "Fit But You Know It".

i adored the first album, but this one doesn't have the same immediacy. i remember hearing the opening strings on "Turn The Page" for the first time and being enthralled, and i'm not gettting that on this LP just yet.

this record is at a much slower pace, so i reckon it'll almost certainly grow on me quite a bit, and in two weeks i'll be back here wondering what the hell i was talking about and procaiming it Album of the Year.

i do think that "Blinded By The Lights" is as good as anything he's done. i've listened to the album through twice, but hammered that track about 6-7 times already.