Latest / Barber Cuts: Beats and Bars / Original Pirate Material - The Streets

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Original Pirate Material - The Streets · Barber Cuts: Beats and Bars

0:15
Welcome to Barbara Cuts, Beads and Vars.
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We're a father to daughter music podcast that slices into some of
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the greatest albums, one cut at a time.
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With no industry ties or formal training, just a shared love of
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music, we explore albums across genres, writing favorites and
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skips while digging into what makes each one iconic.
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I bring the beats. And I bring the bars and
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together we deliver real talk and fresh takes from both sides
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of the sound. Hey everyone, I'm Riley.
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And I'm Todd and welcome to this week's version edition episode
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of Barber Cuts. This week we are doing maybe one
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of our better named albums, original pirate material.
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This is a great named album by the Streets.
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And so just in case you didn't listen, The Streets is Auk band,
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hip hop, something like that. Not all.
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Garage music. Pop garage music.
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It's garage. Something unless so.
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You're from the UK and the next Garage Music.
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Garage. Hello.
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We're talking music. I've got to work on our accents.
1:27
So Riley, let's jump into it. Yeah, least favorites.
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What are your least favorites? My least favorites were Has it
1:37
Come to This? It was very repetitive and so
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that just kind of got annoying to me.
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It just something that was kind of unique to a lot of these
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songs is the beat was very unique and the flow of it was
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also very unique. And so for this one to just be
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so repetitive, it just kind of got annoying and.
2:01
Old which that's strange because this is Spotify stream wise,
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their most popular one, and it's the the one that kind of made
2:08
him blow up. Yeah.
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My my theory behind that is that it's it's the most generalizable
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among audiences. Like it has more singing, the
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flow follows the beat a little bit more than normal.
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Like it's more acceptable to a lot of people's ears.
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I just thought that when compared to the rest of the
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album, that kind of diluted the charm of his album.
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Whether? Or not.
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Even if you did like it, I just kind of diluted that charm that
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he has. Yeah.
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I can see, but that's, that's my theory for why it's like the
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biggest one on the album. And then my other least favorite
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was Geezers Need Excitement. That's probably just 'cause I
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don't understand British slang. And so it kept making me laugh
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instead of like sound like, I think he was trying to sound
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like hard, you know? And to me it's like, you sound
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goofy. But the part of that is like, I
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don't have, I don't do UK slang. Yeah.
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I don't either, so it just kind of kept going over my head what
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he was saying and making me laugh because the word geezer is
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funny. I agree.
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So it's funny to hear in like a hard rap song.
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So every time he kept throwing that one out or like, Loke, I'd
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be like, what are we doing? Where did this come from?
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And, and best I could tell, like I, I did the same thing like,
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and, and I guess before we started, we should have said
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like, obviously we are not British.
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So much mini, all of the lyrics, some of the pronunciation like
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garage, like that one took me for a bit.
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Garage, garage, you know, and, and all the subversion and
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different things that are British humor we're going to
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miss. So apologies in advance.
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So we're it's going to be lost on us.
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But I would say that those are my 2 least favorites.
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Yeah, and I can see that. So my least favourites.
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Who dares wins? OK.
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And it it's, you know, toward the end of the album, it's like
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34 seconds. Yeah.
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And as I was sitting there listening to it, seems like it
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just got cut off. And I'm like, OK, was this
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something? And obviously it was
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intentional, but it seems like it's short and just missed it
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and almost like it blended right into the next the next song, the
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the last one and then the other one least favorite was too much
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Brandy. It wasn't much a fan of the beat
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and it was one of more of the simple sounding songs, you know,
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especially with the the way the chorus sounded.
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So just those were my 2 least favorites.
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So favorite 2. So my favorite two were who got
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the funk and don't mug yourself. OK.
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These were the two that as I listened to them, they kept
5:12
growing on me. They were more pleasant to
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listen to in the background, like the way it sounded was nice
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and the way they sounded were still unique and like fit within
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the streets, kind of like the way their sound works.
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I don't have much for lyrics this time.
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If you even if you read like his little excerpt on the streets
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like their self, they say that it's wrapped up in like UK slang
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and UK like media. Like it's talking about stuff
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that happened in the UK in like the nineties, 2000s era.
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So I wasn't even alive for the 90s, these early 2000s, so I
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certainly wasn't aware of what's happening over there at the UK.
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The lyrics kind of all, I can't really make sense of them past
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the point of like the basic song.
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So there's nothing like truly insightful.
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Like I know there probably is stuff, but I can't catch on to
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it. And I think that's part of what
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makes his music neat in its own way is that it is kind of for
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them, It's, it's specialized to that little area.
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And he made it specialized to that area.
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Like he wasn't trying to go big. It doesn't seem like, I mean, I
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know if he was trying to go big, you change your sound.
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Like you see British artists that don't sound British anymore
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when they sing and they change their voice and stuff like that.
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And he did not do that. He went full force into it.
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And these were two of the songs that I think just fit well into
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the sound and kept growing on me.
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And I played one of them. I played Don't Mug Yourself for
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my friend Kate, as we were like getting ready to go do
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something. And it's kind of fun.
