Categories
Album Reviews

Dizzee Rascal

Dizzee Rascal has always had hits, that goes without saying. From pure grime I Luv U through Stand Up Tall to guitar based Sirens, he has shown he can rock over any beat and produce catchy anthems. The problem he’s had is that his albums tend to have a fair amount of filler, so whilst his Best Of would be brilliant, it’s hard to listen to an entire album without skipping tracks.

On his new record, Tongue N Cheek, the East London rapper has countered that with a fully listenable which covers the gamut from pop to dance and even managing to break out an 80’s sounding track without coming off like a trend follower. Indeed, whilst the lyrics are pretty standard fare – I’m awesome, I can get girls, I’m rich – it’s Dizzee’s off-kilter delivery and unbeatable voice that makes that seem unimportant.

It’s not just the sing-along potential of Bonkers and Dance Wiv Me that makes this album fun, its tracks such as Dirrtee Cash, Money Money and the fantastic Can’t Tek No More which switch it up and show Dizzee to be the versatile rapper he is.

Whilst the likes of Bizzle and Kano have fallen by the wayside, Dizzee goes from strength to strength and this is arguably the pinnacle of his career so far. He’s going to be here for a long time yet and as long as he’s banging out records like this, it’s going to be fun having him around.

Abjekt.

Categories
Skateboarding News

New Tamworth Park

Tamworth is to receive a new concrete skatepark, which was started last week. Due for completion in early February, it is located opposite the Snow Dome in Tamworth and designed by Freestyle and the Tamworth locals, it looks like a good use of available space.

Among the logistical problems faced by the construction team were the necessity of building it on top of pre- existing astro- turf tennis courts which give under weight and so had to be re- enforced ahead of groundbreaking…..Big ups to Mike Dryburgh for sorting the funding and making it all happen.

Categories
Skateboarding News

Bryce Kanights photo gallery

The boys over at the ESPN site have featured a mini gallery of some of the timeless classic skate photography of one of the fields Godfathers, Mr Bryce Kanights. For those of you out there who are not going slightly grey around the edges and a little thin on top, Bryce has been in the skate mediation game for 29 years and was one one of the original staff members of Thrasher alongside such greats as Mofo.

Categories
Skateboarding News

Tom Penny is a natural

Didn’t make the video, but classic Penny tenacity right there:

Categories
Skateboarding News

Rodney Mullen demo from 23 years ago

Flatland, geek circles, Converse sponsorship…how times change.

Categories
Skateboarding News

Adrien Bulard radness

With a bit of Luy- Pa Sin and Willy Simon thrown in:

Categories
Skateboarding Product Reviews

Iron Fist Heartcore Duffle Coat

Iron Fist are steadily making waves in the skateboarding world, building up their skate team roster after recruiting vert Legend Darren Navarette and Death’s very own Moustache Aficionado Patrick Melcher so it’s great to see that the clothes are up to scratch as well as the fledgling team. The lovely folks over at Iron Fist HQ sent me the Heartcore Duffle Coat coat from this season and I couldn’t be happier with it.

It’s a fairly lightweight slim fit wool duffle coat with a zip front, push studs and classic duffle fastenings to make triple sure that you’re not getting a draft in and has a couple of spacious pockets for storing whatever it is that you might need to store. As an added bonus it’s not super padded so you don’t end up sweating like Michael Jackson’s doctor any time you wander in from the cold which in my opinion is a definite plus point. It has double buttons and straps on the sleeves and the back to adjust the fit, comes with a detachable hood and has a small subtle Iron Fist Logo on the chest. I would recommend trying it on first as it is on the slim side so you might want to go up a size if you are ordering it online but that’s just an observation coming from a slightly less than slim fit reviewer.

As rad as this coat is, I probably wouldn’t think to rush out and buy it as it is catering to the smarter end of the skate market, which I seldom venture into but it is well made and could be one for the Christmas list to keep you nice, smart and warm for the new year. It’s not the cheapest on the market but like most things you get what you pay for and as with all other Iron Fist gear its top quality that you know will last. It’s smart enough that I’ve been wearing it into the office and Mrs Dickfingers has her eye on it already which is a pretty good recommendation and a sure fire indicator that I will lose it sooner or later.

Talk to your local skate shop or click here for stockists.

Dickfingers

Categories
Skateboarding News

Heathen are working it

Heathen Skateboards have a new website located here for your viewing pleasure and still have the best taste in music out there hands down. There’s a new clip of Josh Walters on there too, he’s one of their Minion Division dudes.

Heathen are currently working on the Holy Mountain tour web clip and a hand made, limited edition DVD version with about another 20 minutes of footage. Look out for their riders at this year’s Xmas Jam.

Categories
Music News

Speech Debelle loses her rag

Speech Debelle has ditched her label and slated them for poor sales.

The rapper, who won the Mercury Prize this year, blamed Big Dada for the record not selling well saying “I was disappointed in the people I was working with. I wasn’t on a big label and the machine wasn’t there”.

However we at Crossfire are huge fans of Ninja Tune and Big Dada and the people who work there and bring up the likes of Blockhead, Roots Manuva, Toddla T, Ghislain Poirier and Thavius Beck, and we know they work as hard as any label out there.

Looks like sour grapes from Debelle. Let’s see if her next album, on another label, sells millions…

Categories
Music News

The Muppets rock out

It’s a classic tune, but have you ever seen pigs, penguins, bears and a Swedish Chef sing Bohemian Rhapsody? No? Well now you can: