Category: DVD Reviews

Yet another successful issue of the premiere video magazine 411. 14-3 mixes Duffs art director Russ Pope’s graphics with the skills of Ted DeGros, the Duffs team, Emmanuel Guzman and Sid Melvin, Don “The Nuge” Nguyen, Richie Belton, Ben Gore and the Cliché team on their travels through Sicily. Is that reason enough to cop this DVD?

If it isn’t, maybe I should go into more depth. Issue 14-3 opens to Chaos led by Marius Sylven – Keep an eye open for this kid! The first real part goes to Richie who is focussing all of his teenage angst (and then some) on an array of ridiculous gaps and rails. I’d like to suggest Richie starts to take it easy on his little body, but something tells me those pleas just fall upon deaf ears.

Much calmer and sitting further outfield in the tech end of skating is Ted DeGros. Let me tell you about my first experience of witnessing the Canadian’s finesse: It was in an old issue of SBC Magazine which featured a full interview full of shockingly smooth photos and sequences, but the interview was simply entitled ‘Ted’. What was I supposed to gather from that? Well, Ted remains low on the radar but seeing as his part has some of the sickest tricks to date in it (frontside nollie 360 heelflip over the bump to table, frontside tailslide hardflip out…), Ted’s going to find it awfyl hard to avoid the attention.

Cliché board a plane for yet another wild tour of unchartered territory. This time it’s Sicily for the Mafia Tour. Of course there are plenty of spots on the tiny island and of course Jérémie Daclin and the boys can handle it. What did you expect from one of the most well-rounded teams in the industry?

World’s newest amateur Ben Gore makes his ‘world’ premiere debut (Ha! Ha! Pun intended) in this issue of 411vm and he’s a smooth little fella. I can here the comparisons with Danny Renaud circa Mosaic already…

Santa Cruz stamp their foot down as one of the sickest teams out there when all terrain vehicle Emmanuel Guzman and styler Sid Melvin share a part. (Did I mention the tag team of Flo marfaing and Alex Carolino in the Chaos section? They’re bosses too!) In any case watch and re-watch Guzman’s backside kickflip noseblunt backside revert again, again, and again.

Someone who can share his love of flying with Richie is Don “The Nuge” Nguyen. Boy, can this dude leap! I mean, Don doesn’t really stretch his tech abilities firther than a varial heelflip, but when it comes to taking the plunge, he leaves his sanity on the bedside table.

Finally, as if all that wasn’t sufficient enough, the Duffs team throw in anice montage of varied board stylistics. I use the adjective ‘nice’ because the rest of the issue is already very satisfactory and this montage ends up feeling like Duffs run chaos section. However, you must look out as Jason Adams opens the skating with one of the best wallrides to date.

And there you have it! 411VM 14-3 is definitely worth getting a hold of simply for the choice of skaters they’ve amassed in this issue. A pat on the back for whoever gets these kind of crews together. Apparently next month will have the DVS Chupa Cabra tour of South America- another fine piece of entertainment and stoke. Don’t let me leave you without mentioning the bonuses that include the winner of the Vs. contest, Canada’s Underworld Skateshop tour of the States (Keep your eyes peeled for Blueprint’s Paul Carter!), and the Battle of the Shops skate-off.

Watch the trailer here.

Ralph Lloyd-Davis
05/09/2006

Straight off the bat, this DVD shouldn’t cost you more than a few quid- in fact, you might even find it for free in some places, so that’s reason enough to get it. What is it? Real’s latest promo DVD Life and Times that, contrary to their previous opus Roll Forever, is a sort of documentary that follows the team through their day to day routines and travels.

Featured in this DVD are various riders on various missions be it a chilled session at the TF Dojo in Hunter’s Point, or a late night session at Jasin’s Ramp. It isn’t so much about the finished product, but more the route taken to get you al that sick footage you feast on. Add to this loads of bonuses that are filled with out-takes, footage from other trips and one of the gnarliest hill bombs in San Francisco by Damian Bravo who’s egged on by his Ernie Torres. It’s just a pity that the footage it out of focus at times. Oh well…

Now, the Real skaters are all about skateboarding. Their image is that of straight skateboarding and what they supply is skateboarding that makes you and me want to skate. No frills- just thrills. So, when Dennis Busenitz is micced up and sessioning an elevator ledge/loading bay and says in not so many words “To all you shit-talkers out there – We’re out here skating more than you whilst you just sit there talking shit on this video, so fuck you motherfuckers!” I guess that sets the standard, doesn’t it. Go Skate now!

www.dlxsf.com for all the trimmings

Ralph Lloyd-Davis
05/09/2006

www.skateboarding.com

Transworld have been dropping top quality skate videos for quite a while now, so if you aren’t aware of the high standards the staff filmers put upon themselves then Time to Shine would be a good place to start.