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Like when you're listening to it, like laughing with a friend
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and having fun. Like it is kind of fun to.
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Listen to. You and just enjoy and not like
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have to listen to you closely or take seriously like it is just
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kind of fun. Music in its way.
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Which is what garage music is supposed to be like.
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It's. That fun be.
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Yeah, it's like I I made a note when on who got the funk.
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It's like, huh, there's a random funk track on this album.
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Yeah, it's like, all right, I'll take it.
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And it's what I'm. Yet the album pulled up on
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Spotify minute, 50 seconds long, and it's not very big on the.
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It's just random. If I remember correctly, it
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didn't have much of A chorus. Like it was just a couple lyrics
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here and there, but nothing special.
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It was just more about the funk sound and beat.
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And then they went on to the next one.
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You know, the irony of it all, which was a funny song, but you
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know, still. But yeah, I admired the random
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random funk song in the middle of the album.
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Yeah, I he he seemed to very much just do what sounded nice
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to him. And.
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Be OK with that? Yeah, whatever it turned to.
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So what? About you.
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So my two favorite was the let's push things forward.
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And so again, I like like the message over all of the whole
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thing. It's like if you don't like
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something, then quit doing it over and over again, which is
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nice, especially you haven't hit there yet.
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But you know, 20 ish 5 too many years into my career.
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You know, you hear the well, that's the way we've always done
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it. Line thrown out way too many
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times. This is like anti that line.
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You know, in there it says the chorus, you say that everything
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sounds. I mean he's specifically writing
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about before I say the lyric about music.
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So evidently he was picking up on the culture and people
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talking about it. But he says the lyric, you say
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that everything sounds the same, then you go buy them.
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Like you're just reinforcing it. Like, if you don't like it, quit
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buying it, you know, and. And that lyric was was one of my
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favorites. Like it, it's that one
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specifically can be generalized to almost everything of like,
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OK, you say that, you say you hate that type of person, then
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why are you supporting them? You say you hate doing this, so
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why are you doing it? And it's like always, it's
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always people trying to be different and then wanting what
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they want in the secret. Like it's almost like him saying
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like, I'd rather you say you hate my music and not buy it and
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go buy that generalized stuff and say, oh, I love your music,
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not the pop culture. And like then just go and buy
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the pop culture. Right.
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Exactly. I think that's like always going
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to be true. So it's just the lyric that like
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is timeless. Right.
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And anything, yeah. And I think it, and I think it
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fit here too, because from, from the stuff that I've researched,
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tried to figure out about the Straits, because, you know,
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yeah, I'd, I'd never listened to them before until this album.
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And this was fairly new to what was going on in the British,
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whatever you want to call it, garage underground hip hop scene
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over there. So he was, he was really, as it
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were, to borrow another cliche, you know, putting his money
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where his mouth was, you know, and then saying, OK, let's,
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let's do this. And then my other one was
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actually right after that one. So 3 and 4, ironically, so sharp
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darts. And the first thing on sharp
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darts that I guess made me like it and then keep going back to
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it was it sounded so much like the Beastie Boys.
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Yeah, I noticed that on a few. You know, and, and so even like
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one of the, the couple of the lyrics in there, it's like I
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walk the beat like a policeman, like, OK, that's clever, you
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know, and then there's lots in this song, there's lots of
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pauses in the beat. And then he comes in with the
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lyric, you know, or you got a, a lyric where it's no beat
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whatsoever. When he, when he, when he
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delivers the lyric, you know, there's another funny one in
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there that's like, he's like, do you understand or do you need an
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interpreter? I'm like.
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Oh yeah, where it's like the. Because that reminds me like,
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you know, again, in my career, hey, let's send out an e-mail to
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everybody telling them that e-mail is not working.
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Like that line to me. Is that like, do you understand
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or do you need an interpreter? Well, and then it's a reference
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back to a line from my other favorite song, the let's let's
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push things forward about sharp darts in there, you know?
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And then ultimately it it's seems like it's a song talking
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about just how good he is at what he does, which, OK, yeah,
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there's a brag song in there, which which then as you start to
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realize that makes it even kind of funnier.
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Those are my 2 sharp darts and let's push things forward.
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Very nice, I was just going to ask your thoughts on the
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outcome. I think this is the most out
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there album that we've listened to thus far.
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It was definitely, you know, so when the turn the page is the is
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the intro song or first song of the of the album and it started
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going again. When I first started, I was not
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expecting the British accent any of that.
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So I, I went in unbeknownst to me and like, OK, let me hit
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pause for a second and regroup because it wasn't what I was
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expecting. And so, you know, when that
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happens, you tend to initial, you know, put up some initial
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first thoughts. And I was like, OK, I don't want
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those clouding when I start to think of it because my first
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thoughts in it were like, OK, this seems like it's just using
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a beat machine or, you know, the free beats that you can get from
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Garage Band or Audacity or something like that and putting
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them together and then, you know, doing some rap lyrics on
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top of it. I knew that wasn't the case.
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Like I knew there's talent there.
