Bristol heads have got a big treat in store as The Full Moon host a night of worship for everything good in the 90s.
Expect a lot of Wu-Tang Clan, a lot of baggy jeans, the smallest wheels you’ve ever seen and lots more hip hop to go with it. This sounds like a perfect night so all the South West mandem should put a note in their diaries. This Thursday on August 5th, 9PM at The Full Moon.
It should be noted prior to giving Gnargore any of your precious monies that there is only one title in Wizard Council, and it reads ‘No Refunds’. The good news is that you won’t want to give this DVD back at all because it’s just too much fucking fun. For the first time since sometime before video editors stopped going through their own tastes and yanking everyone’s section music off Gorilla Vs Bear I actually had a great time watching a scene video because it offered that crucial element to what inspires crews to make a video in the first place: that the people in it quite obviously love skating with one another.
On top of this there’s no uninspired time lapses or Belle and Seb circlejerks (there I go calling myself out again) here at all. Just rock, gore and metal, non-stop gnarshred skateboarding set in stark black and white. It is fucking on now chaps.
There’s an identity here too, as Ryan Price kicks things off there’s something instantly recognisable as Gnargore. Now, I expect Tom will respond to this saying “yeah, that shit skating”, but one man’s trash can is another man’s gourmet feast. Bonelesses, wallrides, pivot fakies, mosher drops, pole-jams, willy grinds, hippy jumps, front rocks, all these tricks are acquired tastes, to all those out there who have had the courage to acquire these ‘real men’ tricks, then you will be gratuitously rewarded here. It is fully a non-brand kind of brand that I can buy into.
Immediate highlights that come to mind after this most enjoyable first viewing include Harrison Thom’s constant one-foot-on-the-ground action, particularly that boneless at Hereford (for that is no mean feat…although Tom Carr later bonelesses into it and I shat myself), Arran Burrows‘ 50-50 on a burnt out car, Tom Carr’s super stylish last trick, Tom Gillespie’s late shove and Dan Jordan’s intro and subsequent tight jean fetish scene. It was around this point onwards that I lost track of who I was watching but the point of Wizard Council isn’t the skate video lone hero, but the fact that Gnargore are a collective. This video is a refreshing well-needed reminder that crews of friends who skate and have a great time and make awesome scene videos are very much still alive. Ave it West Midlands!
Stanley
For everything you need to know about Gnargore, head over here to read Brewer’s monster interview with head honcho Tom Gillespie. Then have a look below for some choice cuts from the film that Tom sliced for us.
Here’s the latest on Habitat’s ten year visual retrospective from the head honcho and filmbot extraordinaire himself, Brennan Conroy:
“July marks the first month of editing Origin. The focus is on raw street skating, art direction, psychedelic motion graphics, and tying 10 years of skateboard footage into a modern format. Austyn’s video part is edited and going to shock the skateboard community. Habitat is offering Origin as a dual DVD and iTunes release on October 18th, 2010″
We’re excited. Are you?
Hold Tight Henry keeps delivering the visual fun this week. Here we have the Slam City Skates crew and friends (Snowy, Smithy, Jensen, Tanner etc.) get stuck in to some crafty London spots in this little off-cut style edit.
“Rat Droppings” Rat Signal from Hold Tight Henry from Slam City Skates on Vimeo.
Bombing a hill is undeniably one of the raddest feelings in the world. Any part that ends with a hill bomb immediately gets my seal of approval, especially if it’s a hill that demands a lot of minerals.
Just try to imagine the bollocks you’d need to do this then…
The staff here at Crossfire have once again dived ears first into the deep waves of the web and surfed back to our shore with fresh mp3s to shove in your jukebox. So fill that glass up with ice, kick back and have a good weekend with some free music on us.
This week innerpartysystem bring the prolific beats with not just one but two remixes in our selection, Huoratron gets stuck in too in a poundingly noisy fashion. If this all gets too much then Norwegian electronic crafters Royksopp offer up a chilled jam that should ease that come down while Zola Jesus gently warm you back to real life with their hauntingly wonderful ‘Sea Talk‘.