As per usual, Transworld also like to make sure they’ve got all the bases covered with a little revelation thrown in when they choose the line-up for each new video. The cast for Time to shine reads as follows:

Cooper Wilt, Chris Roberts, Ronson Lambert, Chad Tim Tim, Dylan Reider, and Jereme Rogers, Paul Rodriguez and Mike Taylor sharing a part for kicks. Stick Jason Hernandez and Jon Holland behind the lens of their digital, 16mm and 35 mm cameras and you’ve got something good.

From the get go, and throughout, Time to shine feels like a follow on from First Love, Transworld’s previous DVD. Some of you might feel this shows a lack in originality, and even a little sickeningly sweet thematic as skaters pour out their hearts about how great it is to skate for a living, yet how hard it is to get the job done. This discourse has been done, re-done and done again, so lets hope the next Transworld opus offers a grittier edge to our culture.

Anyway, what really matters is the skating because if it doesn’t cut it, the motivation stays low and the rep turns sour. Time to shine needn’t worry about such scenarios because with the very creative skating and obscure spot selection that Cooper Wilt presents, many a young skater will never look at their surroundings in the same light again. I must say Cooper has really come through with something in this part, like an affirmative action that separates him from the chaff.

Next up is Chris Roberts who obviously learnt to skate with one truck and two wheels judging by his incredible balancing act. However, the lengthy nose grinds and fakie nose grinds, and the numerous rotations of Chris’s trademark 360 shove-its all come across as lacking in the originality department. Watch a previous Chris Roberts part, and you’ve probably seen two thirds of this section already…

After that slight dampening of stoke, let Ronson Lambert‘s modern street tech take you away. I’ve been hearing Ronson getting a rep, then a bad rep for such debatable criteria like wardrobe and style. I thing the critics have forgotten what progress looks like. Ronson seems to build his lines and combo tricks together like a tough level of Tetris. A few of his combos will have you on your ass, both metaphorically and literally.

Chad Tim Tim will gain much appreciation for sporting the brown cords and H&M jumper look, but peel away the lame opinions and you will see the genuine prowess this humble young man beholds. I’ve seen Chad put out several killer parts in the past, but these are often too soon forgotten because the rest of the feature was rank. Well, like the title suggests, hopefully this really is Chad’s moment of limelight because it’s about time people recognized the skills.

In order to cover each discipline in skateboarding (something that severely lacks in today’s video releases), Transworld hooked up Dylan Reider with a part for this video. Dylan is a happy-go-lucky all terrain vehicle. Of course this upstart handles the transition side of things and with smooth class I might add. But don’t label the kid just yet, because Dylan can throw a head high crail grab just as fast as he can switch backside flip a ten stair in a line. Buy stocks and shares in this kid because he is destined for great things. We have seen him skate in the flesh over the last 4 years and he is one hell of a talent, and remember, the best skaters skate everything.

Three skaters that have already established themselves are the trio Paul Rodriguez, Jereme Rogers and Mike Taylor. Why these three put forward a part for this Transworld video, I have no idea, but I guess it’s always good to get some mainstream coverage out there for the sponsors, eh? I know Jereme can kill anything be it rails, ledges, stairs or simple flat ground, but that doesn’t make his skating look good. Mike Taylor takes the simpler route of smooth skating and solid tricks. Then there’s Paul Rodriguez. Paul generates a lot of hate because he really is gifted with his skateboard. This section could have/should have been his alone with a trick each from the other two because single-handedly Paul is putting incredible pressure on the game with his skills. I’d like to see more transition skating from the “P-Rodigal son”, but I guess picture perfect switch flip backside tailslide switch flips out will have to do for now.

Finally, it isn’t a Transworld video if there aren’t two or three masterfully put together montages of the global skate community. Barcelona and Australia roadtrip footage blends in with Danny Gonzales‘ mental roof ride deep in the Los Angeles sewers somewhere, and who said the chain was over? Chris Dobstaff pushes the envelope and proves that no spot is officially shut down- at least until someone tops his move*.