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So I didn't want to, I didn't want to general generalize it
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down to just that. And so, because at first glance,
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I'm like, OK, this isn't that complex, but oh boy, is it,
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especially if you are listening to it from outside the UK out,
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you know, and and trying to figure out what some of the
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lyrics are. It was, you know, very British
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Annunciation, the accent. And so often times things came
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across as offbeat because I guess of the such a, the proper
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British way of pronunciations. He was trying to fit everything
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in. And with American rap, we often
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like cut off words and it's OK and.
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Yeah. He wasn't.
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He didn't seem to do that much at all.
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So it's different, definitely a different kind of rap and
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different kind of beat. I was also very caught off guard
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with like the first song. Like I said, the more I listen
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to the more it grew on me just like listening to throughout the
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week. But whenever I like first listen
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to it, I was so caught off guard.
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I was like, why is this on our like album chart?
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I like could not figure it out because it's just not what you
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would expect. So I I looked it up and then it
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like hit me that like this was game changing in the UK.
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This like if you. Look up, that's what I gather
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too. Yeah, if you look up the list of
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the people that's inspired by the streets in the UK, it's like
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every artist he broke in through the scene of like hip hop,
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garage music, like house music. He like developed his like own
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type of flow that's very unique to him in in being offbeat and
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not quite hitting it perfectly. And the more that I listen to
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it, it's I'll be, I'll be honest, and I don't mean this as
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an insult. It's difficult to listen to
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because of the dissonance because we're especially in
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America, I don't know if it's everywhere, but especially in
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America with rapping such like a big genre, we're very used to
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like having to hit like perfectly on the beat or like
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very intentionally doing it every once in a while so it
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sounds nicer. And the flow matters so much
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that it's difficult to listen to someone doing it not that way,
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right? But it's also, in its own way,
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makes you want to listen more, right?
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And he seems to have a lot more to say than average musicians.
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I read something that I liked how it was worded is like a lot
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of rap is very in your face and like, I'm the best and no one
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else has done it, like me. Like Eminem saying like there
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wouldn't be this controversy without me.
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Like that whole thing is like, usually when you deal with stuff
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like that, you're very in your face.
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And he seemed to do it. Mike Skinner is who I'm talking
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about, the rapper for Streets. He did it, they said in a way
16:37
that was very humble and recognized like that he was
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bringing it from ground up. Like in the like the song that
16:46
you were talking about where it's like you say they're, you
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say you hate them and then you go and buy them.
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So like what he kind of talks about like, no, I, I made this,
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but like I'm still working on it.
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Like he talks about it very humbly and just talks very real
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and like makes it fit instead of trying to figure out these fancy
17:05
words. And so it's almost more
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approachable in that way. Right, Yeah, yeah.
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And it, it almost, you know, you almost get the sense that like
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everybody that we've that we've listened to so far and probably
17:17
probably everybody else, like they're musicians and they write
17:21
about things. You you almost get the and, and
17:25
this is a compliment. You almost get the sense that he
17:29
was just an average Joe that then figured out how to be a
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musician and write about the stuff that the average British
17:38
person is going through at the time.
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And that that that truly is a compliment.
17:43
Because it, it seemed that the lyrics and the way of life and
17:49
the, the, the storytelling and things that he was doing were
17:54
just top notch. And again, a lot of that's lost
17:57
on us because we don't quite know what was going on at that
18:02
particular time. But it's definitely something
18:05
that that everywhere that you look as you start to really
18:07
like, OK, this did a lot for the music scene at that particular
18:12
time. And like, like you said it, it's
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a very eclectic mix of music that he's got going on here.
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So like it's it's called some alternative hip hop and and that
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that part is there and as and as and is the most obvious, but yet
18:28
it's electronic house pop dance all in in one random funk song,
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all mixed together in each song, which is really neat.
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And it, and like you said, it's, it's hard to listen to it first,
18:44
but I think, I think I got used to it in quotes here pretty
18:50
quickly. And so every time I listen to it
18:52
again, it it got more normalized, I guess is a good
18:58
word to say to where I didn't notice the oddities that my
19:04
American years were hearing at the very beginning.
19:07
Yeah. I think also a few things that's
19:11
good to mention is 1 some of like the people that he
19:14
references as inspiration, like Wu Tang Clan is the big one that
19:19
like I can perfectly understand from listening to just this
19:23
album is like, I mean, Wu Tang Clan was also like not
19:29
everyone's favorite. Like it became like this, this
19:32
cult classic. That was another lyric that I
19:34
liked. He was like he kept talking
19:36
about how he was a cult classic, not a hit.
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And like it's, it's very much like he knew what he was doing.
19:43
And it almost seems as if he knew that like this wasn't music
19:47
that you're just supposed to listen to and shuffle randomly
19:50
pop up like it was for a specific time, a specific
19:54
feeling, a specific area. And like, if you didn't, if you
19:59
weren't a part of that, that's not he wasn't making the music
20:01
for you. You don't have to like it.