Grab ’em while the Crossfire Soundcloud is heavy… when it rains it pours.
AWOLNATION – Burn It Down (Inner Party System Remix) by Crossfire Music
Huoratron – gBay by Crossfire Music
Violent Soho – Jesus Stole My Girlfriend (Dillinger Escape Plan Remix) by Crossfire Music
Deerhunter – Revival by Crossfire Music
Zola Jesus – Sea Talk by Crossfire Music
Marnie Stern – For Ash by Crossfire Music
Black Mountain – Hair Song by Crossfire Music
Röyksopp – Hus Nr. 9 by Crossfire Music
Katy and Snoop – California Gurls (Inner Party System Remix) by Crossfire Music
This weekend sees Cardiff celebrating their bonkers new plaza in true welsh style, by having a three day bender!
Friday sees Cardiff Skateboard Club‘s debut video ‘Join Us‘ get a premiere in the skater-friendly drinking hole Dempsey’s, Saturday the CSC celebrate its founder’s birthday at the plaza and to top it all off there will be an official opening jam at the plaza on Sunday from 1pm.
The Independent and Venture team will be ripping the new crete and it’s rumoured that the enigmatic Boxman might very likely make another appearance so Welsh/South-West heads have a weekend of fun and insanity before them. See you there.
Bath’s Detour skate shop will be hosting a special night this Friday (30th July). Vans are presenting an exhibition of photographs taken by Percy Dean during the filming of the Vans ‘1966‘ video.
Following this there will be a screening of the film at 9pm in The Porter Cellar. Be there.
Interview: Sleekly Lion
Having made a name for themselves penning singles for the likes of Banquet and Big Scary Monsters, last year Tubelord finally got down to releasing their debut album Our American Friends. Eight months down the line and a series of line-up changes, the band are back with a new bassist and an added percussionist, preparing for the release of a brand new EP.
The intriguingly titled Tezcatlipōca represents a new era for the band, and is said to mark the beginning of a different sounding Tubelord. We caught up with Joseph Prendergast to get the low down on their new sound, preconceptions of time travel and their progress on a second full length record.
Tubelord are back! What’s all this I’m hearing about a new sound?
A few months back at a house party everyone was clinging to the walls, dripping with the effects of what had been stuffed up their noses. In the exchange of sobriety for a general loss of common sense, one of the tenants gave me a keyboard which I took home and wrote some ‘new’ songs with. A couple days later I found a capo under my bed in the shed and added the guitar parts in…new sound is born.
You’ve also been through some line-up changes, what were the reasons behind this?
I dunno man, maybe it’s best not to discuss the reasons and ins and outs on what could be read by anyone you know? Some of the reasoning involves the James Elliot-Field remix of a certain Colour song, that really quick blue hedgehog and sparkly red cardigans.
How do you feel about your debut album “Our First American Friends”, now that the dust has settled and you’ve had time to reflect?
What with all the line-up alterations the amount of time between recording and being released, it’s quite difficult to talk about you know? The recording was complete in the first week of January ’09, the release being set for October 12th, by this time all the songs had altered quite a fair amount, what with the addition of a different bass with an entirely different sound to Sean’s. Maybe I’m side-tracking slightly erm… I feel that we could have built upon the little bits of fun that lacked a musical reference point..bum slaps, secret conversation recordings, book pages flipping, a can of Stella Artois being cranked open and sipped on…all those bits…
The new EP is called Tezcatlipōca, could you tell us a bit about the title and the main themes behind the record?
The main themes involve building upon our preconceptions of time travel and how we understand this concept with a disregard to space as a physical thing, you know? I’ve drawn up a comic depicting the story you can hear through the lyrics to make it a little bit clearer, but it’s set in the Bear Gami universe for sure…more on that next year.
Tubelord has always had unique packaging and artwork ideas – have you got anything special lined up for Tezcatlipōca?