And there you have it- Yet another fine offering from the Transworld camp. With the next video due in about 6 months, you really have to take your cap off to Jason Hernandez and Jon Holland for their hard work and initiative to release hit after hit.

Soundtrack:

In a hurry & Psychadelic Sambai- Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra
Introducing, the conspirator Mishaps happening- Quantic
Cherry red- The groundhogs
No sugar tonight/ new mother nature- The guess who
Huddle formation- The Go! Team
White unicorn- Wolfmother
Keep on- Braille
Mattie’s rags- Gerry Rafferty
Can you feel the wind- Mt. Egypt

* I know you’re desperate to find out, so here’s your spoiler: Chris Benihana nose bonks the chain link! Gosh! … Just kidding- He cabellariel heel flips into the bank over the chain! Double gosh!

It wasn’t so long ago, I said that Mini ramp skating needed to make a comeback and I guess someone was listening. Being a young and trend heavy culture, skateboarding can sometimes lose itself and forget the various aspects that give it’s character depth.

Mini ramp skating is a staple to the culture and has established itself as a fun part activity throughout several decades. Essentially, no matter how shit the area is, or how fucked the dimensions are, nearly every town has been donated a mniramp along with the mandatory un-fun box and wonky flatbar set-up.

Well, it’s time to stop searching for marble plazas and get yourself down to the local because mini ramp skating is back again- and you’re going to need to brush up on those skills if you want to ride the transitions like Almost’s Chris Haslam and Daewon Song!

Why they decided to call this ‘snack size mini ramp video’ Cheese and Crackers, I have no idea, but when two of skating’s most innovative and well balanced individuals decide to team up for a thrash around, the end product can be called whatever they like – the end result is beast!

Basically the story goes: Daewon and Chris wanted to brush up a bit and have some fun on transition. Somehow they ended up building their mini ramp in one of the ghetto-est burnt out meth labs in Southern California. Along with the ply wood, they figured they could knock together some quirky obstacles for their ramp with all the tires, doorframes, bike racks and random crap that was strewn all over the place. The end result is one short video for skateboarding and one fucking massive step into the future for transition skating!

I couldn’t list all the never Been Done tricks and hijinx Chris and Daewon get up to because it would probably read like A Stephen Hawkings check list for Relativity ad Black Holes, but here are a couple to give you an idea:

Chris manages to front side ollie to tail on the rising edge of the extension to then flip to fakie back into the ramp. Then there are Chris’ take on the blunt to fakie combos c.f. kick flip double flip, triple flip, switch front side flip… As for Daewon, well a sweet front side pop-shove-it to blunt fakie flip in makes an appearance, as does a half cab blunt 540 big spin in. The mind boggles… Did I mention most of these tricks are done in lines?

Once your head starts hurting and the adrenaline nears climax levels, you eyes are held open by the likes of new Almost rider Lewis Marnell, Chris and Cooper Wilt actually getting some real tricks down with a jacked up dirt board and a healthy friend section on the ramp.

This friend section sticks out for several reasons: First, there really are friends in this section and not just a melange of the hottest skaters on the block, there’s proof that photographers can skate as Giovanni Reda gets his ramp skills out, and last but not least please take note of the last skate in this section, Luis Cruz. You might have vaguely disturbing memories of Luis in a XXL Basketball top skating greasy picnic tables somewhere in Los Angeles circa 1995. Well don’t spit on the dark horse because this kid has got sick switch skills on the old mini ramp.

Cheese and Crackers is fittingly one of the best skate videos released ever. Go out and buy it today, don’t download it off the web.

I can’t wait to hear what Greg Nowik or Todd Falcon have to say about this!

www.almostawebsite.com for more.

Ralph Lloyd-Davis
11/8/06

I recently got an email from Mark Baines explaining Sheffield’s premier skateshop, The Story Store’s initiative to promote skate videos from all over the place. The first instalment for the Story Film Makers Guild would be Kolma – a Finnish video hailing from Vaukaus, a small town in the Sevo area of southern Finland. I was pretty stoked by the idea and awaited to see what Kolma had to offer. I wouldn’t be disappointed.

I don’t know if it’s the long winters the Finns have to suffer, but they definitely know how to put a good video together. I mean, this is DVD is clean, precise, flowing and funny. Add to that Dan Magee’s talent for motion graphics and you have a winner. That’s pretty damn good considering I’ve never heard of Vaukaus or any of the riders featured. Luckily a helpful introduction à la Filming Crazy explains everything. A strange man named Pekka Puupää has a bit of an attitude as he talks about the local scene. It’s funny, but the excessive swearing gets a bit long after a while.