20:03
Like it was a lot more for the party in the background that you
20:06
can't really hear anything and getting ready and it being on
20:09
the background. Or it was for the UK youth that
20:15
was experiencing the things that he was experiencing and felt
20:18
overlooked, like it was for these people in this type of
20:23
area, not for everyone. It's not meant to be
20:26
international, it's not meant to be a hit.
20:28
It's not meant to be just on shuffle like it.
20:31
It's meant for something. Which is.
20:34
Hard to do. Yeah, and he and he did it very
20:37
well, all things considered. From, from what it sounds like
20:41
both of us has read and it's and it's like he took the, the
20:46
portions of what he was listening to and what he was
20:50
inspired by and, and Wu Tang Clan is one that he mentioned,
20:53
you know that the specifically he notes US East Coast rap and
21:01
he's like, OK, I like what they're doing lyrically because
21:05
they're telling stories. So he took that aspect, combined
21:09
it with the garage beats that were going on in UK that was
21:14
popular and was like, I'm going to mesh these two things
21:18
together. And then like you said, then OK,
21:22
I'm going to write about I, I guess it's the, I guess he's a
21:26
Birmingham native. I think is, if I'm going off
21:29
memory, maybe it's not burning it.
21:32
Birmingham, Birmingham native that was moved to London, you
21:40
know, and, and so he, he was rapping and putting in lyrics
21:45
that like only people and certain things in England would
21:49
know about and completely understand.
21:53
Yeah, specifically people that have similar life experiences to
21:57
him, which is even even cooler. I also think it reminds me of
22:04
like as an artist, there's there's a famous quote that a
22:08
lot of artists use and it's like the worst artist copy, but the
22:11
best artist steal. Because like the whole point of
22:14
art is to be inspired and to inspire others.
22:17
Like if you're making art to not mean anything, you're not making
22:22
art, even if the meaning is just to make someone feel happier.
22:27
Like I mean, we're prettier or whatever.
22:30
If you don't, if it doesn't have some meaning deep down, you're
22:33
not making art, you're making a picture.
22:36
That's like the rule, one-on-one that you learn in art or
22:40
whatever. And it's artists like this in
22:43
the music world that remind me that like that goes past just
22:47
visual art. All artists were inspired.
22:50
And like if you track it back, you can track it back to like
22:53
the earliest musicians like Bach and Mozart and musicians before
22:57
that and before that and before that, like everyone was inspired
23:01
by something. And so everyone is going to be
23:03
inspired by something, and so he did that beautifully.
23:09
And doesn't even mention, doesn't even mention in some of
23:12
those where he's talking about like I'll take your samples and
23:15
you won't even know I'm sampling you and stuff like that.
23:19
Like. He's just to your point where
23:20
you're talking about that. I was like, Oh yeah.
23:23
So you're telling everybody you're just going to steal it
23:25
and swipe it and sample it, you know?
23:27
That's what I mean. Like that's kind of what you
23:30
want. Like, no, no, that's to your
23:32
point, yeah. Yeah, it's, that's how you
23:36
learn. That's like, if you look at
23:38
anything that I drew growing up, it looks like something someone
23:41
else drew because I was trying to learn what parts I liked and
23:45
what parts they didn't. And now like all of my stuff, I
23:48
can point back like, oh, I draw the nose that way because I
23:51
wanted it to look like this person's style.
23:53
And I drew. I paint this way because I like
23:56
how it looks like this person's style, but you don't do it to
23:59
the point where it's copying. You just steal bits and pieces
24:03
and take them and make them your.
24:04
Own right, and I think that's beautifully and I think that's
24:07
the that's the part furthering your point.
24:09
You're you're taking lyrics from here and and the beat and the
24:14
storytelling from the US rap and the beats that everybody is
24:19
comfortable with in the UK at the time and meld them together
24:24
and make your own, you know. So again, just what you were
24:27
talking about you, you still won shading technique girl one this,
24:33
you know, in in the drawing world.
24:35
And next thing you know, you've got your own style, but really
24:38
it's just a borrowing, stealing, manipulating from all these
24:44
other styles that you like. Oh, I like that.
24:46
Oh, I like that, you know, and I can do it and.
24:49
It's hard to do well. It's hard to do without it
24:52
sounding exactly. Like something else?
24:56
Or looking exactly like something else.
24:57
So that's like me saying that he's taking things from other
25:00
people is like the biggest compliment I can give from one
25:02
artist to another, even if it's different levels of art.
25:05
And it's an art. And again, to have it sound like
25:10
your own. Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
25:13
What he's done, you know, and and to be fair, what a lot of
25:17
these artists do, you know, they they they all have influences.
25:21
Sometimes the influencers are stronger than others, you know,
25:26
definitely. I, I mean, I'm, I'm going to
25:29
say, you know, I didn't know The Streets was on our list, but I
25:34
would almost venture that there's probably not another UK
25:39
hip hop rap group on our list. I could be surprised.
