By the end of the last Streets album, The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living, listeners and even most fans were ready for Mike Skinner to stop complaining about the perils of celebrity. Skinner sounded crass and cynical, utterly disgusted with his life and very bitter about what it had become. (In so doing, it proved that he's one of the most honest songwriters to ever step up to a microphone.) Everything Is Borrowed is a neat about-face, a record that couldn't be more different from its predecessor. Sincere, considered, and poignant, Everything Is Borrowed finds Skinner remaining one of the foremost lyricists in pop music, and so much the better when the focus of his sharp writing is the struggle of weighty concepts instead of flimsy celebrity. Skinner's characters in these parables are struggling, no doubt, but in the process they're also coming upon profound insights about life, death, and love, ranging from the slightly pithy ecology dance piece "The Way of the Dodo" all the way up to the struggle between good and evil in each person ("Heaven for the Weather," which reveals its odd title and its lyrical genius in the line "I want to go to heaven for the weather/But hell for the company"). The instrumentation, as well, is far more different than any previous Streets record. Although the drums don't always sound live, most of the time they are, courtesy of drummer Johnny "Drum Machine" Jenkins. Electric guitar and bass occupy a lot of space, along with the occasional strings and even brass. Nevertheless, since the instruments are wielded the same way that the synths were in the past, there's no radical change in format. Skinner still busies himself speaking most of the verses (often tripping over himself) and singing every chorus (usually off-key), as though he's stumbling upon every genius line, daft as they sometimes sound. He's just as stingy with his productions as he has been ever since the second Streets album, so those who ache for the crystalline production perfection of Original Pirate Material won't find much here to cling to. But singing (or speaking) words of wisdom like this certainly makes up for his gradual move away from the super-producer status he's enjoyed in the past. Suddenly optimistic, or at least philosophical, about life, Skinner catches lightning in the bottle for the third time, and makes it clear that once we're able to look back at the Streets discography -- Skinner has promised that this is the fourth of five -- it will be easy to see The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living much more simply, troubled and frustrating though it was, as a way to exorcise some of his darker demons, and make the journey to the light more invigorating.
mike skinner, who records as the streets , released a new album this fall called everything is borrowed . we haven't heard the whole album - head over to the streets' myspace for a stream - but our n of 1 sample (the title song) indicates a softer, gentler skinner. does it work? we'll let you all decide; here's a live version of "everything is borrowed" from an appearance on the jools holland...
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When I reviewed the last album from The Streets , I began the review like this: "When discussing the work of Mike Skinner (aka The Streets), I like to apply a little bit of auteur theory . Auteur theory, introduced by French New Wave filmmakers in the 1950's, defines the director as 'author' of the film, while arguing that you can analyze a film in the context of the auteur's complete body of...
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This week of releases doesn't excite me too much. There are a few good releases, however. Here is a list. Annuals - Such FunAttack! Attack! - Attack! Attack!Bella Morte - Beautiful DeathDeerhoof - Offend MaggieJolie Holland - The Living and the DeadLambchop - OH (ohio)Margot and the Nuclear So & Sos - Not Animal! Sarah McLachlan - CloserMegapuss - SurfingOasis Dig Out Your SoulThe Prete
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Artist: The StreetsAlbum: Everything is BorrowedLabel: 679Link: http://www.the-streets.co.ukDid anyone really like The Streets last album? I don’t think so. Not even the residual goodwill Mike Skinner built up with A Grand Don’t Come For Free and it’s blockbusting single ‘Dry Your Eyes’ stopped the backlash. There was just too little to like about the celebrity [...]
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If you've been hanging around here long enough you probably realize that I rarely, if ever, get excited for modern rap or hip hop. Hopefully that makes my endorsement of Mike Skinner's latest album, Everything Is Borrowed (amazon) (itunes), even more meaningful. Seriously, this album is quite amazing. Mike's trademark Brit vocals slide through rhymes not yet dreamed up by most of his contemp...
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--- - |- So, not entirely unlike Bloc Party, The Streets just sort of came out of (almost) nowhere and said "Oh yeah, the album will be out next week". Now this wasn't AS big a surprise as Bloc Party... I suppose we've very quickly come to learn that if we're seeing free tracks, or a single floating around, an album is probably around the corner.So with all this in mind... how about a little...
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--- - |- In May, Pitchfork news reported that a track by Mike Skinner called "The Escapist" had been made for a film and didn't make the cut, and would feature on a forthcoming album by the Streets (we now know the album is called Everything Is Borrowed). We also reported that the video for the track featured Skinner walking across France. Well, the Ted Mayhem-directed video is here, and we do...