Anyway, without further a due, Eesu Lehtola is the first skater to demonstrate his skills, and I must say he’s got a lot. Eesu has a very pleasant flow to his skating that matches tech and simple like milk into a warn cuppa – Lovely. He also gets to skate to The Kinks’ “Lola” which is a bonus.

Next up is Tero Airaksinen who is obviously gets all the lavish ladies if we are to believe the introduction. Tero skates to a bizarre duo between Macy Gray and Ol’Dirty Bastard, but there’s nothing strange about his smooth skating and big pop.

Our narrator returns to bitch about little Pete a.k.a. Petteri Räisänen, the youngest of the crew but the biggest of mouths apparently. Pete’s a good little skate rat who promises to get better and better if he keeps at it. No complies and Coldplay go well together.

Homeboy Jussi Väntinni rolls up after Pete and shares a part with Nostalgia Pomm. The way these two share a part is pure genius editing wise. Why? Well, neither of them are groundbreaking skate trick wise, but obviously Jussi is the younger of the two and works his board to the beats of Andre Nickatina, then halfway through a carpark line, he skates off and Nostalgia Pomm comes across and gets all old school on the spot- with a Sonic Youth track to boot! Then it’s back to Jussi and you’re thinking that was a pretty rad edit!

After those two we have another tag team: Tuomas Pöllänen and Jussi Turunen. These two keep it smooth despite the utter shite surface they have to skate on the regular. Tuomas pulls out a very nice nollie 50-50 pop up to manual frontside shove it out which I think is a fun little bit of imaginative skating. Both of these guys went to London recently, so expect to see some familiar spots get worked with Finnish precision and style.

Finally, the hometown hero Ville Pietiläinen gets the closing part. His section starts off with a spoof rap video that is sure to have you laughing even if you know that Ville’s probably taking it seriously! Then it’s strictly sick street tech all the way through a club banger Three Six Mafia track Get Fly. Ville is a ledge technician who has some crazy combos and lines that’ll have you wondering why you had never heard of this little wigga before??? All I can say is Ville has a mean frontside shove-it nosegrind. Word!

So there you have it – Kolma, The Story Store’s first Film Makers Guild instalment. I know videos are dropping like flies at the moment, but this one is definitely worth trying to get a hold of. When you see how tight knit a scene can be and how high the level is in such harsh environments, you know you’re going to get hyped to skate after a viewing.

For info and orders visit www.thestorystore.co.uk

Ralph Lloyd-Davis
13/07/2006

What is This’N’That?

It’s a UK scene video put together by Andy Evans who captures the fun aspect of our entire country in one DVD.

It’s not his first and it certainly will not be his last, but this DVD features many skaters from the UK, Europe and the USA covering featured riders sections, skate jams and truck loads of comedy!

The movie kicks off with a rather organised domino rally made from skate DVD’s and a bunch of other stuff (how long did that take Andy?!) which leads into a sofa surfing experience with Dan Cates and Nic Zorlac from Death.

With a flick of the zappa Ben Raemers kicks off This n That in fine style with a cracking part that has everything from 540’s on vert to rail ledge and tech stuff in the streets, parks and at Crossfire Jams. Ben is a fucking ripper on a board and kicks this off in fine style.

Sections from Chris Vile, Josh Roullion are fantastic and followed by a montage of tricks from Rodney Clarke, Danny Wainwright, Simon Skipp and many many more. It’s piled deep with great skateboarding.

All of Andy’s DVD’s have a blatant comedy role throughout. Here is where the killer board from Birmingham is launched where Bob Sanderson runs through the city, and finally tracks the most venomous of freestyle decks on the planet, and can only trap the beast with the Death Stare – the only way to kill such a lethal set up. Once the stare is fixed, the board is pogo’d into submission…..

This creates the technical prowess of West London’s most digitised skateboarder, Darren Nolan, whose section is filled with swift feet and every switch, shuv, bigspin, heel, kick and double flip known to the UK’s most influential island. You’ve got to give it up to Nolan as he skates for fun and has matured his passion for technical wizardry under our very noses here at our local spots Meanwhile 2 and 3. Nolan is assures us that British Freestyle scene is growing – Apparently there are 6 people now since the last count last year! Once this video is seen across the country, that figure is sure to rise.

