This weekend’s War of the Roses get together up North went off by all accounts. Here’s an edit from Saturday’s Leeds leg to keep you up to date with what went down featuring loads of UK skaters.
Author: Crossfire
Categories
i Heart Skateboarding
Tony Carr, Jacob Van Orden, Josh Sierra, Mikey Chim, Gustavo Morales and Victor Zanoni all have footage on this I Heart Skateboarding teaser. Check Zanoni’s hill bomb, amazing!
Categories
Russian and rolling
If you are wondering what Russian skateboarding is up to right now watch this b-roll clip from the Izhevsk Twisted Mind project at www.skateboardmag.ru. Some old school tricks in here!
Categories
On Your Marks at the Berrics
The Berrics got so hot recently that Steve Berra got a dose of chickenpox, the poor bugger. Billy Marks got through to the big one after his duel with Johnny Layton. Layton previously won a round with Marc Johnson who is currently on his 4th Epicly Later’d session. Click here to watch the vids in on the Berrics site here.
Categories
Alien Workshop – Mind Field
AWS are probably the most unique skate company out there. Neil Blender kicked them off way back when with his altered imagery and obscure way of seeing things and since then the Worshop has evolved as a sovereign sect in its own right influencing skaters, musicians and film makers alike.
Fans of AWS will be happy to hear that this production is more a return to the good old days, back to the days of “Memory Screen” doused in overly vivid imagery and suggestion that has embedded the AWS brand on our brains for years and more to the point the skating is bang on point like those days too.
With a pro roster to rival Lakai or Plan B the skating on show here blends in perfectly to the montages that would make French Fred from Cliché drool! Following a musical intro from J.Mascis, Omar Salazar, the highjump champ, kicks off the sections with what can only be likened to Gonz-like skating. Totally untainted by other skate vids, he just takes a whole new approach with a “hang on or slam” mentality and feet quick enough to let him ride away.
Jake Johnson hits us off with some Static-esque NY grittyness and kills random spots with tricks like wallrides down a double set! He is one to watch for sure. Arto Saari starts his video debut for AWS with a gnarly faceplant and styles his way through his section with a “too-easy” looking flip front nose pick and some nice Barca footage. It seems that the many years of skating with Geoff Rowley have certainly shaped his repertoire as his steez is gnarly, clean and Arto generally looks at ease with himself.
The big name pro’s on this vid had surprisingly short sections. Perhaps Rob Dyrdek was too busy with his MTV show to put out a full section, but in reality I expect he puts out more for DC than AWS which is a sign of the times with skating, but still, he has been on AWS since day one so he had zero dues to pay on this vid. Steve Berra and Josh Kalis follow suit with bit part sections to remind us that they are still ripping but it’s a shame there’s not more footage from these three.
Grant Taylor just simply isn’t afraid of anything. He zooms around a drained waterpark at frightening speeds with gnarly backtail slides which are insane and then sessions some obstacles that just shouldn’t be ridden. Sliding the top of a door frontside is just plain wrong, heart in your mouth wrong but once again it’s AWS.
Dylan Rieder somehow had the vision to wallride/grind/melon a cradle to flat which needs to be seen to be understood. Jason Dill continues his mission to be obscure, riding anything awkward and applying his relaxed style to obstacles that most skaters wouldn’t look at twice. I think the surprise package is Tyler Bledsoe. His approach is technically smooth, blessed with lots of unique tricks and he is certainly not afraid to go big, especially with gap backtail on a block to flip out over an equally long gap!
Mike Taylor‘s section was something I was looking forward to. His part is super clean, everything is landed to bolts and he also sticks the longest crook on a rail I have ever seen! Joe Moynihan interviewed him for Crossfire in LA recently so expect words to be on here soon.
The other surprise was Anthony Van Englen. I was stoked to see him emulate the vibe of Cardiel’s epic Sight Unseen section with raging street spots with an aggressive game face showing his determination to push his skating to new levels of rawness. I think skating to the Adolescents suited this barrage of gnarly ollies and speedy handrails perfectly. His ollie head on OVER the top of a handrail to crook is as technically difficult as it is hardcore, stoked.
