Relentless Energy challenged filmmakers everywhere this year with Short Stories, a platform to visually define their dedication to whatever creative art they are involved in. Last night, James Gardner’s film ‘Flight of Passage‘, which is centered around Ben Nordberg and Steve Masonof Beta Band, was posted online as the fourth and final short story for all to see.
In a short monologue spoken by Steve Mason about how he is driven to express himself with inspiring advice for those struggling to do the same we are simultaneously watching Ben Nordberg effortlessly perform his chosen method of expression. The stories mirror each other perfectly, and as expected from Gardner it’s superbly shot throughout, massively British and well worth a watch.
See for yourself below. The winner will be announced in December so keep your eyes on the Relentless website.
Earlier this year we were stoked to see Eniz Fazilov kill it in Pontus Alv’s In Search Of The Miraculous and now he makes a welcome return to our screens in this short edit from the Soletech’s amazing training facility.
Have a look below for some slick lines and a nice conclusive push into the sunset of a Californian carpark.
Motive Skateboards are keeping it real this week with a short and sweet edit from Corby’s answer to The Berrics at Adrenaline Alley.
Accompanied by some slick unreleased beats from Simiah, Jack Edwards, Dylan Hughes and Barney Page get down in Corby. See the write-up and footage from this year’s Vans UKSA National Skateboarding Championships to see another angle of that Barney Page ender and click here for our Get Lesta edit from when the skate-only room at Corby first opened.
One thing I’ve always admired about Toy Machine productions is their meticulous attention to detail and maintaining a fluent coherency. When you get past the iconographic desaturated colours of the packaging and press play, you can be guaranteed that no section will be out of place and that there will be enough editing/artistic touches perfectly slotted in to not once tempt you in the direction of the fast forward button. Though I cannot take anything away from Welcome To Hell (which will forever remain a classic by anyone’s standards) I do enjoy how the bloodsucking skateboard company have moved towards making short, fluid visual mixtapes to frequently remain amongst the collective consciousness of the generation of skateboarders most prone to ADHD and short term memory loss. Brainwash is perhaps the closest Toy Machine have come to perfecting this notion, coming in at a Goldilocks-approved jussssst right 20 minutes. Which is – according to a statistic I just made up – the average amount of time it takes for a skateboarder aged between 14-41 to get amped for a session.
Before we jump straight into the action that does not once stop for air we’re treated to an introduction that dares to do something interesting! I know, crazy behaviour in 2010 to steer away from time lapses, montages or similar crap, but this one actually works. The screen divides into a Goldeneye style multiplayer horizontal split (apparently player 2 sucks) with different footage from the same sessions working together to tell seperate stories as a worm crawls across the centre of the screen introducing the film. At first it’s a lot for your eyes to make sense of, but when Templeton is constantly throwing in written captions throughout every Toy Machine video to the point in which 75% of them go unnoticed it makes for a rewarding re-watch. Attention to detail is as spot-on as you’d expect.
Daniel Lutheran serves as the insta-banger to get this 20 minute mix started, and for good reason; he’s got balls-out 50-50s that are both long and gnarly enough to cause even the most jaded and desensitized viewer to shit their pants. Handrail-wise, he continues the concept that Toy Machine have pioneered since day one: simple but ridiculous. The Albuquerque ripper also boasts a monster nollie/switch heelflip and some bonkers 360 variations that when combined with torn jeans and hands-down style make him a perfect addition to the Machine. Oh and if you hadn’t already, the last 50-50 WILL cause your bowels to do deeply unpleasant things to your underwear… so go sit on a toilet or something the first time you watch this. Oh, and there’s already been at least four speech bubble jokes put in by Templeton. Did you catch them all? Go and watch it again as there will be a pop quiz at the end of this review to ensure you’ve been paying attention (protip: there won’t be, but watch again anyway – go on, get amongst it).
Johnny Layton is up next and it’s a real pleasure to see him extend his trick selection, no matter how awesome street grabs are for those that have been initiated. Expect off-key manouevres from the Long Beach advocate, notably a no-comply bigspin heel and probably more fliptricks than you might expect. Solid section from a true powerhouse. Johnny has mad pop and a frontside flip that’s up there with someone who puts the captial B in The Boss. Then we move from powerhouse to powerstache, as the video makes a smooth transition to the oddball power moves of one Billy Marks. Billy continues to baffle me how his ankles and shins have survived such bait flippery but whatever, I dig it. These two sections also contain the funniest captions so far… which reminds me, have you been paying attention to them? You goddamn better have.
