After a storming premiere hosted at our Xmas Jam party, Osiris have made their latest video Feed The Need available for free on iTunes.
Just click to subscribe, download it onto your iPod and watch John Rattray skate whilst you try to skate like John Rattray.
Recent visits to Corby’s ‘Adrenalin Alley’ skatepark reveal that the park are really pushing their indoor facility to cater for everyone.
The new 14ft x 76 vert ramp that was opened in December has proved to be a massive hit with the UK vert heads and the bowl is certainly the most fun around. The current street course also has a seperate BMX street area so that skaters and bikers don’t hassle each other and staff told us that plans are also in place to raise funds for a street plaza in addition to the current area this year.
All in all this park is well worthy of a visit and if you can’t get there we will bring you some footage from there soon..
You seen the bangers we’ve brought you over the course of 2007, so feast your eyes on these best Tricks of the Week and vote in the poll for your favourite out of our six top hammers.
Did Eddie Belvedere’s popshuv smith float your boat, or was Ross McGouran’s backside nollie 270 heelflip the best thing you’ve ever seen? Or even Zarosh getting gnarly in the dark with a massive first-try roof drop? Vote for your favourite in the poll and have your say, then get ready for what’s coming in 2008!
Fillmore’s Mike Carroll wheels are small at 52 mm and way narrow, totally my thing. These are ‘cores‘ and I always ride cores by choice, I’m into anything that can make a board lighter and a wheel stiffer.
These street wheels are spot on for mini ramps, I figure the smaller the wheel the more truck-to-metal you get on big 50-50’s instead of rolling along the platform on chunkier wheels, nice!. Of course new (and with new bearings), I expected these to be lightning fast and there sure were! For 52mm they’re the shit.
I’ve given them some hard slides to see what they’re really made of and they haven’t flat spotted yet but of course as with all wheels, time will tell. Definitely worth buying, see the latest Fillmore selection here.
Adie Kitachi
Amidst the over-produced dross that so often passes for punk rock these days, it’s great to discover a band (better still, a home-grown band) that reminds you just how fucking powerful and life-affirming the genre can be when it’s done properly.
Wakefield quintet Milloy are one such band, and ‘More Than A Machine‘ is their stormer of a debut album. There are no wasted words or notes on offer here; just songs like ‘Hammer & Blades‘ and ‘February‘ that rock out in the vein of Leatherface, Hot Water Music and early Snuff. If you like the sound of gruff Northern vocals, rough-edged melodies and duelling guitars, then Milloy are definitely for you.
Strictly speaking, this is a re-release, which combines the original version of ‘MTAM‘ (on Crackle Records, from 2005) with bonus tracks from the band’s split EP with Billy No Mates. But you probably hadn’t heard it first time around, and this lot deserve all the exposure they can get. Nice one, Household Name. Nice one, Milloy.
Check out ‘Blackjack’ on the link above.
Alex Gosman
Buraka Som Sistema are releasing their track Yah! on January 21st.
The Lisbon-based band who are signed to Modular and have wowed crowds with live shows throughout 2007 have been described as “a mutant African strain of grime” and can count Diplo as a fan. Make sure you buy the single when it drops, it’s a banger.
Mean Fiddler
20.12.07
Judging by the crowd tonight it’s evident that MTB have a loyal following; it’s freezing outside, there are xmas parties a-plenty and last minute shoppers everywhere but these facts aside the venue is bustling in anticipation.
I kicked myself for having missed the first band The New 1920, after finding myself standing next to the hottie that is their singer. Those who were present said they were very good. Having listened to their 2 song CD sampler, I kick myself again as their sound is a catchy mix of heart warming melodies and harmonies. They might not appreciate my comparisons to Saves The Day, but I personally love them and think they’ve got a great thing going on.
The second support “27″, hailing from Massachusetts, were a little more mellow, perhaps slightly better suited to being played on your stereo. Not to berate them in anyway, I am first in line to support the female fronted band, since there will never be enough of them. 27 were nice, relaxing, tight, but not perhaps the best style of music to get a crowd warmed up for a show.
Finally Minus the Bear were up. MTB sound crisp, polished and precise in delivery this evening as their decision to not go all “spinal tap” with amps pays off -less (amps) is more they say! They open with “Knights” from their latest release “Planet of Ice” and have the crowd moving within seconds to the groove-laden samples and beats; this sets the tone for the evening as we are treated to a great deal of the new material as well as the older fan favourites.
The crowd seemed to become restless during “Dr L’Ling” before the brilliant Thin Lizzy-esque dual lead guitar outro kicked in, it sounded perfect and they really seemed to be enjoying that moment too, playing off the crowd’s reaction. It was at this point that I was distracted by the couple right in my eye line, nay right in my face, making out against the wall as if their lives depended on it. It’s been many a year since I’ve been witness to such raw animal lust. MTB must have some subtle undercurrent sexual tones to bring out this side in people. I wasn’t the only witness to this free sex act and people were soon taking bets on the actual sex of this androgenous couple which was a little misleading.
