Original Pirate Material

Original Pirate Material
Studio album by The Streets
Released 25 March 2002
Recorded 2001–02 in Brixton, London
Genre Alternative hip hop, electronica, UK garage
Length 47:24
Label Locked On/679 Recordings (UK & Europe)
VICE/Atlantic (US)
Producer Mike Skinner
The Streets chronology
Original Pirate Material
(2002)		 All Got Our Runnins
(2003)
Singles from Original Pirate Material
  1. "Has It Come to This?"
    Released: 8 October 2001
  2. "Let's Push Things Forward"
    Released: 15 April 2002
  3. "Weak Become Heroes"
    Released: 22 July 2002
  4. "Don't Mug Yourself"
    Released: 21 October 2002

Original Pirate Material is the debut album by the English rapper and producer Mike Skinner, under the name The Streets. The album is a unique take on UK garage and lyrics dealing with everyday circumstances and occurrences. The album originally rose to #12 on the UK Albums Chart in 2002, and then peaked at #10 in 2004 after the release of the second Streets album A Grand Don't Come for Free The album received critical acclaim; in March 2003, NME placed Original Pirate Material at number 46 on their list of the "100 Best Albums of All Time".[1] They subsequently placed Original Pirate Material at number 9 in their list of the "100 Best Albums of the Decade".[2] Observer Music Monthly ranked it as the best album of the 2000s.[3]

In the United Kingdom, four singles were released from Original Pirate Material: "Has It Come to This?", "Let's Push Things Forward", "Weak Become Heroes" and "Don't Mug Yourself".

Background

Skinner has stated that his main early influences were from the United States, in particular Wu-Tang Clan MCs such as Raekwon and RZA, as well as east coast rapper Nas's album Illmatic. However, Skinner attributes the album as emerging from the UK garage scene of the late 1990s.[4] His stance when making the album was to combine the UK garage sound with a lyrical content about "all the little adventures you go on" rather than the style of UK hip hop, which he accused of being "someone from Reading pretending to be Biggie or Q-Tip".[5]

Journalist Simon Reynolds identified the album's lyrical content as capturing UK Garage's "submerged reality" as a genre not based in nightclubs. Outside of London in the late 1990s, UK Garage was rarely played in clubs but was instead found on pirate radio stations, reflected by the album's title.[6]

Recording

The recording of Original Pirate Material lasted over a year, with Skinner recording the bulk of the album in the room he was renting in a house in Brixton in south London.[7] The instrumental tracks were created on an IBM ThinkPad, while Skinner used an emptied out wardrobe as a vocal booth, using duvets and mattresses to reduce echo.[8] Direct influences on the album included the 2000 film Gladiator which spawned the lyrics to 'Turn The Page', the opening track to the album.[9]

Artwork

The cover artwork photograph of Original Pirate Material is by German photographer Rut Blees Luxemburg called Towering Inferno. The towerblock pictured is the south face of Kestrel House on City Road, London.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic90/100[10]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
Blender[12]
Entertainment WeeklyA[13]
NME9/10[14]
Pitchfork Media7.9/10[15]
Q[16]
Rolling Stone[17]
Spin8/10[18]
Uncut[19]
The Village VoiceA−[20]

Skinner and Original Pirate Material were hailed by the British music press upon release. NME claimed the album "represents a brilliant break with cliché... he's one of the most original pop voices for years... By turns dark, funny and heartbreaking, the songs on Original Pirate Material are snapshots of ordinary life as a young Midlands resident, set to innovative two-step production: tales of love, going out, being skint, getting drunk, and eating chips. It's Streets by name, and streets by nature, and it's great."[14] Calling Skinner a "vital new voice" and describing Original Pirate Material as "starkly observed vignettes", Q said that "this debut wittily and wisely documents young lives spent in piss-poor pubs, estate bedrooms and kebab shops... It could easily, but somehow never does, degenerate into the kind of 'street poet' blather TV news editors think spices up election coverage."[16] Mojo said that Skinner "favours a winningly downbeat brand of urban realism, set to minimal, pounding drums... A lot of his urban vignettes fall somewhere between "The Message" and The Specials' "Ghost Town". But their very ordinariness and the brutish, unadorned simplicity of the music is part of their appeal, evoking the everyday tedium of real 'youth culture'... A uniquely British voice."[21]

Spin stated, "Mike Skinner, a.k.a. the Streets, could be the most gifted rapper London has ever produced, except that he doesn't really rap – he pontificates, spins spoken-word yarns, and kicks running commentary. Hip-hop – and Britain's equally bling-fixated 2-step-garage scene – has shaped Skinner's sound, but he's too earnest to reproduce their bluster. He's an observant, asphalt-level 'geezer' – Brit slang for everyman – set apart by the sharpness of his lens, not the force of his flow. On Original Pirate Material, Skinner nails the quiet desperation of the white working class like a pub-hooligan Marshall Mathers, with all of Slim Shady's good humor and none of his insanity."[18]

Comptemporary reviews for the album commented on its DIY aesthetic and lyricism. A review in Stylus Magazine stated that the album "combines the boy-next-door DIY of US garage rock with the sound of UK garage and displays an alchemic ability to turn the humdrum of everyday life into a record that is at times empowering, hilarious, melancholy, awkward, and charming."[22]

Accolades

Since its release in 2002, Original Pirate Material has received a large amount of critical acclaim. In March 2003, NME placed Original Pirate Material at number 46 on their list of the "100 Best Albums of All Time".[1] They subsequently placed Original Pirate Material at number 9 in their list of the "100 Best Albums of the Decade".[2] Observer Music Monthly ranked it as the best album of the 2000s.[3] The journalist Simon Reynolds also placed the album at the top of his favourite albums of the 2000s list, with a "special 'in a class of its own' award."[23] Pitchfork Media rated the album as number ten on their list of the top 100 albums of 2000-2004.[24] They later placed it at 36 on their list of the best albums of 2000-2009.[25]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Mike Skinner. 

