It’s official. The best things in life are free.
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If it seems we write about Mike Skinner of the British rap act the Streets a lot, it’s because we can’t get enough of his funky fresh flow. Skinner’s last album, 2008’s Everything Is Borrowed, while admirable in concept, divided fans musically. Some though Skinner’s conversion from hedonistic, hungover poet to positive-vibed, nature-loving philosopher resulted in some fairly weak beats.
That album threatened to be the Streets’ last, but lately, Skinner has been posting songs to his Twitter account, the most topical of which is “He’s Behind You, He’s Got Swine Flu.” The track compares the horrible new disease to zombie-ism; Skinner advises his friends to “decapitate their mates” in the name of public safety.
“Swine Flu” represents a creative resurgence for the lanky rapper. Now you can download the song, as well as ten other new ones, including all the tracks from Skinner’s Twitter account, here. This unofficial new “album” is easily among Skinner’s best, featuring a return to the sound and heady wordplay of his breakthrough Original Pirate Material.
It has all the by-now familiar Streets hallmarks: the clever club track (“Lovelight of My Life”), bouncy lad-rock number (“See If They Salute”), the Skinner-sung hook (“Hassles”), the claustrophobic drug track (“Outside Inside”), and the one with the disorienting beats (“Skills on Toast”).
Skinner’s unofficial new LP is yet another great record released for free on the Internet — where creativity reigns. From the Jaydiohead experiment to Radiohead’s In Rainbows, sometimes free records are the dopest.
