05'02

THE STREETS Original Pirate Material (0927435682) Pure Groove Ltd 2002 14 Tracks. 47mins31secs. Buy this CD on line now

Like it or loath it, but UK garage is here to stay. Very much a London thing, UK garage has up to now been dominated by the likes of The Artful Dodger, Craig David and Mis-Teeq. More recently, So Solid Crew have provided a more urban version of the genre, but their gangsta approach, copied on the hard attitude of the East Coast rappers, has considerably ghettoised their music. Comes twenty two year old Brummie Mike Skinner with The Streets. With sharp rhymes, tongue-in-cheek lyrics and impressive arrangements, Original Pirate Material defines a whole new dimension in urban music. Mike Skinner spent most of his formative years listening to his big brother’s hip hop records, mostly De La Soul and the Beastie Boys, and later on developing an interest for indie music and club culture. During the same time, he started composing on a computer and experimenting with samplers and keyboards, formed a handful of bands, played numerous gigs around Birmingham, turned his bedroom at his parents’ into a small recording studio and opened his door to local MCs. After a break from normality spent backpacking in Australia, Skinner returned to Birmingham and started drafting what would become The Streets. Regarded as an intruder by the London scene, Skinner presents a radically different vision of urban music. If garage beats are part of the musical structures, Skinner doesn’t restrict himself, using elements of hip hop, soul and ska to convey his message. The lyrics too are different. If the rhymes are incisive, he ditches the traditional hard attitude to talk freely about booze-fuelled nights, girls, clubs and drugs. The cinematic sound of the opening track, the beautiful Turn The Page, introduces this album in the best possible. If you’re looking for pure garage, then pass your way. Here, Skinner puts down his rhymes on layers of impressive string work over a straight beat, creating a similar anachronism as Hybrid and their symphonic trance sound. Similar atmospheres can be found on the heavy duty Same Old Thing or the more delicate It’s Too Late, vaguely reminiscent of Massive Attack’s Unfinished Sympathy. On Let’s Push Things Forward, Skinner looks toward the Specials more than So Solid Crew, digging out a clean ska mood to distance himself from the commercial side of urban music: “I make bangers not anthems, leave that to the Artful Dodger”. Who Got The Funk? does just what it says on the tin. The street poet turns to fonk a la James Brown and the Birmingham geezers swing and shake for two and a half minutes. Skinner likes words as much as music. His lyrics are almost faultless, carving intense feelings into his compositions, at times using humorous scenarios to present bare true facts, as in The Irony Of It All, an imaginary confrontation of your everyday law abiding citizen who gets smashed on beers at the weekend and looks for gratuitous violence and your little criminalised weeded up down to earth guy who spend his night smoking and days sleeping. A not so innocent take on life. Already a strong contender for end of the year accolades, Original Pirate Material has all of a landmark album. With its impressive sound and clever songs, this record sounds like nothing else around. Unlikely to attract the UK garage purist, The Streets should appeal to nearly everyone else.

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TRACK LISTING 01 Turn The Page 08 Too Much Brandy 02 Has It Come To This? 09 Don't Mug Yourself 03 Let's Push Things Forward 10 Who Got The Funk? 04 Sharp Darts 11 The Irony Of It All 05 Same Old Thing 12 Weak Becomes Heroes 06 Geezers Need Excitement 13 Who Dares Win 07 It's Too Late 14 Stay Positive

THE SURFER'S GUIDE TO THE STREETS THE STREETS Sharp lyrics and street attitude, this is The Streets on line... Geezers need excitement!