German Santa Cruz pro rider Claus Grabke gets a proper kickin’ from his 80’s fame, all in gest of course, but apparently used to love a pasty when he worked at a service station on the M6! (priceless!) Pete King‘s section gets down to Status Quo as Kingy rips it up everywhere which is followed by UK scene event footage from the 2005 Crossfire 7-Set Jam at Southbank, 2005’s Crossfire Xmas Jam with Circa that includes the infamous gap jam, plus loads of other amazing UK events that includes the Globe Burnley bowl jam, Div and locals at the riot fuelled Livi annual get together with Div in full flow, War of the Roses, The Works Skatepark with Neil Smith, Mikey Wright and many more. And then, The Donz is introduced……

Don Brider, one of skateboardings most treasured men, is now running the industry. So much so that this shit is gangsta bitch! Pro riders share their fear of not running tricks past The Donz and as we all know, there’s a price to pay if you are not clearing it with him…..otherwise legs could be broken as Marc Churchill finds out.

Luckily Evans managed to get footage of the Chalba before this incident and his section alongside Paul Rimmer, Amir Williams and Greg Nowik make you wanna go skating. This is followed by Mikey Wright who excels at every level and has a nbatural gift on a skateboard, it just so happens he is one of lifes incredibly charactures who was born for this DVD, as his tongue incheek deliveries are backed up with some cheeky skating only seen in the North. But it doesn’t stop here. Ross McGouran is becoming an all round destroyer and his section in this DVD just strengthens the case. He is one of the best skaters we have, he can destroy anything and should inspire kids to take part in every aspect of skateboarding if you are good enough. James Gardnerrips street spots whilst the Go Team provide the atmosphere on the decks, another gifted UK skater gets into the fold and delivers, he is another one to watch out for in 2007 but i bet he could not do a 1080 over a Spanish Galleon! Not like this geezer anyway….

There’s a bloke in this DVD who lives in a rubbish bin that has come out of the age when tapestry was the way to communicate that looks surprisingly like that bloke who is the Editor of one of the UK’s best skate mags…but with alledged sightings of Neanderthal man, Vikings and people with The Plague turning up and taking over skateparks thesedays we could be wrong. Despite this doubt in mind there is one thing we can be certain of and it’s the fact that you have to own this DVD, because it represents just how strong the UK skate scene is and also that it’s fucking great!

Watch the trailer for this movie in the usual spot on the top right hand corner of the page.

Chuck Bangers

Talk of the first Circa video started way back when the team included heavy hitters like Chad Muska, Jaime Thomas and Mark Appleyard.

The chance of a DVD with footage from those three was a sure shot success with the kids, but something went horribly wrong… First Chad went Miami MIA, then Jaime said goodbye and started up his own operation, then Mark travelled the world and thought his feet could be cushioned elsewhere.

With their top players disbanded, Circa looked like it was about to throw in the towel. Somehow the shoe company stayed afloat and gradually built back a team that as a result is a real cross section of skate genres with something for everyone (except ramp riders…).

The prolonged announcement of videos soon to be released doesn’t settle well within the industry because team changes can make or break a project, as Circa knows all too well, so with their new flock of representatives Circa seized the opportunity – It’s Time.

I seriously doubted Circa before they dropped this DVD, and the first echos from the fore front were anything short of lukewarm… Not a good sign when you are releasing your first ever video. Well, It’s Time dropped onto my doormat and I gave it a first viewing; To be honest, I could see where the uninspired reactions were coming from. You see, Circa runs the following team – Jon Allie, Dennis Durrant, Tony Tave, Windsor James, Sierra Fellers, Pete Ramondetta, Colt Cannon and Adrian Lopez. Each one of those skaters can hold it down alone, but a couple of them are better known for hammering out their sections, rather than splashing out on a little variety.

When Jon Allie bursts onto the screen with picture perfect frontside flip tailslides and kickflip backside lipslides, a few tweaked leaps of faith and big rotations over bigger gaps, you have a strange feeling you’ve seen it all before. I take my hat off to the lad, but would it really hurt to push a little, or skate some transition..? So, like I said, the first comments about the Circa DVD viewing like a hammerfest of yesteryear weren’t really off the mark.

