Bryan Whalen would normally be given the VOTW honors from me because I haven't seen as enjoyable of a part as that one in a while, especially with as graceful switch skating and fun trick selection as he came through with. But there's no way I can deny Jordan Hoffart finally getting a board sponsor after too long in limbo, especially because he manages to drop yet another gnarly part.
GX1000: Living in the Bay with an incredible crew ripping through the streets Tom Asta Pro Spotlight Chris Cole for DC Cole Lite 2 Ben Raybourn Welcome to Nike Ramshakle: Nick Palmquist, Chad Bartie, Josh Hawkins, Aldrin Garcia Element United Nations at the Berrics Sylvain Tognelli opens up Nozbone's Cafe Clope with a sick part Kurt Hodge Footage Party Brad McClain Mag Minute
There were a few videos this week I was considering for Video of the Week. Chewy Cannon released his Transmission part over at TWS, coming through once again with awesome London footage and skating fast with a fun, loose style. I've been a fan ever since his Diagonal part with those thrashing switch front boards, and he has plenty of his true switch stance skating in this new part. It's cool to see a full new Chewy part, even after the footage in the Cinematographer Project, which TWS also released through Torsten Frank's section this week as well. Along with that, Ewan Bowman uncovered a bunch of lost footage from Bastien Salabanzi, delivering a full part of unseen footage. Right from the time period when Bastien left Flip, this 6+ minute new/old part stands the test of time and is still pretty incredible today. Ordinarily, when a guy repeats a trick at multiple spots it gets a tad boring and mundane, but Bastien's caballerial kickflip is one of those tricks you can watch all day. It helps that he flicks and spins them out super fast and at some of the sickest spots too. And to think that Bastien came out with a legit cab flip front board down a handrail 10 years ago is phenomenal, especially when Nyjah's version was close to ending one of the heaviest video parts of all time.
But even with those two stand out video parts from this week, Grant Taylor's "cruising" welcome video for Antihero - a pretty big skate news announcement in itself as I'm still hoping AWS keeps it together - was my pick for this week. Normally I don't find tranny skating that entertaining (possibly because it always looks way too flowy and easy) but there's something about Grant Taylor that defies the laws of motion. He has a raw natural ability to boost higher, grind longer, and pump faster than just about every other skater I've seen. This intro video to Antihero looked as if he could pull it together with just some chill sessions with the squad, yet the footage is super gnarly. He glides around bowls like nothing and strings lines of tricks together because he has so many good ones down pat. Watching him skate and witnessing his ease and control with the board is certainly a pleasure.
In other news...
-Even though I'm skeptical about the legitimacy of everything being first try despite what my friend Pat says, Shane O'Neill's tricks at the Berrics for New Years are insane, park footage or not. Only Shane...and I cannot wait for his upcoming Thrasher part!!
-Though it'll be taken down soon, Tom Karangelov impresses everyone with his first full length legit part from Cold War. Great style, great eye for spots, and pulling off the Heath look certainly helps too.
-I don't normally post year-end montages but when I do, they are super gnarly and get you psyched to skate like no other montage. It's been a Hell of a Year over at Thrasher.
-Anton Myhrvold comes through with a really smooth part through Globe and Kingpin with some pretty incredible switch skating.
-A bunch of teams put out montages every month or so but they usually feel like filler, throwaway, or just more decent footage that adds to the entropy of the internet. But there's something about the crew at Stereo that stands out - editing, style, I'm not sure exactly - and they came through with a tight edit from some of their riders.
-The underratedly stacked team at DVS mixed with the beautiful East Coast spots in NYC? A combination worth a few view for sure with DVS's Trippin through The Big Apple.
UPDATE: Also forgot to point out that DGK's full length video Parental Advisory is now out online, for all those that weren't able to catch it around Christmas last year.
Yoshi Tanenbaum's skill is surreal. The fact that the flick on his laser was perfect nearly every single try and he stuck all but maybe two attempts is incomprehensible. Making something so gnarly look easy enough to just run up and go for it like Yoshi did is beyond impressive, and then landing it twice in a row (what was wrong with the first one?) takes the cake for me.
For time constraints I will just list some other sweet videos from this past week:
Chaz Ortiz and his insanely consistent and buttery backside flips at the Berrics
The Expedition flow bros are extremely skilled
Always enjoy some new Josh Anderson footage, in this case via his Mag Minute
The ever-beautiful varial heelflips and variations from Willow in this Etnies feature
Moose's first pro truck via Thunder Trucks
Sweet new part from Aussie Jack Fardell
Always love some raw VX footage from one of my favorites, Walker Ryan
Connor Champion skating very poppy with this Quartersnacks remixed part
Loving the New Balance team lately, especially with edits like The Second Narrows
Waters and Army welcomes Marek Zaprazny with this awesome video part (fakie nosegrind switch tre!) Introduction to Zero's Cold War video (so pumped to see it this week!!)
Ben Fisher has a wonderful style and his manual tricks down solid. I'd say he's got the best reverts mid-manual out of anyone (backside and frontside) as well as the ability to stylishly flick fakie flips, fakie 360 flips, and especially a one-of-a-kind backside flip out of his manuals. He's probably got the best frontside 180 to fakie manny in the game as well. His precision board control is unreal in many instances and to possess a smooth style like he does is just an added compliment to his skating. The first part I ever saw of Ben was his Recruit at the Berrics where he shows his skills at 0:32 with a beautiful frontside 180 fakie manny fakie tre out with a monster flick. Also he demonstrates his unique backside flip (almost like a kickflip with a really late back 180) out of a 50-50 and into a switch manual nonetheless at 0:52. It takes a serious amount of control to be able to speedily 180 fakie manny with a 180 out up a ramp like at 1:00 as well as fakie ollie up a euro to fakie manny then pop down some stairs like at 1:09. On top of all that he does a nose manual body varial to fakie manual at 0:17 that I really don't think I've seen from anyone else. Though this is just his skatepark footage from the Berrics, I feel like his style and trick selection from here are ever-present through his following video parts.
In Ta-Ha, he also shows his control over his fakie manuals at 0:23 when he drops down mid fakie manual a considerable distance and then still fakie 360 flips out of the trick. Also, at 0:29, he starts a simple manual, reverts frontside to fakie manual, and then somehow spins back the other way with a half cab flip out, not flinching or flailing his arms one bit with any of the rewinding motions. Talk about control.
In his Transworld Transmission part (above), Ben continues with that rewindable control at 1:36 where he is doing a switch nose manual, fakie big spins to manual and then frontside 180s out. Along with that, he upgrades a trick you see at 0:34 in Ta-Ha with a newer one at 2:46 where along the popular small circular manny pads he ollies to manual, backside reverts, and then frontside half cabs out with good pop to demonstrate his progression in his control of his balance. At 2:19, Ben comes up with a crafty NBD by fakie frontside boardsliding and then doing a switch shove it out to fakie manual. Plus his last two tricks from 3:03 are extremely precisely done.
Most recently, in his Stereophonic Sound part, Ben shows at 1:32 strings together a front 180 fakie manual with a nose manual by a well-popped frontside half cab, showing how "simple" tricks can be so refreshing and fun to watch. He makes good use of the bank at 2:24 as well with a switch nose manual half cab flip to nose manual. And the ender at 2:46 is just a beautiful display of quick-footed precision skating.
What's great about Ben is that every manual trick you see from him either has some very stylish flip trick thrown into it, some difficult reverting or spinning, some innovative combination of tricks, or just a very controlled pop in/out to it. His manual skills are definitely special and he is always intriguing to watch skate and balance.