25:45
I could be too. But just because I didn't
25:48
realize this one was there, but I think I remember seeing Wu
25:52
Tang as one that we'll get to eventually and send some others
25:56
from the US side of things. But yeah, it you know, one of
26:00
the things that I that that I think he did also very well was
26:06
and and we've talked about it, his music was something that
26:11
that again, people at that time could relate to because he was
26:16
just telling a story like, Hey, this is what we do, you know,
26:19
and mentioned earlier the the irony of it all, even some other
26:24
songs. Don't Mug Yourself is a good
26:26
story about, you know, him trying to strike up a
26:29
relationship, I guess. And then best I could tell,
26:33
Don't Mug yourself is like, don't be an idiot.
26:39
He's just telling stories that it seemed like common people
26:43
would just really relate to. Yeah, and did you did you catch
26:49
just how awesome his the album name is?
26:53
What do you mean? So this is one I thought the
26:55
album name was funny but I didn't quite understand what it
26:59
meant. So I was trying to, like, find
27:01
out what it meant. And it says that what it means
27:05
is back at this time, what was very important to underground
27:10
music, which is what he was a part of, was illegal pirate
27:15
radio stations. Oh, yeah.
27:17
So he was saying that he was making underground music that
27:20
was for the radio, the illegal radio.
27:23
So it's original pirate material.
27:25
That is genius. Yeah, he's like play this on
27:30
your pirate radio. It's underground.
27:33
He even he even had one and I maybe that's a reference now.
27:38
I can't remember which song it was.
27:41
I can see it in the lyrics right now, but it's he says 102.6 the
27:45
streets and I wonder if that's I wonder if that's a frequency to
27:50
one of the pirate radio stations.
27:53
I don't know, but I do know that it also says right underneath
27:58
where it was talking about the album, it does say that he he
28:01
gave away vinyls to these stations without like the album
28:06
name on it for them to play his music.
28:09
So it very well could be just a random radio station.
28:12
Random radio station. Yeah, I also saw somewhere where
28:15
they were like went, you know, you hear musicians talking about
28:19
garages, like Metallica famously, I guess kick started
28:24
in a garage and many others have.
28:27
But apparently, like, he put mattresses up to soundproof a
28:31
closet in a apartment or home or wherever he was and started
28:36
doing everything inside of there.
28:38
And that's where this album came from.
28:40
So like no fancy equipment or anything, you know as he was get
28:45
going, which which I thought was another just LED into the
28:51
overall aura, for lack of a better word, of the album.
28:55
Yeah. And I think.
28:56
We're not. We're not.
28:57
Doing anything that big is great.
28:59
No, I think the word for that aura is authenticity.
29:03
I think that summarizes this album.
29:07
Mike Skinner, the streets like, it's just very authentic to who
29:11
he is, to where he is and to what he wants his music to sound
29:17
like. So yeah, I agree.
29:20
There's a a couple other songs that I that I called funny
29:23
lyrics in or neat things that he did.
29:26
So same old thing, which is the the 5th song.
29:30
There's a lyric in there that says that's it.
29:33
Who's got dough? Hey, you know, I'd pay but I'm
29:37
broke. Oh my God, coinage to show.
29:39
I'm like, that's so funny. And and and again, he was young
29:45
when he was doing this. So what 2122, I think is how old
29:48
he was. And I was like, yeah, that
29:50
sounds like College of like, yeah, man, thanks.
29:52
I'll get you the next time. And like the next time never
29:55
shows up. But that was that was a funny
29:58
line to me. I and I know it's outside of our
30:03
album, but we listened to or Me and My friend listen to the most
30:08
popular song by there's fit, but you know it.
30:11
If you want a good laugh and a good song, honestly, you need to
30:16
listen to that song too. It says he's like talking to a
30:20
girl and he's like, see, it says I reckon you're about an 8 or a
30:24
nine, maybe even 9 1/2 and four years time.
30:28
And then he keeps going and said, but there's just one thing
30:31
that's really, really, really, really, really annoying me about
30:34
you. You see.
30:36
See, like I said, you are fit, but my gosh, don't you just know
30:40
it? And it's this whole song about
30:41
how he doesn't even want her because he knows like she knows
30:44
her words. And so he's like, I'm not even
30:46
going to try. And.
30:48
That that that that songs from the album a grand don't come for
30:52
free, which again got super high marks everywhere that I read
30:57
that. If you listen to that one
30:58
though, they said do it front to back in order because it tells a
31:04
it tells a complete story. Yeah, that song is just so
31:08
funny. You could not stop laughing.
31:10
But I mean, like it, it turns in and starts kind of telling a
31:13
story in it where it talks about like, I think it's it's saying
31:17
it's something along the lines of a guy trying to like grab her
31:20
and him being like, it's not worth it essentially of like
31:23
saying like cut it out. We don't handle that behavior
31:26
and stuff. But him just being like, you're
31:28
fit, but don't you just know it? And it's like saying that that's
31:33
past the point. But anything else?
31:38
Are you ready to go? On to some readings I also
31:40
liked. There was a one where I guess
31:44
it's the week Become Heroes and he's got a lyric in there where
31:48
he talks about same the same piano loops over all the time.
31:54
During the song though, there is the same piano that is looping
31:59
over and over as part of the music.
32:02
And so he actually talks about it and references it.
32:05
And I was like, oh, that's, that's pretty good too.
