Number 21: The Streets

When we first met Mike Skinner he was wide eyed and high. He told stories that seemed distant iun their britishness while being ever so close in there twenty-something nothingness and boredom.

Mr. Skinner let 2005 float by with the lesser players of Grime gaining buzz and with R. Kelly aping his descriptive melodrama over minimilist beats thing (though R. Kelly probably assumes he invented it). He allowed The Hold Steady and Art Brut literally talk to the hipsters about the details that make their drug addled lives what they are. Next year should (if all goes right) see a new album from The Streets. If we're lucky, it will explore the most minute oif circumstances in a new and exciting and yet oddly familiar ways.