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.
5/5 |
