Original Pirate Material

When Streets tracks first appeared in DJ sets and on garage mix albums circa 2000, they made for an interesting change of pace; instead of hyper-speed ragga chatting or candy-coated divas (or both), listeners heard banging tracks hosted by a strangely conversational bloke with a mock cockney accent and a half-singing, half-rapping delivery. It was Mike Skinner, producer and MC, the half-clued-up, half-clueless voice behind club hits "Has It Come to This?" and "Let's Push Things Forward." Facing an entire full-length of Streets tracks hardly sounded like a pleasant prospect, but Skinner's debut, Original Pirate Material, is an excellent listen -- much better than the heavy-handed hype would make you think. Unlike most garage LPs, it's certainly not a substitute for a night out; it's more a statement on modern-day British youth, complete with all the references to Playstations, Indian takeaway, and copious amounts of cannabis you'd expect. Skinner also has a refreshing way of writing songs, not tracks, that immediately distinguishes him from most in the garage scene. True, describing his delivery as rapping would be giving an undeserved compliment (you surely wouldn't hear any American rappers dropping bombs like this line: "I wholeheartedly agree with your viewpoint"). Still, nearly every song here succeeds wildly, first place (after the hits) going to "The Irony of It All," on which Skinner and a stereotypical British lout go back and forth "debating" the merits of weed and lager, respectively (Skinner's meek, agreeable commentary increasingly, and hilariously, causes "Terry" to go off the edge). The production is also excellent; "Let's Push Things Forward" is all lurching ragga flow, with a one-note organ line and drunken trumpets barely pushing the chorus forward. "Sharp Darts" and "Too Much Brandy" have short, brutal tech lines driving them, and really don't need any more for maximum impact. Though club-phobic listeners may find it difficult placing Skinner as just the latest dot along a line connecting quintessentially British musicians/humorists/social critics Noel Coward, the Kinks, Ian Dury, the Jam, the Specials, and Happy Mondays, Original Pirate Material is a rare garage album: that is, one with a shelf life beyond six months. ~ John Bush

現在UKのダンス・ミュージックでもっとも注目を集めている存在といえば、シングル“Has It Come To This?”をヒットさせたこのストリーツにほかならない。まだあどけなさの残る弱冠22歳、マイク・スキナーのプロジェクトなのだが、恐らく彼が影響を受けたであろうUKガラージ、ヒップホップ、R&Bといった要素が、若者特有の青臭さとともに無防備に吐き出されている。心もちチープな音色からは、焦燥感や倦怠感が感じとれ、逆にリスナーの心にダイレクトに伝わるという効果をもたらしているようだ。そんなエッジの鋭いサウンドに加え、ストリートや若者の現状を誰に訴えかけるでもなく吐露した過激なライムと、まるで独り言のような淡々としたラップが、ストリーツの独特な世界観構築に一役買っていることは間違いない。しかし彼のすごさはシリアスな面のみならず、ユーモアが随所に含まれていることでもある。聴けば聴くほど濃い作品だ。
bounce (C)青木正之