Heath Kirchart’s section rolls to the melancholic soundtrack of the one and only Morrissey. Seeming non-fussed whether flip front nosegrinding or front bluntslide bigspinning out on handrails only he knows his motivation to keeping on year after year putting out amazing sections. But like most other skateboarders I’m grateful for whatever it is! Some of the gappage in this section is so big that a tow off a motorbike is the only thing to help with the momentum but still Kirchart makes drifting 15-20 feet look like a mundane task. He’s an exceptional talent.
The video is simply stunning. Greg Hunt has put the show together with a mix of 8/16mm footage as well as the usual DV stuff. J.Mascis and Dinosaur Jr feature as strong as ever on the soundtrack and one time AWS pro Duane Pitre adds perfectly to the soundscape. There’s plenty of extras here too. “B-Roll” sections for everyone show some extra angles and tricks that were sketched or just didn’t make the final cut, but still a cut above most peoples “A” footage. Plus if you delve into the extras you will find the AWS visual side with some inspiring ideas on infusing creativity into skate sections.
Overall the effort put into Mind Field has dramatically raised the bar on overall production leaving this as simply a must see video. It’s not as trick heavy as some other videos out there, but definitely the most well rounded video I have seen in years. Go get it and visit awsfilmworks.com for more.
9/10
Philip Procter
Categories
Notorious
Fox
www.foxsearchlight.com/notorious
A life chronicalling the life and death of arguably the greatest rapper of all time isn’t an easy task to take on. Not only do you have to present a life that every die hard fan already knows the ins and outs of, but you have to tackle the subjects which plagued the career of the man they called Biggie Smalls and make sure you don’t give a watered down account of it all.
Unfortunately, that is what happens in Notorious. The background is handled well enough, documenting the MC’s descent into drug dealing, stints in prison, lucky escapes from the law, arguments with his mother and becoming a father, but it is when we see Biggie rap that the problems begin to occur. With the man himself being used on the backing track, hearing Woolard rap as Biggie just doesn’t cut it. It might be a small point for the casual viewer, but hearing an ordinary flow instead of the voice that captured my attention and drew me into hip hop in the mid 90s really disappoints.
The main crux of the film happens when Tupac is shot and the East – West rivalry begins. This is the meaty part of the story that really would define whether the film is a hit or not but the outcome is a muddled affair which is explained away by the narration as Tupac being confused. Confused? Really? That makes sense then.
With major incidents like Lil Kim’s abortion being glossed over, it is obvious that Biggie’s mother and former entourage are keen to take the negatives away from him as if to say sure, he lost his temper a few times, but he was a lovely boy. The saccharin ending with the rapper ringing all his former flames to apologise to them just tied the film up as what it was – a Hollywood story.
There are positives in the film – Naturi Naughton’s Lil Kim is absolutely perfect, from looks to delivery of the raps and Puffy’s dancing and Violetta’s “What kind of grown ass man calls himself Puffy?” are genuine laugh-out-loud moments – but they are few and far between. Perhaps I am being overly critical, but when you’re making a film about the life of a man who turned the hip hop world on its head, you have to deliver. This film is bound to do well simply because of the man it portrays but unfortunately for me, it doesn’t present the story nearly as well as it should.
Abjekt.
Categories
Fake Shark – Real Zombie! Interview
Photos by By Leigh Righton.
Hailing from British Columbia and Oregon, Fake Shark- Real Zombie! is really something that you’ve never heard but now you’ll never forget. A mash-up of post everything, FSRZ combine many different styles and are now slowly moving away from the pack and created something very special.
Marc Ramage caught up with Kevvy (vocals) and Louis (Guitar) speaking out about their debut album, Zebra! Zebra! And their forthcoming record Meeting People Is Terrible, along with slamming in dresses and being kicked out of Christina Aguilera’s after party.
Let me first start with how absolutely outraged I am to find you have no UK label. What do you have to say to any UK companies scoping around for new talent?
We would tell them to quit cock teasing us like Jemma Jameson.
Are you worried when you do get signed to a major label and get thrown into mainstream recording that you may lose your “roots” like many bands of today do?
All the major labels are crumbling in the next two years. Gone are the days of any labels taking chances on interesting bands that need to develop over a few years, so I don’t think we’ll need to even think about that. There won’t be any majors courting us because they’ll be gone soon, but in response to bigger indie labels trying to impose their opinions on our sound, we would rather take less money and have more say in what goes on artistically than vice versa.
