Periodic Update: What The Streets' Mike Skinner Has Been Up To

Here I am with your obligatory occasional Streets update. Mike Skinner continues his prolific run of releasing great tunes via twitter, although he’s slowed down a bit since earlier this year. Skinner has been embracing Twitter as a music release tool for quite some time, and he gives an incredible insight into his writing/recording/mixing process via his feed.

Skinner has announced that his next album, supposedly the final record under “The Streets” moniker, will be called Computers and Blues. Interestingly, a couple of the tunes he has recently leaked out have come labeled as being from the albums “Computers and Blues Probably” and “Computers and Blues Probably Not.” Perhaps it’s an intentional slip for die-hard fans. Or maybe it’s an unintentional leak. Either way, it’s an interesting view into the time frame for recording songs, mastering them, and then making cuts for an album.

Here are my three favorites of the recent tracks Skinner has dropped. The first, pegged as “Probably” making it onto the album, is called “In The Middle” and features a singing chorus similar to those found on “Dry Your Eyes” and “Where My Heart Has Been.” Skinner seems to be tending toward these type songs, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a handful of them show up on the next LP. This song features Skinner a little sharper than he has been on other Twitter releases, and it’s a nice reminder that the dude still has those quirky rap chops that he honed on A Grand Don’t Come For Free and The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living.

The Streets – In The Middle (YSI) (filesavr)

The next song that I’ve really been digging is “Roof Of Your Car”. It’s a bit repetitive, but has a great summertime vibe to it – makes me want to find a field somewhere and kick it oldschool with jams in the car below and stars in the sky above.

The Streets – Roof Of Your Car (YSI) (filesavr)

Finally, we get to see Skinner at his most ridiculous with the tune “The Robots Are Taking Over.” This track sounds like he got a new synthesizer with some voice effects, and he wanted to play around with it. Perhaps the “Computers” side of the upcoming album? Hilariously, I really like this tune. Hope you like these too.

The Streets – Robots Are Taking Over (YSI) (filesavr)