The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living

2006, Apr 10

Apple Spotify UK Hip Hop 94 Vice Records/Atlantic Pitchfork 7.0/10 A.V. Club D+ NME 4/5 Rolling Stone 3/5 DIY 4/5 All Music 3/5 Gigwise 7/10 Under The Radar 9.0/10 Mojo 4/5 The Observer 4/5 Slant 3/5 Pop Matters 7/10 The Guardian 2/5 music OMH 4/5 Sputnikmusic 2.5/5 The Irish Times 4/5 Uncut 8/10

Pitchfork 7.0/10 Mike Skinner follows two brave, brilliant records with an album chiefly about fame and its attendent trappings. The first two LPs found him clambering for closer contact with the people around him; this record takes place almost entirely in his own head, where he's either engaged in a struggle to stay on the right side of sanity (and possibly sobriety) or to keep his misanthropy contained.

A.V. Club D+ It's hard to make a case for The Streets mastermind Mike Skinner as a writer, because his transcribed lyrics look merely awkward and flat, when they're actually aggressively awkward and flat. His mode of speech has gotten him tagged as "humble" and "plain-spoken," but what can be made of an aesthetic that by nature…

DIY 4/5 UK-based music magazine bringing you music news, reviews, features, interviews and more

The Observer 4/5 <p>Is it really so rotten to be a star? Garry Mulholland is convinced by this inventive take on celebrity.</p>

Slant 3/5 Mike kinner’s uncomfortable response to fame is genuinely human, but the artistic expression of his crisis is a drag.

The Guardian 2/5 <p>(Warners)</p>

The Irish Times 4/5 THE STREETS The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Li ving 679/Warners ****