2023 goals:
Get healthy!
Never wear skate shoes again (that’s what caused my calf injury).
Put out a part for my 50th.
Get shown up 50 times.
Drink very little.
Halfcab heel noseslide 270 shove out.
Film a line with a treflip and a nollie treflip in it.
Here is my list for 2019.
Best part of the year: Mark Suciu – Verso. You know a part is amazing when it’s 12 minutes long and there isn’t a single tic tac. The tech skills, the relatable spots, the middle two songs, the spots, the flow. This dude is one of the best of all time.
Runner up best parts of the year:
Flo Mirtain – Helas Fellas
Bobby Worrest – Venture
Mark Suciu – Habitat Control Room
Gustav Tonneson – Adidas Reverb
Chico Brenes – 7×7
Video of the Year: Helas Fellas
Runner up best vid of the year:
Sour Solution 2 (my two favorite videos of the year are euro vids!)
Now for a bunch of random ones:
Here’s a link to my ‘best of 2019′ playlist that I added to everytime a part I really liked came out on YouTube.
Skater Of The Year: Mark Suciu by a mile
Trick Of The Year: Milton Martinez kickflip into the carwash
Worst Trend: Handrail only parts. I thought these died years ago? Ugh
Most Underrated Skater: Was gonna say Chris Colbourn, but he just turned pro so that’s good. Maybe the majority of the Santa Cruz team.
Best PJ Tricolor remix – To Pavement! So good
Best Instagram Post – NB PJ 533 commercial. This will probably be the last PJ clip we ever see so cherish it.
Best Line Of The Year: Can’t decide. Either Tom Knox in Atlantic Drift Moscow, Bobby Worrest “up the three” in Venture part, Or Suciu’s line at Flushing in Control Room (7:46).
I skated 277 days in 2019 and changed my setup 30 times. Yikes! That’s why my main skate New Years Resolution for 2020 is to stick with 8.25 the whole year.
( I will probably keep adding onto this for awhile)
Better late than never, here’s my G-Eddy awards.
Best video part – Brandon Westgate in Element’s Peace
Runner Up – Franky Villani turning pro for Primitive.
Best video – Primitive Never (sorry, I like tech skating)
Runner up – Element Peace. Mostly because it’s put together so well. And Westgate!
Best line – Westgate when the music stops in Peace
Best am – Griffin Gass
Best shoe – NB# 212s although they hurt my feet after a couple pairs in a row. But all shoes hurt my feet so that’s pretty good.
Best trick I did – No comply finger flip into that Denver bank. It was so scary and so fun to roll away from.
Runner up – Front shove down the Dentist 5.
Best skater ever – Jack Spanbauer
Best instagram feed – saggyclips
Have you seen him? PJ. Will we ever see skate footage of him again?
2019 skate goals- ledges, flip tricks. That be it.
Most anticipated video of 2019 (that I know of) – Sour Solution II
Worst trend- handrail only video parts
Glad the trend is going away- those stupid hucked flip tricks to quick no comply trick instead of landing the flip trick.
Best skate trip – Hawaii! Man that was crazy going there.
Best album – Ovlov Tru.
Runner up – J Mascis Elastic Days (Yes this is the first time in history that J did not get album of the year)
Best song – Ovlov – Tru Punk
Best Concert – Treepeople at Larimer Lounge
Most excited for – Trump imprisoned
Food I still miss the most because I don’t eat gluten anymore (and avoid dairy normally) – pizza
Here’s to 2019!
Best shoe – NB# 212s although they hurt my feet after a couple pairs in a row. But all shoes hurt my feet so that’s pretty good.
Best trick I did – No comply finger flip into that Denver bank. It was so scary and so fun to roll away from.
Runner up – Front shove down the Dentist 5.
Best skater ever – Jack Spanbauer
Best instagram feed – saggyclips
Have you seen him? PJ. Will we ever see skate footage of him again?
2019 skate goals- ledges, flip tricks. That be it.
