“You’ve got four letters and I just missed my last trick. It’s your turn to set, so what about it- are you feelin’ lucky boy..?”
It’s time to dust off your pressure flip variations, no complies and learn the elusive switch 360 flip. Lovenskate are announcing a big Game of S.K.A.T.E. at Unit 1 Skatepark on Sunday 19th November from 2pm. Of course there are prizes to be won, fun to be had and letters to dish out so get in there!
Our good mates Moorish Delta 7 are presenting their Family Tree tour, alongside Fire Camp, Westwood and Ras Kwame on December 10th.
Click the flyer above for more info.
Microsoft yesterday brought out their Zune player in the US, in the hopes that it will rival Apple’s iPod and iTunes. Microsoft themselves admitted it would be hard and that they were playing the David to Apple’s Goliath and the man leading the marketing of the Zune said “We would like people to say there’s a clear No. 2 in the marketplace.”
The Zune player will be sold at around the same price as the iPod with Microsoft’s main distinguishing feature being the inclusion of WiFi technology which will allow limited sharing of files between players.
Some Aussie scientists have created the “air guitar t-shirt”, which apparently turns air guitarist’s fake strumming into actual music.
The shirt, developed by the Australian Commonwealth Scientific And Industrial Research Organisation has sensors in the elbows, which send signals to a computer which in turn creates the music.
Jeff Disaster of UK Air Guitar, who put on the Air uitar Championships, said “I would love to get one but I don’t think they would be allowed in air guitar championships. The rule is there can be no guitars on the stage; this is essentially a midi-guitar, so it violates the main rule of air guitar”.
MxPx‘s new deluxe edition of Let It Happen will include 3 brand new tracks and 3 original demos which were recorded at the start of the group’s career, it has been announced.
On top of this, it will hold a DVD with every video the band has ever release and will be released on November 21st.
You can pimp Role Remodeling here.
Legendary group Madness have posted up a new track from their recent reunion on their myspace page. The track, Sorry, features UK rappers Sway and Baby Blue and comes from their upcoming album, which has been produced by Clive Langer and Liam Watson, and will be their first in seven years.
Check the song here.
Radiohead’s Thom Yorke might be having his artwork exhibited in Barcelona. The only problem is that Yorke doesn’t talk much about his art and the names he works under but the exhibition, which begins on November 23rd, includes work by Dr Tchock, which is thought to be Yorke.
Regardless of Yorke’s involvement, there will be a big Radiohead feel to the show because the main works are done by Dan Rickwood [aka Donwood], who is responsible for most of the artwork on Radiohead’s covers.
Back in the 1980’s, the genre crossover metal made it’s mark in venues and skateparks all over the planet but was engineered by bands in the USA such as Cro-Mags, DRI, Anthrax, Agnostic Front, Gang Green, Ludichrist, and many more who bridged the gap between metal and hardcore.
In 1983, Crumbsuckers from NYC formed on the Lower East Side and by 1986 they had released ‘Life of Dreams’, a record that every kid in the scene had if they knew what was going on.
20 years later, the band have reformed for European shows scheduled for February 2007, so watch this space for tour dates, it will be a blast from the past that will either be amazing or your worst nightmare, i guess it’s up to the boys to make sure they play thier debut album and leave the embarressing ‘Beast on My Back‘ in the 80’s.
More at www.myspace.com/crumbsuckers
Agent 547 aka Stereo Skateboards head honcho Chris Pastras paid a visit to Crossfire HQ last Friday to record a forthcoming podcast interview.
If you ever wanted to inside scoop on the way Stereo is run, their future plans and which UK Stereo rider is known as ‘the team elf‘ then tune into this site in the next 3 weeks to get the full ear load.
In the meantime, click here to see the new proddy.
(Sony Classics)
So, I finally got to see the anticipated partner piece to Steven Blush’s book “American Hardcore: A Tribal History” from 2001, where the author put into words his own historic take and first hand experiences from those crucial days of North American Hardcore in the early ’80’s. Blush is joined in production duties on “American Hardcore” (The Movie) by Paul Rachman, and you did read that right… this is a Sony Pictures Classic…
As with the book, the film focuses on the different emerging scenes across the States and alongside a heap of band footage and essential sounds, there are war stories and often humorous anecdotes from back-in-the-day with a whole host of luminaries who were crucial to the burgeoning scene… Ian MacKaye, Henry Rollins, Keith Morris, Brian Baker, Mike Watt, Vic Bondi, Tony Cadena, Dave Dictor, Joey Shithead, Greg Ginn, Paul Mahern, Ken Inouye, Jack Grisham, Greg Hetson, Brett Gurewitz, Kevin Seconds, Harley Flanagan, Vinny Stigma, Shaun and Mark Stern, Jimmy Gestapo, Dave Smalley… and a very coherent HR from Bad Brains, plus his former band mates Dr Know and Darryl Jenifer… the live footage of the Bad Brains is one of this films real high points. What an amazing band.
There’s also recollections from the SSD guys, who are then reunited in the same room for the first time in years, which looks a bit tense but then Springa cracks out a whole load of old flyers and the ice is broken. Just don’t hope for a reunion though!!! Black Flag’s best known roadie Mugger makes an appearance and reveals how he cashed in his SST label shares and that helped put him through college, and set him up in business, and a very comfortable lifestyle these days by all accounts.
I had to do a double take when George Anthony from Battalion of Saints appeared on screen… he sure looks healthier than when his band played Brighton a few years ago. He was so wasted we thought they were gonna suck. We were wrong, and they ripped our heads off. Anyways, back to the film – and I could have definitely done without the super-stoner from Pantera telling me how intense Black Flag were, and I’m still not 100% clear if Moby did ever sing with Flipper, or not.
If I’ve got a problem with ‘American Hardcore’ it’s that for all the cool bands and music in it, I was constantly left thinking about all the shit that was missing… no Husker Du, no Crucifix, no Toxic Reasons, no JFA, MIA, FU’s… Freeze… Naked Raygun… and crucially – no Dead Kennedy’s. I shit you not. The DK’s were THE American Hardcore band… and one of the most important Punk acts ever. They took it national, and then global. Go read the interview on this website with Vic Bondi for more on why the DK’s were a non-starter as far as this film went.
There’s scant coverage on the vibrant and eclectic scene in Texas, and Canada’s only inclusion is DOA… no Subhumans, no SNFU, no Personality Crisis. It was a bit disparate at times when there are comments from interviewees (notably Kevin Seconds, Brett Gurewitz, Kim from Channel 3, Reed from COC) but no footage of their bands. I’m being picky here I guess. Importantly though, there was also no mention of the crucial publications that were the heartbeat of the scene, notably Maximum RocknRoll, but also Flipside, and Al Quint from Suburban Voice ‘zine would surely have made a decent contributor. And keeping on that track – some more of the artists who made their mark on the scene, like Pushead and Brain Walsby would have been interesting to hear from.
I’m in too deep with this music and its history, but overall “American Hardcore” is a decent representative film that is requisite viewing for anyone with more than a passing interest this firebrand music, much of which still burns hard on stereos across the world today. Go see it, soak up the classic sounds, and form your own opinion. That was the point in the first place… right!!
www.americanhardcoremovie.com for the trailer
Pete Craven