Jon’s section ends with a total banger and Sierra Fellers picks up the gauntlet. Sierra has been running ripples through the industry for the last couple of years as one of these Uber-ams that push the envelope of gnarliness with text book technique. It’s trua that Sierra is a beast, but not only normal but switch too! Big switch flips and big switch ollies pepper this part and have you slightly shocked at the abilities of this virtually unknown kid. With this part Sierra steps it up to the big-time.

Just before we catch a glimpse of Windsor James eating proverbial ‘shit’ for the cameraman, OG Circa member Adrian Lopez has a roll about on screen. I’ve never met Adrian but I gather he’s a shy guy. You wouldn’t think so when you see the stuff he skates or the look in his eyes when he prepares himself for the crunch. However, Adrian’s part slides in synch with Jon’s opener in that this part could easily have appeared three years ago and no-one would have noticed. I heard Adrian has a lot of MySpace friends, maybe they can rate this part better than me, a guy who gets out there and skates..?

Enough bitterness and back to the show! Windsor James escapes death on a big rail and proceeds to use his cat-like skills to tame and maim a few gaps and rails. Windsor is a very smooth skater, but I don’t think this part does him justice even if the soul track has you tapping your feet to the beat. In the image-based guidelines of the skate industry, a XXL wearing dude dropping hammers is definitely worth watching.

And so is badman Dennis Durrant. You might recognize Dennis from his premier 360 flip noseblunt slide Popwar ad on the flip side of Chris Cole’s attempt. Dennis is from Australia and has a pair of skippy feet that pop and flick his board very nicely. Dennis shines out like a pearl in this wish wash waters of amateur skateboarding. Place a star next to his name next time you see it.

Someone else who is a star is Mr.Colt Cannon. Colt doesn’t get too complicated with his skate trick selection, but whatever he does execute, he executes to the T. here are three reasons you need to watch Colt’s section repeatedly: First the intro- I don’t know where the punchline fell with that story, but it definitely wasn’t caught on tape. Second, the song Colt chose is a bit quirky and if you’re patient you’ll see that it works quite well with the skating. And Third, Colt’s last few tricks are banging- especially the long nose grind down the handrail. Colt’s got better balance than Alan Sugar’s bank account.

Time for another comic interlude and this time it’s pro cameos introducing Super am and new Element pro, Tony Tave. This kid broke onto the scene via a huge switch frontside heelflip over the double set at the Etnies Lake Forest skatepark. Tony’s got pop and a whole lot of shock for you with this solid 4 minute section. If you think Tony’s only got hefty hammers to offer, you’re right, but you don’t see many kids swinging swords like this everyday.

Finally, It’s Time concludes with Bay Area badass, Pete Ramondetta. Pete is gnarly as hell with fast snaps and back to back hammers. I like to think of Pete as one of the last Radical skaters out there, that don’t worry about image or fame and just get the job done. Plus, Ramondetta won’t be stamped with the billy-bad boy stamp of strictly rails. I spotted a 360 double flip and a sweet no comply flip combo in there. At the end it’s all about the ender though – Stick that in your pipe Jaime!

So, to brush this review up and post up a sales pitch for Circa, I’d say that if you like it big and fast, It’s Time will have you satisfied. If the whole hammerfest- deathlens FTSA technique bores you, then just watch this for free with shoes at skater owned shops and visit www.circafootwear.com for all the inside scoops.

Tracklistings:

• Rare earth- I Know I’m losing you
• Black Sabbath- Gypsy
• Zwan- Lyric
• Jim Walker and the Allstars- Shotgun
• Sam and Dave- Hold on! I’m coming!
• Tosca- Session 2:Einschlaf
• Throwing Muses- Not to soon
• Doobie Brothers- Take it to the streets
• Cab Colloway- Jitterbug
• Micheal Jackson- Working day and night
• Rocky Erickson and the Aliens- Stand for the pire demon
• AC/DC- Walk all over you
• Gladys Knight and the Pips- Midnight train to Georgia
• The Rolling Stones- Worried about you

Ralph Lloyd-Davis
18/06/2006

After the 50th watch, I just noticed another delicate touch that makes me love the new Krooked DVD even more: A thank you for Michael J. Fox! Brilliant!

Krooked is a skate company, but sometimes I like to look at it like Mark Gonzales‘ private art project. You see, Krooked Kronichles is not your run-of-the-mill skate DVD with clearly defined parts, slick intro and grand finale. No, this DVD is an exhibition of creative skating at its best with Mark Gonzales leading his team of merry men in front of Dan Vellucci’s digital lens.