32:08
So. Yeah, now you're ready to go on.
32:11
I guess you're just trying to push me on along.
32:13
Push me on along. What is What are your ratings,
32:15
Riley? This one was so hard for me.
32:19
I would say objectively, it's hard to give it anything less
32:22
than an 8 1/2 nine. It was so, like I said, so well
32:29
put together, even if it didn't sound pleasant.
32:32
So like objectively, I can give it that.
32:34
I can give it a super high score and not feel bad about it.
32:37
Personally, it depends on what I'm doing.
32:42
This is the first one that like I truly cannot say one way or
32:46
the other. Like if I'm just sitting around
32:48
and I have to listen to this album, I'm I'm giving it like a
32:51
four. Like I don't want to listen to
32:53
it just sitting there and doing anything but me and my friend
32:58
like she was getting ready to go to dinner or something like
33:01
that. We had the most fun as she was
33:03
like curling her hair and I was just sitting around talking to
33:05
her and this music was playing like it was so accurate for what
33:09
it was. And so I I think I can level it
33:13
out and keep it at just a 5. But I'm saying that as like it's
33:18
not meant to be listened to all the time or enjoy it all the
33:22
time. It's not meant to be like just
33:26
fun to like play all the time. Like it's, it's meant for a
33:30
certain time. And so that's what's so
33:32
frustrating about giving it a technically middle, middle
33:36
rating or lower rating. It's because like for the parts
33:40
that it's for, it's incredible. But I can't give it that because
33:45
I don't want to listen to it all the time either.
33:47
That makes sense. I'm going to give it a 5, but I
33:50
don't mean that as an insult or a lesser than, I mean it as I
33:55
just don't think it was meant for that.
33:57
Yeah, so A5 and your objective was an 8.5.
34:02
Yeah. So my personal rating was a 6.5
34:08
and again, same thing, like as I listened to it and I started
34:14
listening, I'm like, all right, I can with many songs like bop
34:19
my head to it, tap my like even even some of the lyrics were
34:23
catchy enough to where I even started picking up on the things
34:25
and we're able to, you know, sing them so it but I can also
34:31
see what you're saying. It's like, if this isn't what
34:33
you're in the mood to listen to, it's not going to be it's not
34:37
going to sound good. It's not going to be what you
34:39
want because it's got such a distinctive sound to it, it
34:45
makes it difficult to truly rate.
34:49
I'll word it this way, if I was listening to music with someone
34:55
that had a different music taste and appreciated music, I would
34:59
play this album in an instant for them.
35:02
If I was in the car and given the ox, I would not play this
35:06
album first. Yeah, yeah.
35:08
I, I would, I would hesitate to play this album unless I really
35:13
knew they appreciated music right enough to or liked this
35:16
type of music. Yeah, but this isn't this isn't
35:20
1. You just casually play for
35:22
people the way like funeral was. They're screaming delicate.
35:25
Even that was a little more out there.
35:27
Like those you can kind of play and just pass on.
35:30
If I tried to play this without warning someone what it was
35:32
going to be like it it catches you too off guard the first time
35:36
listening to it to really appreciate it.
35:40
I talked about it with Mama Barber and Brother Barber and me
35:47
and Wesley, my brother listened to it on the way down to Georgia
35:54
this past weekend. And he got about halfway through
35:57
and he's like, all right, I'm done.
35:58
I can't do it. And I try not to, like, give
36:01
away too much talking to them. But I was like, oh, you have to
36:04
listen to it a few times. And he was like, the idea of
36:07
listening to it a few times ruins the idea of liking this
36:10
album for me. And I'm like, that's fair.
36:13
I probably would also give up if I didn't have to like.
36:16
And that's kind of what else is beautiful about this podcast is
36:19
like, there's a lot of these albums that if I listen to it
36:22
the first time, I'd be like, oh, I don't like that.
36:24
And then like the second or third time it was like, oh,
36:26
there is something to. This album, and it does kind of
36:29
grab it. I do see it.
36:30
I do see it and it keeps it a little bit longer than you know
36:34
what I was. Thinking the most with this
36:37
album so far, where I was like, Oh my gosh, this is going to be
36:40
a long week. And then I was like, oh, OK.
36:43
The more I listen to it, the more I was like, I kind of enjoy
36:45
this and so. But both of them are like, no,
36:50
like it. It's too weird.
36:52
And I'm like, you gotta give it a chance.
36:54
Yeah, you have to listen to it a few times before.
36:56
I did the same thing and and and so you know, the when I first
37:01
played the the song again with with Mama Barbara, she was like,
37:07
no. But then a different time we got
37:10
in the car and I started with sharp darts, which has got a
37:14
much more agreeable beat and sound again, like if if you
37:22
didn't know the Beastie Boys very well and were like, it can
37:27
pass. And she's like, oh, I like this
37:30
one. What you know.
37:31
And so like there are some in there where you can wear the
37:35
beat is good and in it and it makes it.
37:39
But yeah, it's it's again, apologies across the board
37:44
because you know, we're we're not British.
