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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.
© John Bush /TiVo
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Andy Love, Vocals - Laura Vane, Vocals - Amy Langley, Cello - Magic Mike Millrain, Mixer, Engineer, Masterer - Mike Skinner, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, Masterer, Writer - Morgan Nicholls, Engineer - The Streets, MainArtist - Dirty Pretty Strings, Strings - Amy Stanford, Viola - Brendon "Octave" Harding, Engineer - Guy Katsav, Engineer - Johnny "Drum Machine" Jenkins, Sound Director, Drums, Glockenspiel, Acoustic Guitar, Percussion, Bass - Robin Axford, Engineer
© 2008 Pure Groove Ltd trading as Locked On ℗ 2008 Pure Groove Ltd trading as Locked On
Chris Brown, Keyboards, Hammond Organ - Jan Kotzmann, SecondEngineer - NICK MARSHALL, Guitar - Magic Mike Millrain, Mixer, Engineer, Masterer - Mike Skinner, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, Guitar, Masterer, Writer, Xylophone - Morgan Nicholls, Engineer - The Streets, MainArtist - Brendon "Octave" Harding, Engineer - Guy Katsav, Engineer - Johnny "Drum Machine" Jenkins, Sound Director, Drums, Percussion, Piano - Robin Axford, Engineer - Barnet Philharmonic Choir, Backing Vocals - Bob Dowell, Conductor, Piano - Petr Kovanda, AssistantEngineer - Richard Wayler, Vocals
© 2008 Pure Groove Ltd trading as Locked On ℗ 2008 Pure Groove Ltd trading as Locked On
Laura Vane, Backing Vocals - NICK MARSHALL, Double Bass - Magic Mike Millrain, Mixer, Engineer, Masterer - Mike Skinner, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, Masterer, Writer - Chris Williams, Flute, Whistle - Morgan Nicholls, Engineer - Eddie Jenkins, Piano, Fender Rhodes Keyboards - The Streets, MainArtist - Teddy Mitchell, Backing Vocals, Whistle - Brendon "Octave" Harding, Engineer - Guy Katsav, Engineer - Johnny "Drum Machine" Jenkins, Sound Director, Drums, Percussion - Robin Axford, Engineer - Camilla Pay, Harp - Maria Payne, Clarinet
© 2008 Pure Groove Ltd trading as Locked On ℗ 2008 Pure Groove Ltd trading as Locked On
Magic Mike Millrain, Mixer, Engineer, Masterer - Mike Skinner, Producer, Mixer, Drums, Engineer, Guitar, Keyboards, Masterer, Writer, Bass - Morgan Nicholls, Engineer - The Streets, MainArtist - Brendon "Octave" Harding, Engineer - Guy Katsav, Engineer - Johnny "Drum Machine" Jenkins, Sound Director - Robin Axford, Engineer
© 2008 Pure Groove Ltd trading as Locked On ℗ 2008 Pure Groove Ltd trading as Locked On
Chris Brown, Accordion, Fender Rhodes Keyboards - Laura Vane, Backing Vocals - Gita Harcourt, Violin - Magic Mike Millrain, Mixer, Engineer, Masterer - Mike Skinner, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, Masterer, Writer - Morgan Nicholls, Engineer - The Streets, MainArtist - Teddy Mitchell, Backing Vocals - Brendon "Octave" Harding, Engineer - Guy Katsav, Engineer - Johnny "Drum Machine" Jenkins, Sound Director, Drums, Acoustic Guitar, Percussion - Robin Axford, Engineer - Camilla Pay, Harp - Wayne Bennett, Electric Guitar, Bass
© 2008 Pure Groove Ltd trading as Locked On ℗ 2008 Pure Groove Ltd trading as Locked On
Chris Brown, Hammond Organ, Wurlitzer - Johnny Jenkins, Vocals - Jan Kotzmann, Sound Engineer - Laura Vane, Vocals - Gita Harcourt, Violin - Magic Mike Millrain, Mixer, Engineer, Masterer - Mike Skinner, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, Masterer, Writer - Morgan Nicholls, Engineer - Eddie Jenkins, Piano - The Streets, MainArtist - Brendon "Octave" Harding, Engineer - Guy Katsav, Engineer - Johnny "Drum Machine" Jenkins, Sound Director, Drums, Acoustic Guitar, Percussion - Robin Axford, Engineer - Bob Dowell, Conductor - Petr Kovanda, AssistantEngineer - Camilla Pay, Harp - Maria Payne, Clarinet - Wayne Bennett, Electric Guitar, Bass - David Gino Jenkins, Vocals - Jake Painter, Trumpet - Petr Pycha, Engineer