This DVD runs free with little skits here and there, but the spontaneity isn’t lost so you can really watch it from start to finish and feel amped to skate afterwards. Dan Drehobl, Van Wastell and Bobby Worrest all have full parts, plus not one but two montages of Gest Pros and various honourables. Oh, and Spike Jonze gets a trick in there too!

The amateurs Van Wastell and Bobby Worrest don’t disappoint. Initially, when Mark Gonzales announced his amateur duo, I didn’t really know what to expect. I hadn’t heard of either of them before and media coverage was kept low- surely in a bid to keep footage for this project. Well, Van and Bobby carry the Krooked banner of being handpicked by the Gonz and don’t break a sweat. I can see what Gonz saw in Van because this guy likes to mix things up a bit with his skateboard and think outside of the box. He also has an amazing ability to land 99% of his tricks as solidly as gold lingots. Bobby is also very clean, but opts for a more technical approach to his skating. This DC kid can switch things up at the drop of a hat, so I advise you to watch Bobby’s part several times to fully appreciate how good the young kid is.

Gest sections aside – featuring Guy Mariano, Zered Bassett, Donny Barley, Malcolm Watson etc…- there are two sections left: Dan Drehobl and the boss, Mark Gonzales. Dan opens his part with some liptrick pivot wizardry that might well stem a new trend for anyone that thought transition skating was boring. This part is chock full of incredible skating on some of the sickest concrete curves, bumps and lumps. Despite looking his age (disclosed) Dan can still kill it on his skateboard, so those of us with beer bellies rejoice! (Hell Yeah – Z-Ed)

Finally, the Gonz. Nobody can touch the Gonz, and when you hear all your favourite pros name-dropping Mark as their favourite skater or greatest inspiration, you know this veteran is doing something right. Mark is definitely a free-agent with his own agenda, but that’s why he gets respect. Hate on his mobbed kickflips, car jousting and general misunderstood stance on life all you want because I don’t think anyone’s listening. Mark embodies the true elements of skateboarding that so many of us wish we could have- fun, spontaneity, creativity, gnarliness and flow. Add to this a track by Run DMC and you’re laughing! Come take a ride (7 blocks) with Mark and witness the fitness.

Despite recent trends, skateboarding cannot be labelled and Krooked Kronichles confirms this. You know you need this DVD in your collection because without it, you’re missing out on one of skateboarding’s finest moments.

Tracklistings:

• Rhythm Sticks – Blackalicious
• Earache Eye – Cheech and Chong
• The Fall And Rise Of Elliot Smith – Blackalicious
• Forever in Blue Jeans – Neil Diamond
• In A Hurry & Cha love – Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra
• Misdemeanor – Foster Sylvera
• Rock Box – Run DMC
• Electric Dope – Money Mark
• Hellz Bellz – A Grape Dope

Ralph Lloyd-Davis
26/06/2006

Skateboarders are avid travellers, but all those guide books you buy won’t tell you where the sick spots are. I doubt any of those travel logs have chapters dedicated to a set of stairs or rail, so obviously we – the skaters – need a special tourism ittinery, and Satva Leung knew how to do it: Streets.

This is the fourth instalment of a guide through one of the world’s many skateable cities, and Melbourne is the place to be. I must admit that I rarely differentiate between Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra or Perth so to know that the down hill 3-sets leading to a big 4 is NOT in Melbourne, but the Riverside park IS, can be very helpful when you realise how vast Australia is.

I’ve never been to Melbourne, but I guess this issue of Streets is pretty complete seeing as it covers the Museum (sand gaps), Riverside skatepark, the Drains (generation gap), Flinders Street rail (golden rail), Lincoln Square (ledges and stairs) and loads more with various snippets of footage. I must say that I didn’t quite get the part about the Flinders Street rail because apparently the place has been rinsed dry and isn’t worth visiting. Ah, the laws of Already Been Dones…!

Thank god Satva made sure he interviewed a good handful of locals: Lewis Marnell, Ben Gauci, Chris Woods (originally from New Zealand), Jake Brown, Morgan Campbell, Renton Millar to name a few. You’ll also spot footage and vox pops with a few foreign heads because you can’t deny Melbourne is a hot holiday resort with it’s cool party scene, beautiful women, and numerous spots of course!