37:47
So it's but we recognize that. So personal rating 6.5 for me,
37:52
objective rating. I agree with you.
37:56
I I gave it 8 instead of 8.5. But again, I, I can't be angry
38:01
with somebody saying 8.5. It did do quite a bit looking at
38:06
everything. And again, I I didn't realize
38:09
it. What's the what's the shack
38:11
meme? The streets.
38:12
I apologize for not knowing your game, whatever it is.
38:16
Yeah, this is this is the two of us coming to the the streets.
38:20
So. Also, he is master class of he's
38:25
exactly what I thought he would look like and nothing like what
38:28
I thought he would look like. At the same time, every time I
38:31
see a picture of this man, I'm like, yeah, wait, no, like it.
38:36
It keeps like going back and forth in my head.
38:38
I can't decide if he's the exact person I would think would sing
38:42
this or like the exact opposite because I saw a picture of him
38:45
recently where he was wearing like a polo and khakis.
38:47
And I was like, what are we doing, man?
38:49
Like in my mind? But then again, if you've never
38:53
seen it, the the Beastie Boys did a special where they went
38:56
through their time as the Beastie Boys, just the two that
38:59
are still alive, and they were wearing like polos.
39:02
And I was like, what happened to the Beastie Boys?
39:06
Yeah. What happened to the galactic
39:08
outfits that like, what happened to the space suits?
39:11
Like, where is it? The space suits?
39:13
Where are those Beastie Boys? So I think that's part of it.
39:17
But still, like you said, this is our coming with open arms to
39:23
the streets. Yes, and it and admission that
39:28
we don't really know British culture, British rap, British
39:34
anything other than why we were in Atlanta.
39:38
We are fans of the Premier League.
39:40
That's about that's about it. That's about all we know.
39:44
There you go. And some people would say we
39:47
wouldn't. We don't even know that because
39:49
we're Manchester United fans. And yes, I do realize they were
39:54
awful last year. So many people will say we don't
39:57
even know Premier League soccer. Hey, but the fact that you
40:00
stayed with them through them being awful shows a little bit
40:03
of team spirit there. I've got, I've got so much hope,
40:06
got so much hope. That's all you can have.
40:10
Speaking of, I don't know how to transition from that.
40:14
What's your song of the week? What you've been listening to?
40:17
My song of the week is by and I always I always like when I find
40:22
random bands. This is the This is the test to
40:26
say if Riley knows them or not. Oh boy.
40:30
Spotify 28,000 monthly listeners so it's a small 1 the
40:37
retrograde. The retrograde.
40:40
Yeah, have you heard of them? I feel like I have.
40:44
Probably so it's like because you know, and this is this is
40:49
our running joke. Riley listens to so many
40:54
different bands and music. It's like when you find one that
40:57
she's never heard of or like, yes, I won.
41:00
I'm going to buy a lottery ticket because I've done
41:03
something. And now you're trying to you're
41:07
trying to search for him to see if you know him.
41:09
But anyway, the retrograde. Well, I was, I was saying I have
41:13
heard of them. I don't have any of their songs
41:16
liked, but I have heard of them. OK, but I was giving them.
41:19
So I still win. You still win, but I was giving
41:22
them a reference that my one of my favorite bands musicians.
41:29
Oh yeah, with your number of monthly listeners.
41:32
He has two bands. 221 is just a solo album when it's his band.
41:39
His band has 12 monthly listeners and his solo is 23
41:46
monthly listeners. Yeah.
41:48
And I think. So how many people are in the
41:52
band? Well, the band.
41:55
I don't know and I care. If if the band has got 12
41:59
monthly listeners, you're one of them and probably every band
42:02
member is 1. So I mean, we're down and maybe
42:04
a couple parents in there. So I mean.
42:06
I'll say, I'll say I. You may be the only listener
42:10
that isn't banned or family for that particular band.
42:13
So what is that band? Just to give them a shout out.
42:15
Maybe they'll get a couple other monthly listeners here.
42:18
OK, so the bands give them both. The band's name is Telewave.
42:23
Telewave has released music more recently, but not they they
42:32
stemmed from Morgan Smith is the musician.
42:38
If you want one of the best bluesy bulk albums of your life,
42:46
listen to this album. It's called Peaceful Mind.
42:50
It's from 2008. It's the only music he's ever
42:53
released. All of them have over 100
42:56
streams now, and I think that's because of me.
42:58
I listen to this album more than I would like to admit.
43:02
Like it's it's genuinely up. If I could choose, this is like
43:07
my favorite out of all time. Like because it's not even on
43:10
like Apple Music. So I apologize to Apple Music
43:12
fans. Like it's literally only on
43:14
Spotify. It's tiny, tiny, tiny.
43:17
But specifically listen to feline glory.
43:20
This isn't my this isn't even my most listened to song of the
43:24
week. Listen to Feline.
43:25
Glory that you sent you down a rabbit hole.
43:28
There's a that's. Usually what people do to me, I
43:31
was about to say. That's usually my thing.
43:34
Listen to Feline Glory, it has some of the most hard hitting
43:39
lyrics that you wouldn't anticipate from a song about a
43:44
cat. The chorus, the lyric that
43:47
always hits me is Little Lily. It's been too long.