Jordan Taylor has only been out of the flowtrash regiments from a year, but has earned his bloodsucking stripes with quirky quick-footed moves and an interesting approach (that 180 to switch slanted hubba ride is an absolute percy, and don’t get me started on that positively insane lipslide at 3rd and army). He’s someone to keep your eyes on for sure. Austin Stephens is another one I’m sure many of you have kept your eyes on, and the general consensus online is suggesting that his short, sweet, style-heavy parts are rich in marmite texture. Now, I’m the sort of person who actually drinks marmite on the regular, so unsurprisingly I enjoy watching Austin skate… but it’s understandable to see why people are disappointed with this. Since This Is Skateboarding he hasn’t shown any sign of progression but when so many of video watchers are blind and desensitized to progression then why should he strive to satisfy those that forget a section less than an hour after watching it? You cannot argue that Austin Stephens isn’t taking what he wants from skateboarding and giving back something that’s unmistakably his own… and I cannot hate on that one bit.
The extended team montage continues to be worthy of replay as The Butcher takes his feet-on tricks to the next level. Front smith 360 ollie out anyone? Right, so something marvellous has happened this year as more skateboarders than ever are landing stuff I frequently chose to perform in the escapist world video games permitted only five years ago. To see it happen without the addition of slomo and done like it’s nowt is quite the head scratcher. Ed Templeton straight up needs to skate more. He’s still killing it and all legacy aside, those three tricks stood out as some of the best in the montage so get that down yer. Josh Harmony takes his established style up a notch to carry on the montage. I’ve always been a fan of Harmony, particularly how he always skates the most awkward looking rails and ledges while landing stuff as though his arms are erratically paranoid of gravity. Finally we return our gaze to Nick Trapasso, who has come a long way since his breakout part in Suffer The Joy. He still sleepwalks through grinds and is one of the most nonchalant skaters out there right now. His conclusive 50-50 to ‘deal with it’ rollaway will silence even the most stubbornly contrary critics.
Although Collin Provost’s name signifies a return to the full section format, the flow is still that of an extended montage. All this means is that the excitement levels never once drop below AWESOME – a perfect response to the ‘tage era; editors take note. His part in Stay Gold is very much still hot and fresh out the kitchen but here he is serving up piping hot seconds that I’m sure you too are more than willing to get your lips around. Unsurprisingly, it’s another banger; filled to the brim with long lines, sketchy landings and walliebombs as plenty of rough street spots and man-made non-skatepark transitions alike get a thorough seeing to by another ATV to keep your eyes on. Something the filmer takes literally in the last shot, which lingers long enough for the viewer to see Provost overtake and cut-up a fucking bus during a hillbomb rollout. Amazing. A-ma-zing.
For reasons I’m not overly sure of, I’ve always considered Matt Bennett to be a comprehensive personification of all that is Toy Machine. Leftfield trick selection, an uneasy imperfect style, swampy hair and general overpowering radness. This section is a further testament to my uncertain argument and another solid 2-3 minutes of pure Toy Machine goodness. I’m stunned that he’s only just entered the world of professional skateboarding but better late than never I suppose. Have polejams up and down handrails become a trend yet? They will.
So who can play out this mixtape of sketchy, imperfect, balls out and positively pure skateboarding greatness? None other than one of the year’s absolute best of the best, the accomplished Leo Romero. If you hadn’t caught his section in Stay Gold yet then hand in your notice to the landlord of your rock and move the fuck out. Though many would be satisfied with a part as groundbreaking as that, here we see Leo shut down Brainwash with a manic push leading up to one jaw-dropper after the next. Leo has created a style of skating so impossible to imitate that all we can do is sit and watch, but when it’s this good, who cares? If P-Rod’s technical perfection depicted progress to the extreme in that direction then Leo isn’t so much the Anti-P-Rod but a very different reason to be stoked on where skateboarding is going, which, whatever direction you look in, is somewhere awesome.
Stanley
Out of the many Brainwash teasers that kept Toy Machines online omnipresence on godly levels it was Daniel Lutheran’s recent welcome clip that got us the most hyped. Enjoy… Now go buy Brainwash. This was a triumph.
Below: Bobby getting rubbed up in the Soletech HQ (Photo: Stanley)
Bobby Worrest is one of those rare folk in skateboarding who seem to embody what many a self-proclaimed ‘true’ skateboarder associates with both skateboarding and the extended culture that comes inherant within it. Devoid of any artsy pretense, Bobby tears up streets in the same way he’d tear through a six pack of beer, drunkenly roar through a capella renditions of Slayer or cover grotty walls with spray paint.