Ahhh I’m pleased you’ve picked up on the packaging…A lot of time is spent trying to ensure any tangible evidence of Tubelord is as unique as the individuals cognitive sense alongside the music. However…I’d rather not type about the Tezcatlipoca packaging right now…I have no idea what may or may not be physical by August 16th. This fella has definitely helped though…
Were there any bands, books or films that you were into during the writing process that might have inspired the content of the new EP?
Sure…The initial idea derived from the Apollo I tragedy, where in a test to determine whether the craft Saturn IB could operate nominally on internal power, the three astronauts Edward White, Virgil Grissom and Roger Chaffee perished in a fire. Taking on board the image of three bodies and their context of space, it got me thinking about using this idea of the subconscious adjective and questioning who exactly puts us through acts and tests to extract the sense behind our contextual use of words? You know…how you’ll say giraffe to one person and they may think of the animal, whilst another might think of a friend due to the nickname ‘giraffe’…err… the invisible matter that is space and how we are capable of travelling through these unseen entities in memories. At the time I was reading a lot about mesoamerica, their use of colour is incredibly inspiring. Other than that…..Evil Dead IV.
Are there any bands you want to big up to Crossfire readers?
So so so many…Koppen, Charles Hamilton, Olympians, Duke Ellington, Medications, Shoes and Socks Off, So Many Dynamos, Dead Red Sun, Slingshot Dakota, Aimee B, Django Reinhardt
With a busy touring schedule ahead of you, Can we expect anything new from your live show?
We’ll only be seen wearing black and carefully place a large naught-shaped light in front of our drum kit.
Beyond touring and promoting the new EP, is there a second full length album in the pipeline?
As it stands there are 9 and a half complete songs, not too many to go before we record..The recording is currently being planned for November.
Any last words?
Other than an intense thank you for even being interested in what we’ve got to say, we’ll leave by communicating what has to be said through the form of video…
Tezcatlipōca will be released on August 16th through Hassle Records. The band will also be curating their own EP launch party on August 7th at Notting Hill Art’s Club. The event starts from 4PM and will include live performances from Aimee B, Dead Red Sun and of course Tubelord themselves. See you there…
Lazers Never Die
Mad Decent
www.majorlazer.com
It’s somehow fitting that Diplo and Switch should release an EP now, just as M.I.A.’s highly anticipated third album falls hard on its face. After the huge (and largely tedious) press campaign surrounding the ultimately bloated (and even more tediously titled) ///Y/, Major Lazer have managed to cobble together an EP that is fresh and exhilarating. Although there are only two new songs here, additional remixes from Buraka Som Sistema, K.L.A.M and Radiohead’s Thom Yorke make for a surprisingly cohesive five song package.
It’s in fact M.I.A. who sets Lazers Never Die into motion with ‘Sound Of Siren’, serving as a timely reminder of the chemistry she shares with Diplo. The classic ingredients are all there; a big chorus hook and military drum beat form the song’s structure, while Busy Signal goes in hard over the verses. There’s nothing overly complicated about Diplo and Switch’s production, they simply know what sounds good and execute it perfectly time and time again. ‘Good Enuff’, too, is little more than a simple reggae progression, but vocal contributions from Collie Buddz and Lindi Ortega add instant and memorable melodies.
Switching attention to the remixes, tracks from 2009’s Guns Don’t Kill People – Lazers Do are reworked and given new dimensions. Buraka Som Sistema’s take on ‘Bruk Out’ is extended into a six minute house jam, yet it somehow manages to keep the original’s authentic flavour. While K.L.A.M.’s ‘Can’t Stop Now’ remix is perhaps the only dud of the bunch, the ‘heavyweight’ contribution from Thom Yorke really delivers. Yorke’s spin on ‘Jump Up’ keeps the vocals firmly in the foreground, yet adds layers of tense electronics that put the song into a new context. While it’s typical of Yorke’s past solo adventures, his remix emphasizes the best qualities of the original.
It would be easy for Diplo and Switch to lay back and rest on their past successes, yet Lazers Never Die is another record that both individuals can be proud of. Major Lazer don’t get bogged down in big concepts and ideas, they simply make tracks that BANG.
Sleekly Lion