Results tagged “mikeskinner”

Primal Scream - Riot City Blues (Columbia): The Primals seem to have found a time machine. This disc sounds more like a follow-up to 1994's Stones-rock Give Out But Don't Give Up rather than anything they've done in the decade since. The electronics and experimentation from Vanishing Point on are all gone, replaced by throwaway lyrics like "Gotta keep on keepin' on," Rod Stewarty 'Maggie May'-style mandolins, and blues shuffles that place them firmly in Dadrock territory. While there's no doubt that the noisy sample-heavy phase of the Primals had run its course, it's hard to see this album as anything but a placeholder or (worse) a retreat. It sounds like it could've been made in a week, and while the songs are mostly fun, there's a lot of filler. Our advice: Primals fans should head for iTunes to grab 'Country Girl', 'Dolls', 'When The Bomb Drops' and 'Hell's Comin' Down' for four bucks, and let the rest of this one be.

Tomorrow night, The Streets take to the stage at La Zona Rosa. Mike Skinner's third album, The Hardest Way to Make An Easy Living, has drawn many favorable reviews ("twice as good as any album about the price of celebrity has a right to be" -- Guardian UK). Be sure to arrive in time to check out opener Lady Sovereign, easily one of the most entertaining acts we caught at SXSW. If you haven't...

When The Streets' third album, The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living, came out last month, Austinist sponsored a listening party with the We Explode! kids at Beauty Bar. By now, most of you've probably had a chance to check out the new record by the feisty UK rapper; The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living (VICE) follows up the adorably adroit Mike Skinner's hugely successful first two albums, Original Pirate Material and...

Tomorrow night over at the Beauty Bar, Austinist has teamed up with our friends over at Car Stereo (Wars) and Learning Secrets to bring you the official Listening Party for the new record by superstar UK rapper The Streets. The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living (VICE) follows up the adorably adroit Mike Skinner's hugely successful first two albums, Original Pirate Material and A Grand Don't Come for Free, both which shocked us with their disarmingly honest glimpses into the rather mundane life of a gritty, "street-level" Londoner.