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If you've been hanging around here long enough you probably realize that I rarely, if ever, get excited for modern rap or hip hop. Hopefully that makes my endorsement of Mike Skinner's latest album, Everything Is Borrowed (amazon) (itunes), even more meaningful. Seriously, this album is quite amazing. Mike's trademark Brit vocals slide through rhymes not yet dreamed up by most of his contemp...
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--- - |- The Streets are back. And with a free download of a track from the forthcoming Everything Is Borrowed , out September 15 ~~- streets
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What was supposed to be a nice relaxing day off for me turned into a home project day of sorts. I was not happy, but in the end I got a lot of things completed. Never have put new caulk in a shower, but I did so today. Inbtween my runs to Home Depot, I stopped at Best Buy with a coffee to look around. Secretly I was hoping they had the new Guitar Hero set up, I was disappointed when I saw they sti
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You never know if the Streets' aka Mike Skinner is messing with you or just taking some major BS out of his arse. Skinner was suppose to WALK to France from the UK, but due to scheduling conflicts didn't at the last moment. Now, Skinnner might be pulling our leg again about his fifth album being his last, despite the fact that the fourth, Everything Is Borrowed, still hasn't even dropped. Skinner
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Fresh track from The Streets off the new album, Everything Is Borrowed, which hits the street in September. If you dig it, you can download it here: www.myfreedownload.co.uk/thestreets
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This week of releases doesn't excite me too much. There are a few good releases, however. Here is a list. Annuals - Such FunAttack! Attack! - Attack! Attack!Bella Morte - Beautiful DeathDeerhoof - Offend MaggieJolie Holland - The Living and the DeadLambchop - OH (ohio)Margot and the Nuclear So & Sos - Not Animal! Sarah McLachlan - CloserMegapuss - SurfingOasis Dig Out Your SoulThe Prete
More >
--- - |- So, not entirely unlike Bloc Party, The Streets just sort of came out of (almost) nowhere and said "Oh yeah, the album will be out next week". Now this wasn't AS big a surprise as Bloc Party... I suppose we've very quickly come to learn that if we're seeing free tracks, or a single floating around, an album is probably around the corner.So with all this in mind... how about a little...
More >
The Streets recently just put out a new album and in my inbox I recieved Mike Skinner's new video heaven for teh Weather on his Everythign is Borrowed album. It has a Pyramid/Tom Cruise in Magnolia type theme to the video. Go check it out.
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--- - |- In May, Pitchfork news reported that a track by Mike Skinner called "The Escapist" had been made for a film and didn't make the cut, and would feature on a forthcoming album by the Streets (we now know the album is called Everything Is Borrowed). We also reported that the video for the track featured Skinner walking across France. Well, the Ted Mayhem-directed video is here, and we do...
More >
When I reviewed the last album from The Streets , I began the review like this: "When discussing the work of Mike Skinner (aka The Streets), I like to apply a little bit of auteur theory . Auteur theory, introduced by French New Wave filmmakers in the 1950's, defines the director as 'author' of the film, while arguing that you can analyze a film in the context of the auteur's complete body of...
More >
The headline may pretty much says it all, but Sasha Frere Jones at the New Yorker writes a little mreo ind-depth on what exactly is going on. A couple of details:it's happening via twitterand he said "I am going to tweet 3 new songs this week. I can't be bothered with all this trying to sell you music. It wastes valuable time."i love how this whole music thing is getting set on its head from bi...
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Mike Skinner's feeling philosophical these days. Along the lines of "The Escapist ," which had Mike getting help from a choir while walking the streets, taking in trees, rain, stones and sand while pondering life's fleeting moments, "Everything Is Borrowed" has him getting existential over similarly tear-jerky beats: "I came to this world with nothing, and I'll leave with nothing but love. Ever...
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You Should Know The decision to juxtapose the forgettable show tune "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" with images of galaxies, planets, a dilapidated Earth surrounded by defunct satellites, then a small robot working to clean up the dusty, trash-covered surface, this was the boldest artistic decision of the year across all films, and the most successful. Much has already been said about Wall-...
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Artist: The StreetsAlbum: Everything is BorrowedLabel: 679Link: http://www.the-streets.co.ukDid anyone really like The Streets last album? I don’t think so. Not even the residual goodwill Mike Skinner built up with A Grand Don’t Come For Free and it’s blockbusting single ‘Dry Your Eyes’ stopped the backlash. There was just too little to like about the celebrity [...]
More >
The latest clip in support of Everything Is Borrowed won't make you cry like last time . Mike is in character as Dr. Skinner (not that one ), a man who we're told has been "attacked, venerated, questioned and praised." We see him onstage selling self-help T.J. Mackey-style and signing copies of his book Go Low . This is the rapper's grown up album, and in his maturation Mike's learned to apprec...
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 "Everything Is Borrowed")
