Showing posts with label Baker has a Deathwish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baker has a Deathwish. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Best Music for a Part #5: John Lennon

John Lennon has some very laid back music, ideal when it comes to certain styles in skateboarding.
Take Madars Apse in DC's Where EU At? above for instance. Madars easily has one of the best styles in the game with his natural lankiness that translates into very fluid-looking tricks. He oozes creativity and a sense of having fun while he skates, which matches up perfectly with Lennon's "Oh Yoko!" I especially like the part where the harmonica comes in around 2:50 right as Madars nails an enormous ollie into a bank from one of our dreams. It's also pretty cool how a quick cloud/skyline clip is shown with "in the middle of the clouds" at 2:07 and Madars pops up bobbing his head right on with the beat. The entire part, from Madars style to Lennon's cheerful song, is really feel-good; it's inevitable to start smiling when this part is playing.
John Lennon also has "Watching the Wheels" in Nick Trapasso's part in And Now. It's hard to think of any skater more laid back than Nick, so pairing this super chill song with his lazy yet gnarly skating is a soothing combination. "People say I'm lazy...dreaming my life away" appears to be a very accurate outside view of Nick. It's like the song was recorded specifically for this part. The 3 drum beats right around 3:26 with the surge in the music and the slow-mo'd switch frontside 360 add just the right amount of hype even with all the calming vibes from the part, as oxymoronic as that sounds. And the last few clips or so are as if Nick's listening to John saying "...just have to-oo let it go-oo", stomping down some serious bangers without even trying.
John Lennon's laid back music fits right with Madars' and Nick's easy styles, but it also works very well with The Boss in his part in Baker has a Deathwish, as Reynolds casually drops hammers to "Whatever Gets You Through the Night". Lennon's count-up at the start (of the song anyway, after the initial Baker hijinx clips) sets up Reynolds for his bolts fakie flip to kick off the happy music. At the first chime in of "whatever gets you through the night", Reynolds switch tres to switch manual at nighttime with the spot lit up from nearby lampposts it seems. For a trick I haven't seem much from Reynolds, he literally does whatever gets him through the night. The rest of the part feels very jolly as you watch The Boss demonstrate his master flick. And it's also pretty cool that at 3:16 I believe Lennon says "STOP!" but it sounds way to close to "STOMP!" to be a coincidence. Because Reynolds most certainly stomped that nollie inward heel (not to mention popping it unnecessarily high) down that set.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Dudes with Nicknames #3: Lizard King (Mike Plumb)

Continuing the trend of great nicknames from the Deathwish squad, Mike Plumb (AKA Lizard King) is up next.  From what I've gathered the origin of the name is like this: Lizard was skating at a park back in the day and one of his favorite skaters at the time,"Pumpkin King", came up to him randomly and called him Lizard, the Lizard King. The name's stuck ever since, and when I say stuck I really mean it.  The only time Mike Plumb comes out is when Lizard's being interviewed and is forced to give up his original name. I'm assuming the Lizard part came from his ability to ride on walls and on obstacles most people shouldn't be able to. Just take a look at the May 2009 issue of Transworld for a prime example.
Lizard does stay true to him name quite often in his video parts, coming up with some pretty hairy ideas for whatever spots he comes to.  Just look at the very first trick in his shared part with Theotis in Baker has a Deathwish, as well as a couple sketchy wallie tricks from 0:30. Then there's his Real Street part (above) from this past year along with his Deathwish video part which both have more of the crazy use of spots with Lizard's abilities to handle anything sketchy with a passion-filled eagerness and ease.