In an age where mainstream brands outside of skateboarding have come in and flexed muscles with large wads of cash with no scene history whatsoever, you have to admire the loyalty that Ryan Sheckler has shown to etnies. Fifteen years has gone by since he joined the brand and he is still one of the most consistent performers on a skateboard out there.
That loyalty is a rare sight in this corporately challenged landscape, especially in a recession, but I guess when you are dealing with a company that is 25 years young, and run by skaters who get out of bed for the right reasons everyday, it’s worth pledging your allegiance for. Take note.
So here it is, UK skate videographer Mike Manzoori and etnies have rolled out a tribute video looking back at those 15 years of service with Oliver Barton, Ricki Bedenbaugh, Atiba Jefferson, Manzoori himself and Arto Saari. Enjoy.
etnies Presents: Ryan Sheckler’s Fifteen Years Strong from etnies on Vimeo.
UK film maker Mike Manzoori discusses the making of Blind’s new full length video ‘Damn’ in this latest video interview. Get the lowdown and watch some extra footage in this.
East Coast slapstick rapper 
The Wu-Tang Clan have released a brand new track today titled ‘Execution in Autumn‘. This previously unreleased Wu-Tang cut from the personal vaults of the RZA features INS Deck, Raekwon, RZA and U-God and has dropped digitally on a pay as you want basis or via 7″ vinyl + shipping costs from 
Despite struggling to decide whether I love or hate the bands’ name, there’s no doubting at all how I feel about ‘Set Me Back’ from Canada’s Weed. A stomping, sludgy yet strangely uplifting noise-pop track, ‘Set Me Back’ is in equal parts hazy and energetic; it’s three minutes managing to sound both restrained and powerful. Huge, fuzzing walls of guitars open the track, before the vocals alternate between an almost chanting monotone and a rasping wail – sounding somewhere between the slack trudge of Pavement and the epic shoegaze of My Bloody Valentine. Though cleaner, the production on ‘Set Me Back’, manages not to lose some of the abrasive edges showcased on their previously released ‘Gun Control’ EP.
For a band to successfully ‘re-invent’ themselves is a tricky feat to pull off, but in the case of sharply-dressed Exeter quintet The Computers, ‘Love Triangles Hate Squares’ is less reinvention than evolution – and an impressive evolution at that. 
When casting their critical eyes back on the roots of American Hardcore, revisionists more often than not overlook Suicidal Tendencies. Fair enough, a fast track musical evolution and a jump to bigger record labels diluted their early sound, but you’d be a fool to deny the influence domestically and, as word got out, internationally, of the early Eighties ST incarnation.