Whether it's a song stuck in your head or an iPod
blasting in your ear, music plays a pivotal mood-setting role in skate videos
and acts as the soundtrack of day-to-day life. Vancouver's Cory Wilson and Paul
Machnau along with Toronto's Lee Yankou took the time to share 7 of their
favourite tracks and some commentary about each. What we have here is a
very diverse 21-Song Salute to help
inspire your next playlist.
Cory Wilson, frontside 360. Brian Caissie sequence.
Cory Wilson
"Music is a good way to start the day," says Kitsch
Skateboards pro Cory
Wilson. "I prefer to listen to CDs and I don't skate with an iPod
because I like to listen to the sounds of the shralp! Music influences my
everyday life and it's a great way to jam with a posse, by myself, with my
lady, in cars, at bars, or while drinking coffee."
Black Sabbath: "A National Acrobat"
(Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, 1973).
"Fast, epic
Ozzy."
Joy Division: "Shadowplay"
(Unknown Pleasures, 1979).
"This classic
reminds me of skating around the city whenever I hear it."
Bob Marley: "Concrete Jungle" (Catch A Fire, 1973).
"Good vibes
with Bob and an awesome guitar solo. Reggae rules."
Nas and Damian Marley: "Tribal War"
(Distant Relatives, 2010).
"This album is
cutting-edge and these guys are on their own program."
Ululation:
"Brouhaha"
(
Ululation, 1987)
"It's the jazz
tune from Ethan Fowler's part in Stereo's ‘A Visual Sound' (1994). To me, this
part captures what skateboarding is all about – cruising around the streets.
The music fits nicely with the skating and lifestyle footage in the part."
Bob Dylan: "One More Cup of Coffee" (Desire, 1976).
"A slower song
that's nice to kick back to."
Willie Nelson: "The Harder They Come"
(Countryman, 2005).
"Willie rules
and this Jimmy Cliff cover has a bit of a reggae/country feel to it."
Lee
Yankou
"I am kinda technologically retarded, so I just
listen to songs on YouTube and get hyped before I skate." claims Lee Yankou,
who's an AM on Think's revamped squad (check him
out at the 3:45 mark in their June 2010 web promo). "I also rarely listen to
music when I skate, only if I'm by myself and pushing far. I personally think
it's more fun to cheer on your homies and crack a joke in between tries – stuff
you can't do if you're listening to an iPod."
Black Sabbath: "Meglomania" (Sabotage, 1975).
"10 minutes of Sabbath, and this shit
gets epic. It makes you want to go fast and head-bang."
Santo & Johnny: "Sleep Walk" (Santo & Johnny, 1959).
"Trapasso skated to this
in "Suffer The Joy" (Toy Machine, 2006). If I skate by myself and start to get
frustrated, I put this on the iPod and I'm instantly back to cruising."
Pink Floyd: "San Tropez" (Meddle, 1971).
"This one's just mellow and super
catchy."
Syd Barrett: "No
Good Trying" (The Madcap Laughs,
1970).
"Ethan Fowler skated to this in "Nervous
Breakdown" (Foundation, 1999). The song is sick and fits his part really well."
David Bowie: "Rock
‘n' Roll Suicide" (The Rise and Fall
of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, 1972).
"Arto Saari in 'Sorry' (Flip, 2002) would
definitely be my favourite song/part combo. It's 2 Bowie songs, and having it end with 'Rock ‘n' Roll Suicide' is
just way too amazing. This song doesn't get old for me. Even the Seu Jorge
version in Portuguese is rad."
Dre Dog (Andre Nickatina): "Smoke Dope and Rap" (The New
Jim Jones, 1993).
"I don't condone the use of drugs, but I
like this song because of the beat and how Dre Dog just comes off as being a
hard-ass."
Led Zeppelin:
"Achilles Last Stand" (Presence,
1976).
"Another 10
minute track that shreds. Hyped on just putting on a song and have it go
through different phases while it plays. At the end, I'm just hyped and ready
to skate."
Paul Machnau
"I'm not much for downloading music - I don't really
have the time to waste on that because I'd rather be out skating," says Paul
Machnau, who's a pro and TM for the recently relauched Red Star skateboards.
"The best album I ever bought was Slayer's Decade
of Aggression (1991). It increases my speed on anything I do when I listen
to it."
Primus: "Tommy
The Cat" (Sailing the Seas of Cheese,
1991).
"This is from
Duffy's part in 'Questionable'
(Plan B, 1992). I can't even begin to describe the feeling I get from this one.
That video changed my life!"
Led Zeppelin: "Good
Times Bad Times" (Led Zeppelin,
1969).
"Danny Way's
song in ‘Virtual Reality' (Plan B, 1993). Brings me back to the first day I bought
that video and watched it 3-times-straight, and then went skating for 8 hours."
Slayer: "Black
Magic" (Show No Mercy, 1983).
"I used this
in my Globe ‘United By Fate' part (2008).
It's a song I've been into for a long time, and always wanted to use it for a
video part."
AC/DC: "Hells
Bells" (Back in Black, 1980)
"Used as the
opener in the Color
Skateboards video (1993). I was into Color when it was around; sick
team (Jeremy Wray, Kris Markovich, Kyle Yanagimoto, Quy Nguyen, Caine Gayle) and
a very impacting song choice for the video intro."
Metallica:
"Four
Horsemen" (
Kill ‘Em All, 1983).
"It's probably
my choice for best footage/music combo. It was Colin McKay and Danny Way's combo
part in ‘The Revolution' (Plan B, 1997). The song is sick and I really like the
way the part was put together. It was all vert, but it just got me hyped to go
skate fast."
Slayer: "Silent
Scream" (South of Heaven, 1988).
"This song
just gets me hyped when it comes on the iPod while I'm out skating."
Guns N' Roses: "Paradise
City" (Appetite for Destruction,
1987).
"It was used
in Ryan Smith's ‘RDS/FSU/2002' part.
This song brings me back to that era every time I hear it. Good times!"
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Related:
On The Horn with Cory Wilson
Pros and Cons with Lee Yankou
On The Horn with Paul Machnau