How did you guys get together?
A combination of Craig’s List, Myspace and absynth.
Where does the name Fake Shark- Real Zombie! come from?
Vintage snuff erotica…….anything starring Jemma Jameson.
Musically, what are your inspirations, are their any stand out acts you really look up to, new and old?
We’re all influenced by different things musically. I think there’s a heavy love for early 90’s hip-hop and art rock. Parker likes his funk and smells like it, too. Malcolm likes 2nd wave ska, Lou likes Mini-Kiss, Kevvy likes RIOTTTT GRRRLLLLSSSSSS.
Your Debut record, Zebra! Zebra! is such a huge mash-up of different styles of music and genres, how did the writing and recording process go down?
Louis and Kevvy would bring a riff to practice, usually a verse and a chorus, then we’d jam it out.
Are you excited about your new release Meeting People Is Terrible and will this record be yet again a totally new sound or picking up where you left off?
It’s drastically refined. You can tell it’s us, but there is more music involved, more focus, better song writing. No hidden rap song. It was great to have Rave there as well, to have another set of ears to bounce ideas off of. We all respect him and his catalogue. A lot of spontaneity shows through as we wrote almost the whole record the month before coming in to the studio.
Was the recording sequence any different to when you recorded Zebra! Zebra! was it more fun due to it not being such a new experience or seemingly more difficult?
Zebra! Zebra! was essentially a series of EP’s recorded at different times (whenever we could afford studio time!), this was written mostly all at once and recorded and mixed all in 15 days.
I (Kevvy) went way further as far as programming goes. I sequenced a ton of stuff, and sampled constantly. There’re clips of homeless people screaming at me, crack heads having melt downs, knives and forks, just anything that would support the theme of the song and album.
What has been your most memorable on stage performance?
When I broke a pitcher of beer on some bitches head in Edinburgh. During the same show, Parker also smashed his borrowed bass.
I actually read somewhere that bouncers have had to “manually take down microphones and disassemble gear in order for the band to stop playing”.
We were playing Christina Aguilera’s after party, she and her Zoro-faced cronies didn’t like our sights or our sounds, so she had her douchey conglomerates drag us and the members of Trash Fashion out of the Club Royal mid set.
You played at Christina’s after party?! how did this happen?! Did u crash it?
We were booked at the venue before the party was booked there. I guess it was a case of the venue not communicating with a couple different promoters.
Any other famous after party shows I should be told about?
The band we toured with recently (Mindless Self Indulgence) played Frances Bean Cobain’s suicide themed sweet 16 party! Good for them!
You like to provoke your audience with certain statements, is this to create an obvious reaction or to get a certain crazy, have-no-idea-what-to-expect-next vibe in the crowd?
It’s a statement on how the audience is just as much there for my entertainment as the other way around
Have you any UK appearances in the near future planned at all?
None confirmed, but we’re always looking for some Charlie mate.
Cheers for your time guys, massive success for your forthcoming record and stoked to see you over here soon hopefully.
Thanks very much for the interview!
Check them out at www.myspace.com/fakesharkrealzombie
Categories
Friday funny
Carrot Shank blud…
Categories
Doves team up with choir
Manchester legends Doves recorded new material last weekend with one of the UK’s most talked about upcoming producer, Keir Stewart at the Recording Studio in Manchester.
Stewart said: They were joined by a Northern choir group led by vocal genius “Tindale” who stepped in & spread some soulful choral garnish over a new Doves project. Session started off quiet and civilized, and ended with the whole band, engineers & management being serenaded by the 20+ strong choir. They belted out an amazing version of “Oh Happy Day” at the end of the session with Tindale doing some amazing piano accompaniment. The night ended with an amazingly brave round of drinks bought by the band for ALL the singers involved.
New album “Kingdom of Rust” is released on 6th of April.
Categories
Download Festival add ZZ Top
The Download Festival has announced that ZZ Top have joned the bill for this years get together at Donington Park.
The 70’s fuzzers will join Pendulum, Def Leppard, The Prodigy, Marylin Manson, Korn, Limp Biskit, Whitesnake, Slipknot, Motley Crue, Trivium, Killswiytch Engage, Dragon force and Devil Driver over the weekend of 12th-14th June.