43:51
You've got 9 lives and so you might as well roam.
43:53
But won't you come home to me? Please forgive me if the home
43:56
you were raised in and falls falls apart before you find it
43:59
again. Understand it had nothing to do
44:01
with you. That's a heavy lyric that will
44:06
go down as one of the best lyrics of all times.
44:09
And it was written by this little guy with 23 monthly
44:12
listeners and I think half of them were because I told my
44:15
friends to go follow him because he was so good.
44:18
Go listen to Peaceful Mind by Morgan Smith for one of the best
44:21
Blues albums of all time. Blues slash folk.
44:24
I don't know, I don't want people getting mad at me for mis
44:27
genreing him. But yes, continue on with the
44:32
retrograde. OK, so back, back to the
44:35
retrograde and it's the name of the song is if 6 was 4 and and I
44:44
randomly saw some clip of it on Instagram like, oh, that sounds
44:50
nice. And again, it's the, it's the
44:53
voice that got me and it's this raspy voice And again, this the
44:59
sound obviously, but they finished a, a, a lyric and then
45:05
there was a pause in the song and then like, and I can't
45:10
remember it off the top of my head.
45:12
Like the voice comes in and then the drums come in and it was
45:16
just like, Oh, I like that. So then I went and listened to
45:18
the song. Song was real good.
45:21
And, and it, it's just a nice song.
45:26
It's a bluesy rock kind of kind of vibe.
45:31
And again, good raspy type of voice.
45:35
So if you like that if 6 was 4 is the name of the song by the
45:41
retrograde so very. Nice.
45:44
Riley, what's yours? So my song of the week has
45:48
nothing to do with my little rant that I just turned on.
45:51
That was that was bonus for free.
45:54
There you go guys. That you get.
45:57
It is if I can be your dog, not if it's I can be your dog.
46:04
Edge Hill is the band, it's they've just released these two
46:08
singles within the past like few weeks.
46:12
I Can Be Your Dog is the one that just keeps playing more.
46:16
It's more true to like their normal sound.
46:18
It's kind of loud, beach rock, pop, fun sounds and it's just a
46:24
good song. And I've also been listening to
46:27
them more because I get to go see them in September, which I'm
46:31
so excited about. And yeah, they're native to
46:36
Tennessee, so that's super cool. They went to the Andy, so
46:39
they're super smart on top of everything.
46:42
But yeah, I highly recommend listening to Edge Hill, I Can Be
46:45
Your Dog and more Edge Hill after that.
46:50
If you will, very good. This is how how I guess bad my
46:58
hearing is. I thought you said Ed Hill.
47:03
Edge Hill. So when I tried to go find Ed
47:06
Hill, all I got was Ed Sheeran, which is probably knowing you,
47:12
not the same thing. Not the same thing.
47:15
So. But edge, edge hill, hill, I
47:18
could be your dog. Ironically, though, band name,
47:24
because wouldn't it wouldn't He'll not have an edge.
47:29
But I digress. Yeah.
47:32
It's not that word. So full of philosophical
47:35
question of the week, if we wanted to do that, do.
47:37
Oh boy. Do hills have?
47:39
Edges my philosophy mind is really coming out.
47:42
Yeah, think, think on that for a week.
47:44
Do hills have edges there? You go.
47:47
Right, so that leads us to next album for people to listen to
47:55
and for us. Yeah, yeah.
47:57
So the next album. Gonna be.
48:00
Is what's going on by Marvin Gaye?
48:06
Oh, this is a good one. Yeah, it's this one's an iconic
48:11
one. Yeah.
48:13
So I'm very excited. Seems like someone may already
48:19
know some of it. But yeah, maybe, maybe some of
48:22
it. Yeah.
48:23
So join in listening with us this week with What's Going On
48:28
by Marvin Gaye and then you can follow us on our socials and X
48:37
Instagram. Do we have any other socials?
48:39
Facebook. Facebook, I'm sorry the young
48:43
people forget that one at Barbara Cuts pod.
48:48
Also leave some comments and follow along here.
48:51
Continue on listening, let us know your thoughts and give a
48:56
listen to What's Going on by Marvin Gaye and maybe another
48:59
listen to original pirate material The Streets, if you
49:02
only halfway listened through it.
49:03
I'm talking you, Wesley. All out.
49:07
Yeah, listen to it more than once.
49:09
Give it a try. And I'd also encourage
49:11
everybody, you know, we're doing what's going on by Marvin Gaye.
49:16
And so again, we're still figuring out how we want to do
49:20
our origination. What this list is mystery list
49:24
that we keep talking about. But this particular album, like
49:29
when you go look at Rolling Stones, were they the greatest
49:33
albums? This is generally in the top
49:36
five. Like this is a really good
49:39
album. So you know, this is 1 to listen
49:42
to. So yes, go go Marvin Gaye a
49:47
solid listen to his album. So I guess that's it.
49:51
Until next time, I'm Todd. And I'm Riley, and this has been
49:55
another episode of Barber Cuts.