Bobby gives a shit about the things that matter and doesn’t waste time with the things that don’t, so you can be guaranteed that with the Bobby Worrest approved garb that éS unloaded on stores this autumn that you’ll get what you pay for. Solid materials, no-bullshit design and stuff that gets the job done in the raddest way possible. Just like his First Blood shoe (which happens to be one of our absolute favourites from the last decade) before it, we were a little more than stoked to try out some of his signature clothes.
Read on below for a top-to-toe review of Bobby’s Wrecker Cap, Chop Jacket and Worrest 2 Jean and follow this link for our linguistic rimjob of his First Blood shoe.
Wrecker Starter Hat
So let’s tackle these from the head down. Now, New Era might be what first springs to mind when thinking of fitted caps but Starter were the definitive hat brand in the late 80s and early 90s, rocking that snapped back harder than your 9-year-old self did on summer holiday trips to the seaside. Bobby’s collab with the hat-champs is a rocking callback not to awkward family trips, but thankfully recalls the styles of early east coast subway graffiti writers and b-boys alike. Awesome.
It fits nice and tight, even on my ridiculously shaped head, is super comfortable and the custom twill patch logo on the front looks dope too. Very Bobby so far…
Chop Jacket (Tobacco)
At first glance, this cotton quilted garage jacket may remind you of those that tend to frequent buses so much that they have their own pass and somehow know everyone on-board. Maybe it’s the mouldy tobacco colourway that evoked these connotations but on second glance I’m already kind of into it. In fact, my reaction to this jacket kind of went remarkably like this.
It’s as comfortable as what I’d imagine wearing your bed would be, only it’s ever so slightly more casual and inconspicuous than leaving the house in a king size duvet. So when it’s spuds-u-like outside (like the perpetually freezing east coast) you can keep cozy. Want proof? Try to imagine Bobby Worrest shivering… you can’t. Bobby Worrest doesn’t shiver.
The colourway itself is so beige it’s actually rad, plus the twin front pockets are deep enough to carry all your bus passes, bits of tissue and snack size mars bars. If you’re not sold on first glance, then you’ll be surprised how styling you could be in this. It does the jacket job, and it does it well.
Eli Shirt (Gold)
A collection can never be without a woven plaid flannel number, and the Eli is a fine example of how to fully complete a clothing line. The Eli comes in a traditional red/black colourway for all those who love buying into all that wood-chopping, animal-loving, cigarette-smoking, beer-swilling malarky and in this mustardy gold/yellow that we were told to wear and tear. Generally, it’s as hard to stand-out with flannel shirt design as it is to go wrong with it, but this particular colourway is a rare gem that you won’t find in the local market.
The Eli is a mid-weight flannel that serves as a solid layer to aid you in your constant battle against the bitter winds of winter but not feel too bulky while out skating. There’s dual chest pocket action providing a miniature time capsule into the 50s should you choose to keep a comb or pack of smokes close to your heart. Overall, a versatile piece of comfortable cotton in traditional buffalo plaid and a worthy addition to your wardrobe that’s probably filled with substitute picnic blankets as it already is.
Worrest 2 (Midnight Wash)
These denim wonders are nowhere near as poetic as the colourway ‘midnight wash’ might implicate, a definite good thing. If my arguement why you should be repping Worrest’s signature gear is primarily concerned with how it replicates the ‘get shit done’ mentality then these jeans would be the perfect example. These are a refreshingly plain pair of jeans that combine cotton with stretch denim to provide that massively comfortable bit of give. They are a regular fit and haven’t once irritated the areas most frustratingly prone to irritation. That’s right gents, your balls are safe. Bobby wouldn’t have it any other way.
The usual five pockets are there in the usual places, the fly zips up and down easily, the little shield éS logo is a nice touch and it even comes complete with a patterned shoelace belt to save you raiding your wardrobe for a spare. I couldn’t ask for a better pair of jeans. Bobby and éS come up trumps yet again with these. Highly recommended.
My interest in sports peaks in whatever novelty crossover Nintendo have got Mario involved in and up until this point, the italian plumber has raced in little cars that gobble shrooms and shit banana skins and has even engaged in tedious golf tournaments; but never has he jumped on the basketball bandwagon, even during the height of Fresh Prince tie-in possibilities. So the word, ‘Three-Peat‘, serving as the name for one of Chaz Ortiz’s trio of inaugural pro models, meant absolutely nothing to me other than it’s a terrible, terrible pun. What’s cute is that I’ve since discovered that a retired basketball coach had trademarked the portmanteau (a posh word sometimes used in place of ‘terrible, terrible pun’) ‘Three-Peat’ for commercial use. Thankfully, in later years, more people realised that making money out of a pun is as intensely stupid as making Mario play mini-golf so Zoo York had no legal trouble using the name for young Chaz’s three-peat success of boards. Fun fact: neither did we writing it in that last sentence. Why? Because it’s just a fucking pun.