Back to the band! One of the many highlights tonight was “Drilling” which was tight as you could get and the brilliant fans’ favourite “Get Me Naked“, where literally everyone in the room was singing along to the vocal hook “I’ve got to wake up so fucking early” (story of my life!).The other tracks from “Highly Refined Pirates” were also warmly received by the crowd, as we were treated to “Monkey!!! Knife!!! Fight!!!” and “Absinthe Party“, the latter being one of my personal favourites.
In a musical world full of bands that preach bullshit onstage or go through the tick-list of what people want to hear (“we love you London, you’re the best crowd” etc…) we see that MTB are not one of these bands at all; Jake Snider may not be the most out-going of front-men but comes across as simultaneously cool, chilled and humble. And whilst they may not be a visual band who throw themselves around the stage (whilst in the moment), you can easily close your eyes and enjoy the show just as much.
Throughout the show there are shouts for “Pachuca Sunrise” which they saved until last and what a great way to end the show, dreamy and intricate with its upbeat and infectious chorus, the crowd were always destined to leave satisfied with this closing.
Brilliant gig, brilliant band, come back soon!
Katya Ozols
Photo taken from www.myspace.com/minusthebear
Atmosphere gave their fans a present over Christmas.
The Minnesotans put an album, Strictly Leakage, up for free download. If you want to grab it, hit the link at the bottom of the page and get ready for some funky, brassy hip hop. Slug of the group said:
“It’s great for first dates, crappy houseparties, or to play in the backround while you google yourself again. Is downloadable a word? What’s a doldrum? Nonetheless, thank you for the love, and please have a happy safe holiday.”
How do you begin to give a critical review of a skate DVD that was a certified hit before it even hit the shelves? Lakai’s first full length motion picture, Fully Flared, is probably the best portrayal of digitalized skateboarding the movement has witnessed in over a decade.
The last time I heard such heated debate and anticipation for a recorded image of the world’s best skateboarders was on a Sunday afternoon in an empty parking lot, just weeks before Virtual Reality was premiered. I must say it comes as no surprise to see that some of the skaters featured in those first VHS reels of goodness, are also featured in this DVD. You see, skateboarding will always change but the general rule of thumb is learn from the past and do something different. Only a select few can abide to these rules because only a select few have the ability to grasp skateboarding and run with it, way ahead of the crowd, into unknown directions. What you witness when viewing Fully Flared is the future of skateboarding. But not next month’s trend, or next years tramline, Lakai is taking us a good ten years into the future leaving everybody else to play catch up.
So, trying to remove the 900 or so comments, opinions and topics I have read about FF over the last three years, I shall try and dissect this DVD a bit more so that you really understand what you’re about to witness. To begin, just read the list of riders repping Lakai footwear. Bar a few discreet faces, the team reads like the US Olympic Dream Team of basketball: Mike Carroll, Rick Howard, Eric Koston, Guy Mariano, Marc Johnson, Cairo Foster… Add the cream of European skateboarding in there thanks to Jesus Fernandez, Lucas Puig, JB Gillet, Nick Jensen and co., and you have a recipe for some of the finest skateboarding ever. I mean, you might wonder where the vert part is, or who’s taking care of all the leaps of faith amongst this lot, but that’s where you’re missing the point entirely. Lakai supports skateboarders not stuntmen, in other words people who skate everything and well. In fact better than well, they ride their skateboards to the best of their abilities and stretch the limits of a plank and four wheels to the point of pure wizardry.
Ty Evans, Aaron Meza and Federico Vitetta are the men responsible behind the viewfinder, with creative collaboration and direction from visual heavyweights, Johannes Gamble and Spike Jonze. This outfit makes for a visual presentation that will blow you away with angles, effects and editing techniques very few could master in a dream. Fully Flared almost has a film like quality to it as the counter hits the 75 minutes mark and credits roll. That’s a tad bit too long for a quick viewing to spark the hype and get you skating, but in the digital era of chapter skipping you only need to jump to your favourite part and get the adrenaline flowing.
Any part will do because they’re each worthy of your full attention. I won’t get bitter and compare parts, styles or tricks because it’s horses for courses as they say, but I will make a point of saying that each section has more than one hidden gem cut into the barrage of tricks. No need for hidden sections and the like when each skater slips the odd magic trick into their part. You will need to watch Fully Flared a lot to scratch the surface of where skateboarding is heading. Sometimes words do not suffice…
10/10
RL-D
Friendly Fires have announced that they will join this year’s Vice Live Tour, tickets for which will be free.
They will be joined by up-and-coming bands Black Kids and Ipso Facto for a short UK trip.The dates are as follows:
January:
30th – Glasgow ABC2
31st – Manchester Mint Lounge
February:
1st – London 93 Feet East
2nd – Bristol The Fleece