© 2008 Pure Groove Ltd trading as Locked On ℗ 2008 Pure Groove Ltd trading as Locked On
Magic Mike Millrain, Mixer, Engineer, Masterer - Mike Skinner, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, Guitar, Keyboards, Masterer, Writer - Morgan Nicholls, Engineer - The Streets, MainArtist - Brendon "Octave" Harding, Engineer - Guy Katsav, Engineer - Johnny "Drum Machine" Jenkins, Sound Director, Drums, Bass - Robin Axford, Engineer
© 2008 Pure Groove Ltd trading as Locked On ℗ 2008 Pure Groove Ltd trading as Locked On
Chris Brown, Keyboards - Andy Love, Backing Vocals - Jan Kotzmann, Engineer - Magic Mike Millrain, Mixer, Engineer, Masterer - Mike Skinner, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, Masterer, Writer - Morgan Nicholls, Engineer - The Streets, MainArtist - Brendon "Octave" Harding, Engineer - Guy Katsav, Engineer - Johnny "Drum Machine" Jenkins, Sound Director, Drums, Electric Guitar, Percussion - Robin Axford, Engineer - Bob Dowell, Conductor - Petr Kovanda, AssistantEngineer - Camilla Pay, Harp - Wayne Bennett, Electric Guitar, Bass - Jake Painter, Trumpet - Petr Pycha, Engineer - Carl Sterling, Saxophone
© 2008 Pure Groove Ltd trading as Locked On ℗ 2008 Pure Groove Ltd trading as Locked On
Chris Brown, Accordion, Organ - Gita Harcourt, Violin - Magic Mike Millrain, Mixer, Engineer, Masterer - Mike Skinner, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, Masterer, Writer, Harmonica - Chris Williams, Flute - Morgan Nicholls, Engineer - The Streets, MainArtist - Brendon "Octave" Harding, Engineer - Guy Katsav, Engineer - Johnny "Drum Machine" Jenkins, Sound Director, Drums, Percussion - Robin Axford, Engineer - Bob Dowell, Conductor - Petr Kovanda, AssistantEngineer - Maria Payne, Clarinet - Jake Painter, Trumpet - Petr Pycha, Engineer - Ed Harcourt, Banjo - Jan Kotzman, Sound Engineer - Nick Shirm, Vocals - Tim Vigon, Writer
© 2008 Pure Groove Ltd trading as Locked On ℗ 2008 Pure Groove Ltd trading as Locked On
Laura Vane, Backing Vocals - NICK MARSHALL, Acoustic Guitar - Magic Mike Millrain, Mixer, Engineer, Masterer - Mike Skinner, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, Masterer, Writer - Morgan Nicholls, Engineer - Eddie Jenkins, Piano - The Streets, MainArtist - Brendon "Octave" Harding, Engineer - Guy Katsav, Engineer - Johnny "Drum Machine" Jenkins, Sound Director, Electric Guitar, Recorder, Triangle, Xylophone - Robin Axford, Engineer - Camilla Pay, Harp - Maria Payne, Clarinet - Ed Harcourt, Mandolin
© 2008 Pure Groove Ltd trading as Locked On ℗ 2008 Pure Groove Ltd trading as Locked On
Amy Langley, Cello - Magic Mike Millrain, Mixer, Engineer, Masterer - Mike Skinner, Producer, Mixer, Bells, Engineer, Masterer, Writer - Morgan Nicholls, Engineer - The Streets, MainArtist - Amy Stanford, Viola - Brendon "Octave" Harding, Engineer - Guy Katsav, Engineer - Johnny "Drum Machine" Jenkins, Sound Director, Drums, Electric Guitar, Percussion - Robin Axford, Engineer - Kevin Mark Trail, Vocals - Wayne Hart Singers, Vocals
© 2008 Pure Groove Ltd trading as Locked On ℗ 2008 Pure Groove Ltd trading as Locked On
Album review
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.
© John Bush /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 11 track(s)
- Total length: 00:38:51
- Main artists: The Streets
- Label: 679 Recordings UK. Ltd.
- Genre: Pop/Rock Pop
© 2008 Pure Groove Ltd trading as Locked On ℗ 2008 Pure Groove Ltd trading as Locked On
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