Three-peat is the correct term however, as Zoo York have taken the tried and tested plain and simple approach and made three solid models making sure no one misses the point: Chaz Ortiz, the young gun and comp-destroyer picked up by the late legend Harold Hunter himself is a professional skateboarder and you can buy boards with his name on.
I’ve only rode one Zoo York in the past but have been equally pleased with the results. Their shape (and this comes in the glorious street skater’s dream size, 7.75″) is spot-on, complete with expertly crafted dips in the concave that help provide an instant sense of excellent board control, response and subsequently gives you more confidence while skating, which I haven’t noticed in a deck in some time. Feet-on manoevres are so simple with Zoo York, so if you’re out to learn 360s for the first time then it wouldn’t be out of line to give them a go on this. It’s mad durability may take you by surprise too. As someone who favours ugly spots that tear up decks faster than the notorious blue shell I was stunned by how intact this deck has remained. Not a single chip, no pressure crackes, no ugly grom scratches on the graphic from where it looks like I’ve been boardsliding a rock (which I had).
So this one is undoubtedly exclusively for the street skaters, but as the second ZY deck I’ve loved to ride in a row I feel tempted to make a threepeat purchase (hohohohohoho) and can only recommend that you give these a try too. All puns aside, Chaz is pretty ripping, hasn’t let the pro status go to his head yet, is stoked on school and skating. So big ups.
Ah, the Luminaire. This small north-west London venue deserves recognition – not just for its excellent acoustics, good layout and friendly staff, but also for its low tolerance of idiots rabbiting away on their mobiles whilst bands are playing. The day it becomes the O2 Academy Kilburn will be the day I flood the entire city with my tears of anti-corporate rage.
Tonight it’s playing host to Chicago native Owen Ashworth, better known as Casiotone For The Painfully Alone, and blessed with an ability to craft world-weary, lo-fi musical vignettes on little more than a couple of small keyboards. This is his last UK tour after 13 years and 5 albums under that somewhat unwieldy moniker; a pity, as last year’s ‘Vs Children’ record is arguably Ashworth’s best – more sonically expansive and varied than previous efforts, but with his knack for great storytelling very much intact.
Having toured with a couple of friends last year, he’s back to playing solo this time around, and his trusty keyboard/mixer set-up can’t quite compensate for the resulting lack of stage presence. Still, as he kicks off with ‘Harsh The Herald Angels Sing’, the assembled crowd seems happy enough, even though only a few are dancing.
In any case, Ashworth gets by on two things: the quality of his songs, and the sense of intimacy that he manages to create. Between renditions of ‘Killers’ and ‘Young Shields’, he lets his dry humour shine through: telling short anecdotes related to his songs, joking around as he rearranges his keyboard set-up, and fielding song requests good-naturedly. It feels more like the 21st century equivalent of a campfire gathering than any kind of show, and although his songs deserve a far larger audience than tonight’s, Ashworth ensures that his presence will be missed by those in the know.
Let’s do the time warp again. Say, to a time when the US ska/punk boom was in full swing, the inaugural Deconstruction festival drew 10,000-odd skanking, spiky-haired punters to east London, and Less Than Jake’s UK profile was rapidly rising. That was TEN YEARS AGO, people; an eternity in music, and one which has seen many of LTJ’s peers split up, run out of steam, or simply fall out of favour. Tonight, the Forum is not sold out, but it is respectably full; and that’s not bad going for a band arguably long past their apex of popularity.
London quartet The Skints are somewhat at odds with the sun-kissed vibe of the bands that follow them, but their rootsy ska sound deservedly finds favour with the early birds. ‘Get Me’ comes across likes the Clash’s ‘Guns Of Brixton’ updated via an Operation Ivy filter, and there’s a refreshing frankness and honesty to the band’s tales of troubled 21st century London lives.
Zebrahead, alas, reside at the other end of the intelligence/subtlety scale. Granted, you can’t fault the Californians for energy and enthusiasm, but the world does not need another Bloodhound Gang – albeit this time with added guitars and very few memorable songs. Add some painfully crass banter and a ramshackle Britney Spears cover into the bargain, and it’s hard to see how Zebrahead will ever escape their UK reputation as the perennial support band.