Most anticipated video of 2019 (that I know of) – Sour Solution II
Worst trend- handrail only video parts
Glad the trend is going away- those stupid hucked flip tricks to quick no comply trick instead of landing the flip trick.
Best skate trip – Hawaii! Man that was crazy going there.
Best album – Ovlov Tru.
Runner up – J Mascis Elastic Days (Yes this is the first time in history that J did not get album of the year)
Best song – Ovlov – Tru Punk
Best Concert – Treepeople at Larimer Lounge
Most excited for – Trump leaving the office to avoid prison time
Food I still miss the most because I don’t eat gluten anymore (and avoid dairy normally) – pizza
Here’s to 2019!
Yeah yeah, no one cares, but here’s my picks.
SOTY: Easy. Wes Kremer. Dude kills.
Best video: Transworld Outliers. Brad Cromer!
Best video part: Chris Joslin welcome to Etnies. Sorry, it was the one part that motivated me more then anything else this year.
The line starting at 2:41 is my second favorite line of the year and the mach 20 treflip down the sidewalk after the credits is pure epic.
Best line of the year: Wes Kremer. The f/s flip at the end going mach 20 is the icing on the cake.
Best trick of the year: Chris Joslin bigspin at MACBA
Most disappointing video: Plan B Lies. Not even just because of the lack of PJ, but the editing is horrible, the music sucks and the skating is made boring. How you only show the bigspin at MACBA once is beyond me. And then slow motion TPuds standing there more then the trick? Whack.
Runner up most disappointing video: Enjoi Oververt. An entire video of 2 minute parts? Come on now.
Best creative part: Scott Stevens
This part definitely had me trying some new no complies for a few weeks.
Maybe actually the best part of the year: Auby Taylor
And why the hell isn’t he pro? And why did Krooked blow it so bad?
Best part that makes me want to go to the east coast and skate ledges: Gavin Nolan welcome to the Zoo.
Best shoe: New Balance Numeric Stratford.
It’s embarrassing to the skate shoe industry how much better this shoe is then anything else. And NB still isn’t happy enough with the quality.
Best cover: Ryan Gallant kick back noseblunt Clipper. So sick!
Thing I am most ashamed of skate wise this year: Even more embarrassing then the fact that I love New Balance shoes is the fact that I don’t watch skate DVDs so much anymore. This is mostly due to my kids basically owning the TV, but still, I mostly watch parts on my computer or phone now and that sucks.
Worst trend in skateboarding: The loose trucks speed check is the hipster tic tac.
Still the best transition skater ever: Grant Taylor
Top 10 albums of the year:[table id=1 /]Honorable mention:Wavves – King Of The Beach, Black Keys – BrothersBest concert of the year:Titus Andronicus at the Bluebird. Completely epic. ‘Four Score and Seven’ rocked so insanely hard it’s in the top 10 songs I’ve heard live.Other notable concerts:White Rabbits at the Fox. Surprisingly rocking and some of the best percussing / drum pounding ever witnessed.The Henry Clay People at the Larimer Lounge. So FUN! Fun fun fun. Lots of covers, smiles, beer and rock ‘n roll.The Thermals at the Bluebird. Such a great live act.Poison Control Center at the Larimer. Not exactly the best show I’ve seen, but easily the weirdest. Between the weirdo dancing and the song long shoulder stands that show left me confused.Pavement at the Ogden. They play better live now then they did in the 90s. Straighten the Crooked several times. Hyped Zach is making it happen.Looking forward to in 2011:New Bright Eyes Feb 15 (already preordered it!)New J Mascis March 15! All acoustic J Mascis studio album. Might be epic. Very high hopes on this one, kinda scared.More from my friends bands Straighten The Crooked and Gangcharger. Also looking forward to John’s new band.
