The Evan Whitton Blog: After Hours

The Streets - The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light - The Singles, Reviewed After over 20 years in the limelight, I don’t think calling Mike Skinner a UK rap legend is unjustified. After a run of five great albums with The Streets, including classics like ‘Original Pirate Material’ and ‘A Grand Don’t Come For Free’, in which displayed his talent for creating gritty, homegrown production, complete with unorthodox delivery and witty lyricism, he retired the project in 2011 to focus on other ventures like The D.O.T. with Rob Harvey among others. However, Skinner returned to The Streets in 2017, citing the making of a self produced film and its accompanying soundtrack as the reason for his return. That’s not to say that’s all he’s been doing though, as in the time between his comeback and the film’s release, he’s seen fit to drop a fair bit of music, including various stand alone singles, a duets mixtape, the soundtrack’s sister album, (which at one point I mistook for the actual so...

Don Letts - Outta Sync - The Singles, Reviewed  DJ and filmmaker Don Letts I think is one of the more underappreciated figures in the pivotal 70s UK punk movement. Starting out as a videographer for The Clash, he eventually became a very prominent name in that scene, shooting reams of important archival footage such as for his 1978 ‘Punk Rock Movie’, and even (rather sensically given his reggae background) at one point managing The Slits. Over the years though, Don has also been involved in a number of musical projects, most notably co-founding Big Audio Dynamite with Mick Jones. Now though, after over 45 years in the business, it’s his turn to show what he can do. Teaming up with producer Gaudi, Don’s debut solo album ‘Outta Sync’, set for release on September 29th, purports to display Don’s eclectic range of influences from the worlds of reggae, pop, and rock, combining them in a D.I.Y. style. So, let’s have a look at the singles to see how that’s panning out. Outta Sync Musicall...