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
Interview by RLD.
Photo’s by Benjimin Hay
Supporting skater-owned and local scenes is primordial to skateboarding. Running a shop, starting a company, writing for mags, crouching in piss puddles to get the shot are all tough ordeals, but persistence pays off!
Crossfire noticed a blimp on the radar, and after closer inspection we knew it was something heavier than drip of stale ketchup.
Keeping it on the lodown but gradually building in momentum, the Casual crew are a good bet for the future in keeping skateboarding’s roots alive. Just a bunch of friends having a laugh and supporting themselves and others.
Ralph LD caught up with Casual head-honcho James Holman to find out what this laid back bunch are about. Keep it Casual!
Why did you start Casual? When? What were you doing before?
Casual was an idea way back in 2001 when I was at uni and skated with a bunch of guys in Canterbury. It really came out of the fact that there didn’t seem to be much going on in the south east to support the riders and give them opportunities to go to comps and events. It didn’t actually come together until the summer of 2005 once we had a bunch of riders, sourced the best boards and clothing and worked to save the money needed to launch it.
What were your influences when you started?
Our influences initially came from the riders and all our friends in the area, as they gave us the reason to start. From there influences came from companies such as Lovenskate; knowing Stu being from Maidstone himself, made the idea of starting a skate company a realistic possibility.
Did anyone involved have intimate knowledge of how a skate company is run before Casual started? If so, who and what?
Pas works at ASDA 1 day a week giving us a solid grounding in retail and customer services, Ben was assistant manager of a skate park that was promptly closed down and reopened under new management and James was and still is unemployable. Seriously though, other than that it’s all this big strange learning process! None of us had a clue when we first started this, but we’ve had to learn from scratch and quickly, and so far, it’s been fun.
Is this strictly skateboarding? Or, do you branch out to artists as well for product designs, events etc?
Strictly skateboarding! Although we’re definitely looking to branch into the extreme pogo scene and also have plans to release a range of Casual Cookbooks in early 2008, cooking is oh so hot right now! The design process involves a lot of people, for the simple reasons that we want the riders to be stoked on what they are riding/wearing, so they have a massive input into what we create. The best ideas usually come from not sitting around a table but usually actually skating, driving or something like that.
You’ll get a killer idea, and that’s when we get everyone together and sit down and get some stuff on paper. You then get the usual arguments but we eventually get something that everyone likes. When it comes to finalising the designs, both Melk and Thom make the actual final design a reality, and Lee, one of the flow riders also helps out a lot.
Give me the entire Casual family, official and extended.
Casual is ‘run’ by 3 skateboarders; James, Pas and Ben. We all have our different roles, but Pas is mostly involved with the filming side of things, Ben does all the photography and helps to manage the team, and I make the tea. We also have the design guys, Melk and Thom, then the sponsored riders who are Myles Lucas, Ewen Bower, Nick Bedwell, Lewis Threadgold, Lee Santer, John Bell, Ollie Jarman and Tom Strand. We also have a whole collection of mates who try to skimp as much off us for free, including Muzz, Lordy, Australian Micah, Joe, Snape, Kris, Skid Adam, and Jamie.
How has Casual helped the local scene?
I think it’s just opened up so many opportunities. Everyone is much more motivated to go places, go to new cities, new parks, so one way it’s helped is through giving people the option of travelling a lot more than we normally would. Some of our riders we have known for years, so supporting them is amazing.
It’s so frustrating watching your friend throwing down hammers, but getting nothing in return and no recognition. I think starting casual has really helped them go where they want to go with skating. It’s also helped to get a little bit of recognition for the South East by showing it isn’t just that bit of field below London, there are actually skateboarders here!
What are you plans for the future?
We just want to be stoked on skating really. We don’t have global domination plans or anything like that. Keep the riders happy, keep the products quality and generally keep everyone stoked although a volcano with some kind of evil lair would be nice sometime soon.
Why ‘Casual’?
We’re all pretty laid back guys, in fact probably too laid back so it seemed to represent who we were pretty well. The way we work and run everything is with a ‘don’t worry about it’ attitude, which isn’t always the most productive but certainly the way we like to keep it.
Thanks/Shoutouts??
Basically everyone who has been involved in any way, we couldn’t do it without the help of so many people. (you know who you are!)
All the team riders, local head’s and extended family get big props. Props to all the shops that have supported us by stocking our stuff.
Ranui at Rise Worldwide is owed a big ‘thanks’ ,Will at the Skatewarehouse, Rob at the House Skatepark and Sarah at Surf Shack.
Visit Casual Skateboards online at www. casualskateboarding.com or thier myspazz at www.myspace.com/casualskateboards.
Casual team riders will be present at this years Crossfire Xmas Jam, come down and check them out…
San Francisco’s Set Your Goals have said that after they’ve finished their tour with Terror, which they’re currently on, they’ll be taking time off until they go on a full tour of the States in March and April.
In addition, they’ll be releasing a DVD in spring which will include tour footage and the making of Mutiny! which was released this summer on Eulogy Recordings.
Explosions In The Sky have announced they’ll be playing a one off show in London at Koko on March 1st next year.
The band, who are also playing 2 dates in New York and one gig in Belgium, have also announced they’ll be releasing a new album on February 20th.
Florida’s Poison The Well have posted an updated on their myspace regarding their upcoming album, entitled Versions, which is due out in 2007.
It is yet to be known which label the album will be released on but the band say they will be working with Pelle Henricsson and Eskil Lövström and will be recording in Umeå in Sweden.