Videos

"TRIO" is the latest surprise edit released by Strush Wheels (the Japan-based, quality urethane and audiovisual production provider LIVE has been focusing on for years). As per usual, one can count on Ryuichi Tanaka's handling of the direction, and on his longtime, signature style comprising meticulous editing and stellar soundtracks; on the sessions, he was assisted by Kyota Kamei and as far as the eventual product goes, we're talking representing three skateboarders all renowned for their pairing up of efficiency with fine taste: Issei Kumatani, Shogo Zama (you can still watch his latest video part for Magenta, here) and Shinya Nohara, for exactly as long as five minutes on the clock!

"INFERNO VERDE" is one nifty twenty-minute Sony VX-1000 trip to Manaus, Brazil, essentially the pulsating metropolitan heart of the Amazon, round trip and all expenses paid by Costume, the local brand LIVE hasn't been without sharing some of the former productions from before, itself led by Adonis Perfeito and his intrinsic drive to represent. To the equally-on-point platform Black Media Skate, he recites:

"« Green hell, green paradise; this is the classic Amazon where the past is common and synonymous with gigantic snakes and magic fish... » once said Glauber Rocha in his short film 'AMAZONAS, AMAZONAS' (1966).

For five years, we've been conducting ethnological studies, digging deep searching Manaus' alleys and landscapes for the summits of this 'green hell'.

A region rooted into the very old world, entranced by its situation in between water aplenty and luxurious vegetation that cracks concrete and asphalt, where alligators, jaguars and sloths fight for civility. One odd mix of creation and creatures, natural life and artificial death."

For the average skater now, this notably translates under the form of original - and crazy - spots, duly exploited by a collective of efficient and creative individuals, including Felipe Oliveira, Cotinz, Luis Moschioni and many more remarkable stylers. Ah and the editing and soundtrack are top notch, too!

This new conceptual edit by Marcelo Garcia and his friends just dropped via Brazilian platform Black Media Skate and is as fresh and revigorating as some good local açaï. The principle is simple and tackled to perfection, resulting in a five-minute video piece that might even inspire you to question your own surroundings under a new light, as though in order to find your own lines of fugacity.

If you can read Portuguese (either on your own or thanks to the www), an article exists here - by Fabio Luiz Pimentel - and an interview with Marcelo about his approach can be found here; all top notch stuff!

"REDRIFT" is the latest indie skate homebrew and REDRE crew audiovisual production directly extracted from the unstoppable dynamics of the Nantes, France scene (remember: "L'ELDORADO" & "CHRONICLES OF THE PAST", "NANT'ES SERIEUX?"...), the timeline of which was finally orchestrated by Mattéo Gaudin, of local magazine Ob'Session fame and already interviewed here. On the menu: seventeen minutes of documentation of the city being exploited in a manner as spontaneous as modern, natural diversity in all the individual styles and approaches with some creativity and originality to boot, and aesthetics equally influenced by the local aquatic fauna and by the "ATLANTIC DRIFT" series. So, really, one fine window into a slice of life of a youthful, D.I.Y. spirit-fueled crew which only testifies - again - of Nantes' intrinsic skate potential throughout the decades ("CHRONICLES OF THE PAST"), all the while inputting one more wake-up call to the authorities when it comes to the current needs of the average citizen for better tolerance, if not recognition of their freedom to naturally enjoy "public" space.

Mattéo in person says:

"Nantes, June 21st, 2021: World Music Day, 'go skateboarding day' and the summer solstice: really, all the stars seemed aligned enough to at least hope for a wonderful day.

But no, that would be without considering the then confirmed tendency of rainy weather commonly coming crashing onto the city of the Dukes of Brittany, also complicating perspectives for skateboarding. Also, the powers that be - perhaps already a little too oblivious of some other recent mistakes of theirs - chose to gas the whole of a downtown only packed with crowds of people who had come to enjoy the music. That is the kind of somber mood about a dozen of upset versions of us were sharing that one night, when we went to gather and chill along the Erdre.

The shenanigans that ensued: beer can duct-taping, sardine in-box cooking (paired up with the smell of gas too, still filling up the air), and the initiative of finding a crew name.

Hanging right overhead was this piece of city-commissioned 'contemporary' art consisting in giant metal letters, except several of them had gone missing and now, instead of "REVER ERDRE" ("DREAMING ERDRE"), all that was apparent was "RE DRE". It just clicked all at once and from that point onwards, 'REDREEE' became the rallying cry for that night and then many more.

REDRE was born.

One year later now: the crew is even bigger and still loving to skate and film, party and even make miniatures, cocktails and postcards.

Bon visionnage!" - Mattéo Gaudin

Most anyone having been following the worldwide independent skate scene (or maybe even LIVE!) probably hasn't escaped the heat of Jakarta, Indonesia-based Malacca Skateboards' boiling steam from the past couple of years; if you're one exception, though, we can only recommend you to catch up via "KHIDMAT" or "MALACCA 2020", both remarkable video pieces at the time and now still, in terms of both quality and inspiration. It seems to be the posse's default mode to honor their local spots with some particularly intense care, energy and a very certain lean towards fine taste.

This new no-less-than-a-full-length, "SELEKTA", only confirms such an impression; once again handicrafted by the Malaka Sari Film Production crew. The soundtrack too is typically Indonesian; a slice of culture one owes to Diskoria Selekta, also justifying the project title! Roughly twenty minutes of VX and exposed film that are bound to take you on a trip - at least to your own next spot, if anywhere.