Showing posts with label the streets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the streets. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Bookmarks - Internet stuff: Piracy

Fred Wilson spends a lot on music. He's a brilliant customer. He's the sort of person the music industry would have to keep sweet. So how come he was forced to "steal" music? It's a story of how the music industry really isn't ready for 1995 yet:

Then I searched the Internet for the record [The new Streets album]. It was not even listed in iTunes or emusic. It was listed on Amazon US as an import that would be available on Feb 15th, but only in CD form. I'm not buying plastic just to rip the files and throw it out. Seeing as it was an import, I searched Amazon UK. And there I found the record in mp3 form for 4 pounds. It was going to be released on Feb 4th. I made a mental note to come back and get it when it was released.

I got around to doing that today. I clicked on "buy with one click" and was greeted with this nonsense ["Sorry, you can't buy outside the UK" message]

[via Charles Arthur in the Guardian]


Downloadable: The Streets

Over on The Guardian, you can download, for free, Close The Book, the Street's farewell single.


Monday, February 16, 2009

Gordon in the morning: Touché, Lily

Gordon stands on the sidelines as Lily Allen takes on Mike Skinner, applauding. Or at least copying stuff down from MySpace:

She said: “There’s a guy called Mike Skinner who records as The Streets and he did a record that basically talked about how awful it was to be rich and famous. I found that really boring.

“I’m always aware when I’m writing songs that other people have to be able to relate to them. If you look at a song like Not Fair, I think probably quite a lot of girls feel unsatisfied by their boyfriends in bed. I do. I think girls relate to that.”

You're right, Lily - god, Mike Skinner and his couplets about getting getting rich and famous and taking your clothes off and packing plastic and not knowing how it's supposed to make you feel. Oh... hang on, that one's yours, isn't it, Lily? You know, the song at number one that talks about how awful it is to be rich and famous?

And given that Skinner also managed to make an album out of a broken television and missing the return deadline for a DVD rental store, you might wonder if Allen has chosen the wrong target.

And since when did every song you listen to have to reflect your own life, anyway?

Perhaps she should stick to talking about drugs.

Still, Gordon must have taken in all this, and prepared a real zinger of a riposte, right?
It takes a brave man to date Lily.

Uh...

Let's move on, shall we? Mick Jagger has issued some sort of statement to kick off Brits week:
Mick thinks this is one of the best EVER times for British music — and he ruled rock for five decades.

He told me: “With British acts doing so well at the Grammys last week it’s proving to be a great period for home-grown talent right now.

“And what is so refreshing is the different styles that have been recognised — COLDPLAY, DUFFY, ADELE and RADIOHEAD make up an eclectic bunch, proving there’s a lot of fresh British talent out there.

“I like that these acts have paid their dues in the way we had to. There is certainly an upsurge of diverse Brit acts breaking through in the US and overseas — good to see it. Long may it continue.”

Jagger's ruled rock for five decades? What, from exile since about 1985?

Still, let's applaud that diversity - Coldplay, with their slow guitar music, Duffy, with her slightly faster guitar music, Adele, with her slow guitar music, but with a woman singing, and Radiohead, who make music that covers "everything else".

It's a pity Gordon didn't reveal if Jagger had memorised the BPI press release he was quoting, or if he was just reading it down the phoneline. Actually, Jagger's so rich, he might have a device which allows him to cut and paste someone else's words into his actual conversation.

Nice to see Jagger so enthusiastic about "paying dues", too - slightly ironic from a man whose band arranges tours to avoid paying taxes as far as possible. Even if you do accept that it's a Good Thing to slog around the lower levels before achieving success, it's hardly as if Adele and Duffy spent five or six years humping drumkits into TJs and the Roadmenders, working their way up through indie labels, before landing a slot on a major and releasing two overlooked albums before their breakthrough.

Still, this time, Gordon, you must have a zinger, right?
I can’t wait to toast them all at Wednesday’s bash.

Oh.


Thursday, January 29, 2009

The long Streets

Mike Skinner - like everyone - is now Twittering. Given that my Grandma has signed up for a Twitter account despite being dead for decades, you'd think this clumsy bout of catch-up would be something you'd keep quiet about. Oh no. There's been a press release:

It's fair to say that in the last week or so, Mike has taken quite a shine to Twitter. That, if you don't know already, is the hot new social website where you can tell people what you're up to in 140 characters or less. So far, Mike has posted 94 updates, telling us such things as how best to make tea, what he's having for dinner, which microphone Dr Dre recommends and whether or not his arms are in Moses-based agony.

The idea of such a long message promoting an idea which values brevity might be an in-joke. But, boy, wait until Mike discovers Facebook. A regular press release telling us how often he's tickled his Slide Pet pig and the changing status of his friends would come most in welcome.