No. Title Length
1. "Turn the Page"   3:15
2. "Has It Come to This?"   4:04
3. "Let's Push Things Forward" (featuring Kevin Mark Trail) 3:51
4. "Sharp Darts"   1:33
5. "Same Old Thing" (featuring Kevin Mark Trail) 3:22
6. "Geezers Need Excitement"   3:46
7. "It's Too Late"   4:10
8. "Too Much Brandy"   3:02
9. "Don't Mug Yourself"   2:39
10. "Who Got the Funk?"   1:50
11. "The Irony of It All"   3:29
12. "Weak Become Heroes"   5:33
13. "Who Dares Wins"   0:34
14. "Stay Positive"   6:16

Charts

Peak positions

Chart (2002) Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[26] 57
French Albums (SNEP)[27] 97
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[28] 10
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[29] 36
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[30] 43
Chart (2004) Position
UK Albums (OCC)[31] 10

Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalog
United Kingdom & Europe 25 March 2002 Locked On/679 Recordings double LP 679003TLP
CD 679003CDLP
United States 22 October 2002 VICE/Atlantic double LP 93181-1
CD 93181-2

References

  1. 1 2 "2003 NME's Writers - All Time Top 100 Albums". Timepieces.nl. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
  2. 1 2 "The Strokes' 'Is This It' tops NME albums of the decade list | News". Nme.Com. 2009-11-17. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
  3. 1 2 Thompson, Ben (29 November 2009). "Albums of the decade No 1: The Streets – Original Pirate Material". Observer Music Monthly (London). Retrieved 29 November 2009.
  4. ↑ Skinner 2012, p. 19.
  5. ↑ Skinner 2012, p. 21.
  6. ↑ Reynolds, Simon (2007). Bring the Noise. London, England: Faber and Faber. p. 340. ISBN 978-0-5712-3207-9.
  7. ↑ Skinner 2012, p. 83.
  8. ↑ Skinner 2012, p. 84.
  9. ↑ "10 Amazing Songs Without Choruses - NME Blogs - NME.COM - The world's fastest music news service, music videos, interviews, photos and more". Nme.Com. 2009-12-09. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  10. ↑ "Reviews for Original Pirate Material by The Streets". Metacritic. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  11. ↑ Bush, John (22 October 2002). "Original Pirate Material – The Streets". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  12. ↑ Salamon, Jeff (November 2002). "The Streets: Original Pirate Material". Blender (11). Archived from the original on 4 May 2006. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  13. ↑ Hermes, Will (20 September 2002). "Original Pirate Material". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  14. 1 2 Robinson, John (16 March 2002). "Review: The Streets – Original Pirate Material". NME (London, England: IPC Media).
  15. ↑ Mitchum, Rob (22 August 2002). "The Streets: Original Pirate Material". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  16. 1 2 Lowe, Steve (March 2002). "Review: The Streets – Original Pirate Material". Q (London, England: EMAP) (188): 115.
  17. ↑ Edwards, Gavin (31 October 2002). "The Streets: Original Pirate Material". Rolling Stone (908). Archived from the original on 29 May 2009. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  18. 1 2 Caramanica, Jon (November 2002). "Review: The Streets – Original Pirate Material". Spin (New York City, USA: Spin Media LLC) 18 (11): 128. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  19. ↑ "The Streets: Original Pirate Material". Uncut (59): 92. April 2002.
  20. ↑ Christgau, Robert (21 January 2003). "Consumer Guide: Escape Claus". The Village Voice. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  21. ↑ Collin, Matthew (April 2002). "Review: The Streets – Original Pirate Material". Mojo (London, England: EMAP) (101): 115.
  22. ↑ Plagenhoef, Scott (1 September 2003). "The Streets – Original Pirate Material – Review". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  23. ↑ Simon Reynolds (2010-01-13). "blissblog". Blissout.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
  24. ↑ "The Top 100 Albums of 2000-04, Part Two". Pitchfork Media. 2005-02-07. Archived from the original (– Scholar search) on 13 August 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-14.
  25. ↑ "Staff Lists: The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 50-21 | Features". Pitchfork. 2009-10-01. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
  26. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – The Streets – Original Pirate Material". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  27. ↑ "Lescharts.com – The Streets – Original Pirate Material". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  28. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – The Streets – Original Pirate Material". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  29. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – The Streets – Original Pirate Material". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  30. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – The Streets – Original Pirate Material". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  31. ↑ "The Streets | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart

Bibliography

External links

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