First off, I want to say that this was one of the best years for music since the 90s. Granted, almost all the music I purchased this year is either a band that was around in the early 90s or has members from that era. Still, an awesome year for music.BEST ALBUMS OF 2009
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1. Dinosaur Jr – Farm. It’s no mystery that I love Dinosaur Jr more than any other band out there. It’s also no secret that they could put out a mediocre album (by their standards) and it will still be my favorite album of the year. But imagine this year when they released Farm and it’s one of their finest albums ever. Farm is so far beyond (no pun intended) anything else that came out this year. I’d even say it’s leagues above anything that has come out this decade. Okay, I’ll go even further, Farm is the best album released since You’re Living All Over Me in 1987. There you go. Totally epic. Best band ever. |
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2. Pissed Jeans – King Of Jeans. This album totally benefits from Dinosaur Jr putting out such a good album. Dinosaur Jr pretty much satisfies my cravings for indie rock, metal, pop, garage, noise, etc except Dinosaur Jr doesn’t do trashy gutter punk. And oh boy did Pissed Jeans fill that void this year and then some. I absolutely love this album and the simple lyrics. It reminds me of early 90s grunge/punk masters like Jesus Lizard, Nirvana, Tad. Love it. |
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3. Boston Spaceships – Planets Are Blasted. They put out two albums this year. That’s common for Robert Pollard, but it still amazes me. This one edges out Zero to 99, but really, both albums are awesome. Boston Spaceships really know how to deliver the hooks. They do awesome lo fi indie rock to perfection. This is another album that reminds me of how music was made in the early 90s. The song Keep Me Down was runner up for me to skate to in Off The Couch if for some reason I was banned from using Dinosaur Jr. |
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4. The Thermals – Now We Can See. This is the first Thermals album I’m not completely in love with. There are three songs I could totally do without; When I Died, We Were Sick and Liquid In, Liquid Out. Those songs lack the energy I want in the Thermals. Not only are those songs weak, but When I Died and We Were Sick start the album off. With that being said though, the rest still makes me happy in the way that only the Thermals can do. I think the songs When We Were Alive and I Called Out Your Name are up to par with any great Thermals songs. |
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5. Polvo – In Prism. Good ol’ weird indie rock. I’d probably like it more if it wasn’t a double LP with only two songs on each side so you have to flip the record over so much. I mean did you really have to do that Merge? You have to play it at 45rpm too. Why not just put 4 songs on each side and play it at 33? |
Honorable mentions: Sonic Youth – The Eternal (If there show would have been good I’d like it more), Boston Spaceships – Zero to 99 (Two albums in one year awesome)Decent, but disappointing:Obits – I Blame You. Just not heavy or interesting enough.Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band – Outer South. I’m glad you’re having fun Conor, but we just want to hear you.Please stop existing as a band: BUILT TO SPILL. Seriously, call it quits while I still have some respect for you. Your shows are horrible and uninspired and the new music is beyond boring.Songs of the Year:Best Dinosaur Jr song – I Don’t Wanna Go There. 4 minutes of meat and potatoes Dinosaur Jr. 5 minutes of solo. EPIC.Best non-Dinosaur Jr hype me up song: Pissed Jeans – False Jesii Part II. Runner up The Thermals – When We Were Alive.Best pop song: Boston Spaceships – Let It Rest For A Little WhileBest Video: Dinosaur Jr – Over It.Concerts Of The Year:1. Dinosaur Jr – Aggie Theater in Fort Collins, CO. Totally epic setlist played perfect.2. Jesus Lizard – Capitol Hill Block Party Seattle, WA. The Mighty Jesus Lizard delivered!3. Dinosaur Jr – Boulder Theater, Boulder, CO. Something a bit lacking about this show, but still loud and awesome.4. The Thermals – Marquis Theater, Denver, CO. Such a fun time.5. Conor Oberst – Waiting Room, Omaha, NE. Christmas show party. Awesome. Some of the old Bright Eyes songs were so good.Worst concert of the Year: Sonic Youth at the Ogden. Play a hit you elitist assholes.Looking forward to in 2010: Haven’t heard of much yet other than a new Thermals album. Hope to see more Dinosaur Jr obviously and hopefully Pissed Jeans tour.