Wednesday, October 15, 2008

New year on the Streets

The Streets are hoping you've already got a 2009 diary, in order to write in their just-announced UK tour:

Thu 22 Jan - Liverpool Academy
Fri 23 - Lincoln Engine Shed
Tue 27 - Cambridge Corn Exchange
Wed 28 - Brighton Dome


Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Off The Streets

More free music to be had: The Streets are leading the march towards his new album with a free download of the single The Escapist.

You have to give them your email address, but if even that's too much bloody investment for you, you can see it here. Look:


Monday, June 02, 2008

Streets to be blocked off

There are only to be two more The Streets albums, reckons Mike Skinner: the next one, Everything Is Borrowed, and the one after that, and then that's that:

"If you like The Streets you are about to experience the peaceful positive vibes that come after a disturbing work such as the last you heard.

"But the final Streets album (the fifth one) will be dark and futuristic. This could not be further from the album you're about to hear, but it's what is on my mind at the moment. I feel inspired by the synthesizer exhibition we just visited in Graz after the gig we just did."

Of course, there might be a sixth album if prices keep rising the way they do. You know, just to make ends meet.


Friday, May 16, 2008

Perhaps he's got some special floaty shoes

Mike Skinner has set himself a tricky challenge, according to NME:

The Streets' Mike Skinner has announced his intention to walk from Britain to the south of France.

Perhaps he's just very good at holding his breath.


Monday, January 21, 2008

Beaten over

Mike Skinner has decided to bring his label, The Beats, to an end.

So, he's burned it.

No, really:



In unrelated news, Guy Hands has been down his local Asda collecting "as many boxes as he can cram into the back of the van".


Thursday, August 23, 2007

Mike Skinner's future in ribbons

ContactMusic launches a surprising claim about The Streets and Mike Skinner's plans:

MIKE SKINNER has vowed to write all of his future material on a rusty old typewriter he found in his dressing room at a Belgian festival.

Really?

Erm... no:
"We found a typewriter in the dressing room, so I took it and had so much fun all the way home, just typing stuff. I typed a poem entitled, Drowning Doom, which was written while we were in the Eurotunnel in the tour bus, which if you've ever sat in a vehicle in the Eurotunnel you'll understand.

"I'm going to use it to type some songs but then I'm going to return it next time we do Pukkelpop."

So, he's going to write some songs on it, and then give it back. Which is quite a distance from "vowing to write all his future material" on it. Which is just as well, otherwise his future would last only until the ribbon spool ran out.


Monday, August 13, 2007

For whom the bong tolls?

Curious. Earlier today, Pitchfork reported that Mike Skinner was pushing a bong-making contest via The Streets' MySpace site.

Oddly, if you follow the link they offer, you get this message:

This user's profile has been temporarily disabled for special maintenance.
The profile will be available again shortly.
Sorry for the inconvenience. 8/13/2007

"Special maintenance", eh? I wonder what that could mean.


Sunday, July 01, 2007

Zoe knows all

Sunday Mirror Showbusiness expert Zoe is fretting about Mike Skinner:

Skinner's second album A Grand Don't Come For Free was about how he liked taking a punt. Now he's into poker, says ex-bandmate Leo "The Lion" Iheanacho.

A Grand Don'tCome For Free was "about how he liked taking a punt", was it? Admittedly, there was a track on it that was about gambling, but we could have sworn it was about a bloke who'd lost a thousand quid down the back of his television. But then we've not been to one of these supercasinos; perhaps that's what goes on in them.


Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Embed and breakfast man: The Streets meet The Twang

Brighton Beach. It's bloody useless for building sandcastles on, but forms a twinkly backdrop to all sorts of great moments. Neil Kinnock falling into the sea, Bobby Gillespie on the cover of the NME, that sort of thing. And this:



This is the Streets remix of The Twang's Either Way track. They're on the beach.


Saturday, March 24, 2007

Robbie Williams is not a bad rapper

Robbie Williams has admitted he's a rubbish rapper. Not, though, that his attempts at rapping were poor - as it seems, erm, that wasn't rapping. He's like cough Mike Skinner:

"Well this is the thing. I absolutely, positively know that I'm not a rapper.

"I'm not. I'd love to be, but I'm me, I come from Take That! I believe everyone is saying 'Robbie can't rap.' Yeah, I can't, but I'm not rapping.

"For me, it's about having more bars in a song and therefore more words, more pictures painted. Mike Skinner's not a rapper."

So, if we've got this straight, Williams can't be accused of being a pisspoor rapper because he's not trying to rap, he's just being a pisspoor embarrassment at something else entirely.

Mike Skinner might not be a rapper, Robbie, but he's good at what he does.