The Week Today, Now - 22/11/2021

Bringing you the latest and greatest skateboard news from the last week, including new Max Palmer, another Mark Suciu part, and two servings of Aussie goodness.

Photo: Rest in peace Zane Timpson.

Some tragic news this week as Heroin skateboards’ Zane Timpson died aged 26. Zane’s been killing it for years with his no-holds-barred ATV approach to skating and he will be sorely missed. In tribute, Vague have uploaded his hectic part from Heroin's 'Earth Goblin' video which showcases his inimitable brand of shredding. Rest in peace to a true legend.

Our good friend Tidy Mike, filmer extraordinaire and the mastermind behind Forecast, appeared as a guest on the latest episode of the Skate Creative podcast, where he talks about growing up in rural Wales, getting involved with the Fifty-Fifty boys over in Bristol, and working on his own projects. Really interesting listen with some amazing insight into the mind of a true Welsh legend.

Paul Coutherut’s new video, ‘Hit Video’, is a strong last-minute contender for video of the year with a bangin’ soundtrack and incredible parts from everyone’s favourites, Max Palmer, Nik Stain, and Cyrus Bennett. The video features some sick homie footage alongside plenty of famous faces, and feels almost like a VX1000 equivalent of a Johnny Wilson video - if that doesn’t sell it to you then I dunno what will.

Vans Europe’s latest video, ‘Synthesize Me’, documents a trip to Marseille with some of the brand's female skaters, including Helena Long, Amanda Perez, Louise Menke, and Lisa Jacob. The ladies show off some of the cities incredible spots, and after that bangin’ ‘La Plaine Brut’ edit from last week, it seems like Marseille is the place to be.

Vague have uploaded Albie Edmonds’ part from Will Smith’s (not that Will Smith) new Leeds full-length video, ‘Assembly’, alongside his interview from Vague issue 23. Albie gives the North of England a thorough pasting in this savage part, swiftly handling any obstacle unfortunate to find itself in his line of sight.

Photo: Albie Edmonds with a McGrath stall from his Vague skate magazine interview. Shot by Reece Leung.

Spitfire’s Australian contingent kill it in their new video, ‘Scenic’, with loads of legends you’ll probably recognise from the incredible Nike SB Australia edits. Riley Pavey leads the opening montage with help from Ben Lawrie and more Aussie rippers than you could shake a dingo at, before Rowan Davis comes through with an incredible full part. We’ve been big fans of Rowan since his footage in ‘Medley’ and his ‘Civic Central’ part for Girl Skateboards, and his part in ‘Scenic’ carries on his tradition of impeccable trick selection and buttery style.

Another banger from the land down-under, Pass-port have come out with a new video in collaboration with Drag surfboards that gives a whole new meaning to ‘surf-shaped’ skateboards. The surreal video, ‘Drag~Hard’, features a hilarious overarching narrative skit that feels like a cross between ‘The Machinist’ and ‘Point Break’, alongside some impressive skateboard- and surf-related antics. This one’s a must-watch.

Suciu has blessed us with yet another new part this week, this time for Spitfire Wheels. Mark gives some of New York’s most famous spots a rigorous seeing-to, with the Courthouse and Blubba both seeing some serious action. If it wasn’t already clear, it’s safe to say he’s really gunning for SOTY this year; I was right with my prediction of another part last time and I do still get the feeling he has something left up his sleeve.

Made using offcuts from the bangin’ ‘Loupe’ video from a couple weeks back, ‘Extra LOUPE’ is a short but sweet edit featuring Kyle Wilson, Heitor Da Silva, and Calvin Ligono in London. Don’t think there’s any better way to spend two and a half minutes than watching these three legends floating around some iconic London spots.

Portsmouth filmer, Nick Vieweg, has come through with a sleek new video, ‘Feuille Morte’, filmed in Bristol, Portsmouth, Cardiff, and London. The video features skating from a wide selection of legends including Cass Doig, Joe Barrett, and a cameo from our mate, Reid Allen, as well as a touching tribute to Ralph Roberts.

