Just to ramble off the top of my head…
Toy Machine-Welcome to Hell
Surely a million love letters have been written about this but it just goes. Melted my brain with the heaviest skating I’d ever seen at the time. Whole crew just bangs. I was listening to NPR this week talking about Jefferson Airplane being inducted into the library of Congress and all I could think about was the friends montage section here.
World Industries/Blind/101-Trilogy
The soundtrack on this thing is just incredible. 101 firing it off with Dill and Gino parts. The whole Blind section is so pleasant. Kareem skating to Nas. Sam Devlin skating to Jesus Lizard, so weird I love it. Something to this day you can put on and vibe out and do chores around the house and enjoy the music and pop in and watch something amazing on screen. The only downside is mid 90s cali spot overload.
Stereo-Tincan Folklore
When skate videos were little films. The complete opposite of something like the Toy videos. More meandering and vibey, lots of super 8, lots of cruising sf at night.
Alien Workshop-Timecode
It’s a more structured version of something like Stereo was doing. Alien has always been weird and cool and had their own lane and I love this era. Photosynthesis gets so much love for good reason but I like this. If for nothing else, take in the final part from Lenny Kirk. The flash in the pan and descent into madness is wild. Head injuries are serious. Escape hell.
Solid Brand-Take Five
This is kind of a deep cut but it’s just like the skate video equivalent of comfort food for me. Based around Cincinnati, it was different because it just looked like home. It opens with cruising past a carousel to Van Morrison’s Sweet Thing and I can just feel the whole thing in my bones every time. The music is awesome, the skating is great and the spots are crusty.
Apr 24, 2024
Related Recs
The OG episodes were and still are some of the most important and iconic docs of an era in skateboarding thats gone but not forgotten. Antwan Dixon And Ed Templetons are amazing. Watch from the very beginning.
Feb 21, 2024
A documentary about grafitti and breakdancing. Between the antagonists (Ed Koch and Cap), the pearl clutching public and the charismatic subjects it really keeps you engaged. Also really solid editing. Tony silver was on one.
you can watch it on nightflight but if money is tight I’m sure if you poke around the usual spots you can find it ;)
May 12, 2024
on it’s face this is not a particularly interesting documentary, the editing is serviceable and the interviews aren’t exactly dynamic, but what it lacks in creativity it more than makes up for in content. blank city tells the story of the no wave movement in 70s/80s downtown nyc from the ones who lived it. truly one of the most inspiring documentaries that i found at a pivotal point in my life that changed the trajectory of how i view filmmaking, art, and just coolness in general. blank city is the story of one of the most transgressive artist communities of all time and they’re not very well known, just a few names made it to the mainstream with many others becoming underground legends. in fact a few of the films featured in this documentary are only viewable by screening at the museum of modern art, totally unreleased everywhere else (and trust me i’ve tried to find them) this doc got me into the new york art scene, velvet underground, jim jarmusch, glenn o’brien’s tv party, patti smith, andy warhol, lydia lunch, john lurie, jean-michel basquiat and on and on and on. this film opened a gateway into filmmaking that i had never even considered at that point in my life and i’m grateful i found it. the best part is: kino lorber was kind enough to upload the entire thing on youtube to watch right now!
Jan 17, 2025
Top Recs from @erraticcompendium
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Let’s play hooky in Chicago.
Apr 6, 2024
Mar 12, 2024
Brandy was my childhood stuffed puppy dog, and named after my dad’s beloved St. Bernard. Pictured is Puppy, a clone of Brandy that came from grandparents house. The duplicate canine was sourced after Brandy was left behind at grandma‘s and had to be mailed home. I think the idea was to have one at both locales.
Mar 22, 2024