• Original Pirate Material The Streets Rar Files

When tracks first appeared in DJ sets and on garage mix albums circa 2000, they made for an interesting change of pace; instead of hyper-speed ragga chatting or candy-coated divas (or both), listeners heard banging tracks hosted by a strangely conversational bloke with a mock cockney accent and a half-singing, half-rapping delivery. It was, producer and MC, the half-clued-up, half-clueless voice behind club hits 'Has It Come to This?' And 'Let's Push Things Forward.' Facing an entire full-length of tracks hardly sounded like a pleasant prospect, but 's debut,, is an excellent listen -- much better than the heavy-handed hype would make you think.

Original Pirate Material The Streets Rar Files

Unlike most garage LPs, it's certainly not a substitute for a night out; it's more a statement on modern-day British youth, complete with all the references to Playstations, Indian takeaway, and copious amounts of cannabis you'd expect. Also has a refreshing way of writing songs, not tracks, that immediately distinguishes him from most in the garage scene. True, describing his delivery as rapping would be giving an undeserved compliment (you surely wouldn't hear any American rappers dropping bombs like this line: 'I wholeheartedly agree with your viewpoint'). Still, nearly every song here succeeds wildly, first place (after the hits) going to 'The Irony of It All,' on which and a stereotypical British lout go back and forth 'debating' the merits of weed and lager, respectively ('s meek, agreeable commentary increasingly, and hilariously, causes 'Terry' to go off the edge). The production is also excellent; 'Let's Push Things Forward' is all lurching ragga flow, with a one-note organ line and drunken trumpets barely pushing the chorus forward. 'Sharp Darts' and 'Too Much Brandy' have short, brutal tech lines driving them, and really don't need any more for maximum impact.