Less Than Jake are no strangers to onstage dicking around, either, but such antics are forgiveable as they ignite the pit with suitably scorching renditions of ‘Plastic Cup Politics’ and ‘Automatic’. The vocal tag-team of Chris and Roger is still on fine form, and even though the band are leaning quite heavily on 1996’s ‘Losing Streak’ album tonight, they still rip through those songs with same vigour that infuses recent cut ‘Does The Lion City Still Roar?’ (possibly written about Singapore).
The majority of the crowd have clearly grown up with the band, and the resulting sense of affinity is not lost on either side, with Roger happily declaring that the UK has always warmly welcomed them since their first trip to these shores. The only new songs played tonight are a couple of TV theme tune covers from an upcoming stop-gap EP, but even if this is the sign of LTJ starting to rest on their laurels, you can still rely on them to bring some Floridian cheer to a cold November evening.
Lee Dainton has been busy in the audio/visual department again and has posted video blogs from Killcity’s trip to Mallorca earlier this year.
Get stuck in to see Caradog Emanuel, Joe Lynskey, Nicky Howells, Jess Young, Sam Pulley and Jake Collins hit up warm-up spots and enjoy a late night park session in the place that’s surely made by architects that moonlight as skateboarders.
The Monster Network have stumbled across some lost footage circa 2008 from the filming sessions of their excellent In Between Days video that dropped earlier this year.
This short clip features Warren Greatrex styling, Channon King wallriding, Steve Bailey shredding and Jay Tate fooling. Watch below…
Relentless Energy challenged filmmakers everywhere this year with Short Stories, a platform to visually define their dedication to whatever creative art they are involved in. Last night, James Gardner’s film ‘Flight of Passage‘, which is centered around Ben Nordberg and Steve Mason of Beta Band, was posted online as the fourth and final short story for all to see.
Earlier this year we were stoked to see Eniz Fazilov kill it in Pontus Alv’s In Search Of The Miraculous and now he makes a welcome return to our screens in this short edit from the Soletech’s amazing training facility.
Motive Skateboards are keeping it real this week with a short and sweet edit from Corby’s answer to The Berrics at Adrenaline Alley.
One thing I’ve always admired about 
Bobby Worrest is one of those rare folk in skateboarding who seem to embody what many a self-proclaimed ‘true’ skateboarder associates with both skateboarding and the extended culture that comes inherant within it. Devoid of any artsy pretense, Bobby tears up streets in the same way he’d tear through a six pack of beer, drunkenly roar through a capella renditions of Slayer or cover grotty walls with spray paint.
Wrecker Starter Hat
Chop Jacket (Tobacco)
Eli Shirt (Gold)
Worrest 2 (Midnight Wash)
My interest in sports peaks in whatever novelty crossover Nintendo have got Mario involved in and up until this point, the italian plumber has raced in little cars that gobble shrooms and shit banana skins and has even engaged in tedious golf tournaments; but never has he jumped on the basketball bandwagon, even during the height of Fresh Prince tie-in possibilities. So the word, ‘Three-Peat‘, serving as the name for one of Chaz Ortiz’s trio of inaugural pro models, meant absolutely nothing to me other than it’s a terrible, terrible pun. What’s cute is that I’ve since discovered that a retired basketball coach had trademarked the portmanteau (a posh word sometimes used in place of ‘terrible, terrible pun’) ‘Three-Peat’ for commercial use. Thankfully, in later years, more people realised that making money out of a pun is as intensely stupid as making Mario play mini-golf so 
Ah, the Luminaire. This small north-west London venue deserves recognition – not just for its excellent acoustics, good layout and friendly staff, but also for its low tolerance of idiots rabbiting away on their mobiles whilst bands are playing. The day it becomes the O2 Academy Kilburn will be the day I flood the entire city with my tears of anti-corporate rage.
Let’s do the time warp again. Say, to a time when the US ska/punk boom was in full swing, the inaugural Deconstruction festival drew 10,000-odd skanking, spiky-haired punters to east London, and Less Than Jake’s UK profile was rapidly rising. That was TEN YEARS AGO, people; an eternity in music, and one which has seen many of LTJ’s peers split up, run out of steam, or simply fall out of favour. Tonight, the Forum is not sold out, but it is respectably full; and that’s not bad going for a band arguably long past their apex of popularity.
Lee Dainton has been busy in the audio/visual department again and has posted video blogs from Killcity’s trip to Mallorca earlier this year.
The Monster Network have stumbled across some lost footage circa 2008 from the filming sessions of their excellent