Free Skate Mag have uploaded Javi De Pedro’s part from the Valencia scene video, ‘Heritage’. Javi takes us on a tour of Valencia with buttery tech and a nice sprinkling of trendiness in the shape of some extremely tasteful slappies and wallrides. It’s not often you see someone slappy straight into a backside tailslide on a ledge, but Javi makes it look all too easy. Definitely gonna be keeping an eye out for more from this guy, he kinda reminds me of a Spanish Victor Campillo. The ender’s no joke as well.

Skateboarding’s most sadistic brand, Zero Skateboards, are back with a new appropriately-titled full-length video, ‘Painkiller’. Taking us straight back to the early 2000s, the Zero boys put their bodies on the line for your viewing pleasure, tossing their carcasses down the gnarliest drops, gaps, and rails they could find.

Side Effect Goods’ new video, ‘The Side Effect Promo’, ticks a lot of boxes with its bangin’ soundtrack and eclectic bag of rippers. Of course any footage from Frog superstar, Pat Gallaher, is guaranteed to be a treat, but Dalton Jones was my standout favourite from the video thanks to his elegant style and extremely unconventional trick selection; when someone ollies onto a bench the last thing you expect them to do is wallride the back of it. I know it doesn’t really make sense but you’ve got to see it to believe it. Any video which uses an MF DOOM song is a yes from us.

Photo: Danil Ugolkov with a lofty switch frontside flip from Wallride Skate shops new video, 'That's It'. Shot by Maxim Sorokin via Free Skate Mag.

‘That’s It’ is a stylish new video from Wallride skate shop in Kazakhstan, and the millionth video this year to use Smashing Pumpkins in its soundtrack. Contrary to what you may have seen in ‘Borat’, it turns out Kazakhstan has some bangin’ spots and a whole host of talented skaters on the come-up. Special shoutout to the willy grind nollie heel out, very nice.

In the latest instalment of King of MACBA, Tiago Lemos faced off against Gabriel Fortunato in one of the most intense battles of the series yet. Gabriel did well to keep up with Tiago’s monstrous pop, but in the end Tiago pulled out all the stops to make sure he got the win. It’s nice to see Tiago taking things a bit more seriously and bringing out the big guns for this one, coming through with some insane first try makes and impressive defensive maneuvers. It’ll be interesting to see if anyone can take the crown off Tiago, who’s definitely more than earned himself the title of ‘King of MACBA’ over the years.

Eric Hedberg has a new part out for Free Skate Magazine featuring some signature Scandi smoothness and a soothing ambient soundtrack reminiscent of Polar’s ‘I Like It Here Inside My Mind’.

Carson Reuther channels the spirit of Ricky Oyola in his new video, ‘Cold Feet’, which features a healthy portion of back-street Philadelphia crust.

Place Mag have followed up their ‘Unsigned Hype’ series with new video, ‘The RE-UP’, which revisits some of the skaters they highlighted in ‘Unsigned Hype’, Pascal Moelaert and Oscar Safstrom. The video features footage from Berlin, Malmö, and Rotterdam as the boys travel to each of their hometowns, as well as Place’s hometown of Berlin. Both these boys have got style for miles and it’s sick to see how they’ve developed since Place first put a spotlight on them.

Traffic’s latest addition, Ian McGraw, takes the reins in the latest instalment of the ‘Traffic Report’ series with plenty of cutty back-alley spots and guest appearances from the rest of the Traffic Skateboards team.

Swiss psycho, Martino Cattaneo, has a hectic new part out for Madness skateboards filled with loads of tight transitions and brutal banks. You don’t get a spot on the Madness team without conquering your fair share of insane transition, and Martino makes it clear that he deserves his place. There’s even some surprisingly tech street bangers in there to show you he's got it all.

‘How far is a light year’, the new video from Gas Giant, boasts an impressive line-up of pros including Ishod, Tanner Van Vark, and Wes Kremer, although the video feels more like a Spring Break party montage than a skate video. Despite the impressive lineup, the video’s ruined by an absolutely heinous soundtrack we’d recommend either watching it on mute, or just tapping out after that first morsel of Ishod footage.

The Element team head out into the wilderness to film their new nature-focused video, ‘Nature Calls’, filled with all sorts of weird and wonderful spots. The crew skate everything in sight from crusty mountain hillbombs and ditches to dirt quarterpipes and even frozen lakes. Even Christian would turn his nose up at some of these spots.

Meme of the week:

@badskatermemes