I only have one problem with Streets, and that’s the fact that it guides you straight to a spot so that you can rinse it and then bugger off leaving the locals with a knackered spot to contemplate. I might be from the old school, but I’m not really down with open invitations to skate and destroy. Then again, these audio visual guides only tell you about the spots that you’ve ogled at before in many videos (N.B. Flinders Street rail). I’m sure there is plenty more to skate in Melbourne that this short video has us expecting. Streets Melbourne is definitely worth checking out if you’re heading down under. Otherwise you can probably live without watching it.

Music by:

• DJ Mutt
• Mophono
• Dr. Claw
• Lethal D
• Matt Webb

Ralph Lloyd-Davis
07/06/06

There was once a time when a skater looked West to see the motherland. Some made the long journey to the mecca that was Southern California, whilst the rest of us stayed at home and tried our hardest to imagine the long smooth cement sidewalks and sunny weather. Eventually, the idolized image of the motherland got distorted and gross with profit, competition and greed, so most of us were happy to stay at home and skate what we had.

It turned out we had more than we thought. Skaters started to look south. But, still the pilgrimage seemed far and some skaters were still left dreaming of a smoother ride… Nobody thought to look north, so the North came to us. Geir Allen Hove and Øyvind Aspen have captured the cream of the Scandinavian skate scene in their excellent opus, Neighbours – a tale of eight skaters (Love Enroth, Jani Laitiala, Kridstian Bomholt, Henning Braaten, Stefan Jacobsen, Mika Edin, Anders Jørgensen and Janne Saario) who made their skate dreams a reality.

That’s a rather poetic introduction for a DVD review, but Neighbours is poetic in its subtle mix of 16mm and digital images, spoken introductions for each rider and Mortagne-esque filming techniques. You can tell everyone worked hard on making this project a reality, be it through the filming/editing process or just having to skate some of the roughest spots known to mankind. The Scandinavian region that encompasses Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland is far from inviting like Barcelona or Lyon, but that doesn’t mean their isn’t a strong scene or sick spots. Thanks to this DVD, you realise skateboarding exists everywhere and Southern California is probably the last place you want to visit for a ride around.

I won’t run through each and every skater’s part chronologically, but I’ll pinpoint a few things that shone brighter than other for me. Firstly Love Enroth – this guy is so good it’s silly. Love definitely has the most inspired part of the group, and if I’m wrong, I think the choice of music is appropriate for someone who’s suffered a long stint of injury that has held him back from really killing it.

The next person worthy of a mention is Henning Braaten. Henning is pretty much an athlete (as his introduction explains) that reminds me of the friendly twin brother of Ivan Drago a.k.a. Dolph Lundren from Rocky IV. He’s all power and precision with a friendly smile and a mean pop.

Finally, this DVD introduces us (or at least me because I’d never heard of him before!) to Mika Edin an untapped fountain of youth, spirit and straight up skills on a skateboard. I can see Mika’s number being punched into a few Team manager’s speed dials, but hopefully he won’t pick up and keep his innocence in a game where the young are pawned off to the highest bidder.

So, sorry if I didn’t list a load of spoilers* with this review, but I think it’s worth you moving your arse and finding and buying Neighbours because it’s a top-quality window onto a scene many forget to notice. Things are moving up north and the locals are ready.

*Alright! Jani Laitaila whips out the sickest of switch 360 flips on a hot spot in Barca, and Janne Saario is the manual maestro as usual but his first trick will have the ledge technicians screaming. Nuff said.

Soundtrack:

Ane Brun
Spending Time with Morgan
What I want / So you did it again / Drowning in those eyes

Tolvo Kärku
TÄKSIKUU

The Hives
Veni Vidi Vicious
Hate to say I told you so

Palace of Pleasure
Betty Ford here we come / Golden Rule EP
Betty Ford here we come / One night at Graglandshaugen / Misikkpolitiets marsj / Klynk

Money Brother
To die alone
They’re building walls around us

Big Bang
Poetic Terrorism
From acid to zen and back again

Transcendental suicide / Sister surround
The soundtrack to our lives

The Mellowmen
Get out of Shape
Get out of shape Part 1 & 2

Komeda
Kokomemedada
Victory lane

Sissy Wish
You may breathe
Let us meet the end / The six feet tall / Doubledip Atari

Peowns Project
Crabsticks Volume 1
Track 3 & 4

Mew
Frenges
Am I wry? No

Jim Stärk
Jim Stärk / No time wasted
Morning song / Sleepless

Ralph Lloyd-Davis
30/05/2006