What better way to get in your girlfriend or boyfriend’s good books than by taking them for a night out?
The Urban Nerds lot have a party for just that reason on Valentine’s Day at 93 Feet East in London. The line up includes Rusko, Tayo, A1 Bassline & Tempa T, Thunderclaps, GoldieLocks (DJ Set), Session, Rattus Rattus, Klose One, Ordio Kid, DRAMA, Dusty Lungs, Savage Henry, Essence b2b Priors, Pneuma, Jimmy Image and will be hosted by Illaman.
You can get earlybird tickets here.
Fighting with Wire will be fighting it out with In Case of Fire this year for the Irish rock crown. Check out the video for single ‘Sugar’ below out of March 2nd and decide yourself.
Fighting With Wire – ‘Sugar’ from Smalltown America on Vimeo.
The Kills are back with a new record scheduled for March 23rd titled the Black Balloon EP. The lead track is lifted from the third album Midnight Boom released last year and features extra tracks, watch the video here.
Colin Provost and Nick Garcia double up in a Southern Californian park for Element this month. Look out for their La Brea zipped hooded sweater this month to beat the cold weather. There will be a review up later today in product reviews.
Cole Wilson is February’s Roger of the Month over at Roger Skateboards alongside Whitney Wells from January.
Whitney Wells – Roger of the Month – Jan 08 from Roger Skateboards on Vimeo.
Cole Wilson – Roger of the Month – Feb 09 from Roger Skateboards on Vimeo.
Here’s the latest video blog from the Kill City stooges in search of the pipes on a Sunday afternoon in Wales. Yep, they do believe in miracles…
Smutlee has released a new free mix in preparation for hitting Fabric this Friday.
You can see him in Room 1 this Friday [February 6th] alongside Xrabit & DMG$, Toddla T & MC Serocee, The Bug and Sinden with the likes of Tayo, Zombie Disco Squad and Urban Nerds. The tracklist for Smutlee’s dirty beats mix is below and you can get it by clicking here.
01: Mr Vegas, Debonair Samir & Aaron Lacrate – Whining Machine
02: Rod Lee – Latin Groove
03: Busy Signal – Up In Her Belly
04: Dj Mujava – Township Funk (Ashley Beedle Africanz On Marz Re-Edit)
05: Africanism – Block Party
06: Elephant Man – Hot Wuk Dem Want
07: Ghislain Poirier – Go Ballistic (Toddla T & Duckbeats Remix)
08: Cleptomaniacs – All I Do (Bump & Flex Dancehall Dub)
09: Wookie – Galium / MAW – Work (Acapella)
10: Perempay & Dee – Buss It
11: Wiley – No Qualms
12: DVA – Hardhouse
13: Beenie Man Ft. So Solid Crew – Yagga Yo
14: Jammin – Hold On
15: Dizzee Rascal – Ice Rink Freestyle
16: High Rankin – No Money For Guns
17: Buraka Som Sistema – Kalemba (Hot Chip Remix)
18: Buraka Som Sistema Ft. Kano – Skank & Move
It’s been a long time coming, but London five piece Lights Action have hit the ground running with debut album ‘New Cold World‘. After winning funding from Slice The Pie, the band holed up in Yearle Mill in Northumberland to start writing, returning to London to record and mix. ‘Battle of Lovers‘ is our first taster of their debut, and if it’s anything to go by, it’s certainly been worth the wait.
Combining uptempo guitars with rock sensibilities and an unnervingly catchy chorus, ‘Battle of Lovers‘ is a radio friendly attack from a band that have shown that hard work and determination can really pay off. Front man Patrick Currier has a wistful resonance to his vocals, backed up by a powerful and infectious melody and pulsating bass line that’ll have your toes-a-tapping within moments. Lights Action have captured a sound that neatly straddles the line between rock and pop, without caving into either, producing a great introduction to their new album.
With festival appearances at Download, T in The Park and Leeds under the belt, this is a young band hungry for success, and armed with ‘New Cold World‘ 2009 could be the year for them. The album is released on 16th February, but you can swipe a free download of ‘Battle of Lovers’ on 18th February for one day only at www.newcoldworld.com – turn it up loud and enjoy!
Dee Massey.
Intercity
(Laurence King)
In a world where elephant dung on a canvas constitutes art and a messy bedroom garners plaudits from across the globe, it seems strange that one of the most creative art forms goes almost unnoticed save the few who immerse themselves in the subject matter. The customisation of trainers has grown to be the bedrock of modern art especially when the major companies – adidas, Nike, Reebok, Puma etc – go out of their way to encourage it from both renowned artists and simple consumers alike.
This book provides a whole array of different aspects of sneaker art to consider from work by famous artists, such as the Japanese manga artist Katanya Terada, whose work was a story spread across both shoes and came in a laser-engraved box to the musical duo UNKLE to skate legend Mark Gonzales. However, the book’s pages aren’t simply filled with beautiful custom shoes showcasing talents of various artists, they also cover the custom ideas put forward by the shoe makers.
Nike’s laser series which sees the range completely engraved by laser is an incredible sight, especially with a full page showing the process in stages. adidas’ adicolor series not only allows the buyer of the white shoe to customise it themselves with pens, but a series also came with replaceable tongues and laces meaning a completely new shoe could be made in a matter of minutes. It’s not just the sportswear names that are involved in this book, Vans’ line of Simpsons tie-in shoes are given a 2 page spread, showing the vibrancy and colour that came with each individual artist’s techniques.
And finally, the last part of the book looks at other collaborations, some for promotion outside of the shoe itself which proves the vast range of possibilities trainer customisation has the potential to reach. In the lead-up to the 2007 Transformers film, Nike were involved in making some 13 centimetre kicks that turned into, you guess it, autobots and decepticons. One of the most striking images in the book is the Onitsuka Tiger advert which contains a huge illuminated shoe made up of the Tokyo skyline – truly a joy to behold.
So, if you’re into your footwear, like a bit of art and fancy seeing over 230 pages of the two combined, this is definitely a book for you.
Abjekt.
It maybe freezing an there may be no such thing as skater owned warehouses in the UK unlike with the yanks but the visitors of Saffron Waldon don’t give a monkeys. Send yours.