Review: Effraim

Photo credit: Uehara Hiroshi

The new 430 DVD just arrived two days ago! After what Ucchie said on the last episode of FlatwebTV I was curious to see if it could live up to the hype. I am knee deep in organising King of Southsea, so I’ll get right into this!

It’s worth pointing out that before I get into any trick descriptions, the camera work, locations, and editing is bang on the money. The dvd even for a limited time comes with a 430 finger bike! Earlier in the year James Smith was flown out to Japan to take care of some the filming, and his crane shots really standout! Amazing quality.

The first section to any DVD is important, it can make or break a dvd in terms of its dynamic. Well… the stylish Tsutomu Kitayama opens the 430 DVD, and wow he delivers a hammer section! The standouts for me without naming every combo he does: A massive bunnyhop from pedals to steam two footed steam flip to inside xft steam without holding bars turbines and pivots into spinning circle k bars x’ed to halfpacker 360 flip to steam pivot rideout *no scuff, (*which is a nice touch).
The section shows how hard Tsutomu has worked, numerous crashes, frustration, and the end product when something like a regular leg carving plasticman (normally it’s xft) into turbine whiplashes to spinning hitch to steam pivot to spinning circle k to halfpacker pivot with hand off the whole time to one handed xft backwards spinning steam pivot to steam pivot xft over to xft inside steam without bars turbine boomerang and out, so so nice!
I thought that was the section ender, but no, the multiple x hand steam karl x hand one handed combo Tsutomu does in contests is next pivot and flip to cliffhanger jump to steam pivot 360 to steam pivot and xft over to inside ft steam (he’s done that one a few times you may note) boomerang out to pedals.
The opening section well and truly grabbed my attention, I’m locked to the screen.

Who’s up next? Back wheel rider, Tomokazu Morinaga. His section opens with a long distance zoom shot of his signature inside rolling two footed dump truck on pedals down to two footed dump truck on pegs flip to xft upside down to gliding junkyard flip to multiple dump truck/junkyard pivots out to peg wheelie shove it to inside sw ft dump truck 360 flip to dump truck/ junkyard pivots, an insane line to open his section! And I like how his style is so different than Tsutomu’s.
He mixes a lil street influence into his riding also with 180 bunnyhop backwards manual g turn manual jump to peg wheelie shove it to inside sw ft dump truck 360 flip to dump truck/junkyard pivots, fresh!
Whats noticeable is that Tomokazus style has become so much more aggressive, in particular the following combo is perfect example: Opposite ft peg wheelie backwards g roll upside down wheelie pivot to inside xft gliding dump truck shove it fast dump truck/ junkyard pivots gliding the pivot longer and longer each time out peg wheelie to dump truck hand round the back turbine to inside xft upside down the other side pivot and out, breath taking combo! Perfect section ender! Mind blown, i’m buzzing after two riders, whats the rest like?

Kotaro Arai is up next, again, totally different style than the first two riders, this man has some gnarly whiplash lines, and opens with a carved xft inside steam jumplash back to xft inside steam x over other side jump to regular whiplash peg to peg boomerang out, his style is lil’ more on the edge than the previous two riders. His ender is amazing, no handed one foot carved hang 5 on the right foot to multiple jumplashes jump direction into sw ft no handed one foot hang 5 fire turbine. His style is loose, really exciting to watch.

The next section goes to Hironao Doko, his section is a mix of park riding and flatland riding, of course for the purposes of this review I’ll stick to the flat. His ender is his signature super leaned inside fork wheelie turbines (Craig Lepage esque) but spinning inside circles and half whopper out, super nice.

Yohei Uchino is up next, we all know Ucchie is on top of his game, and possibly the favourite to win the Red Bull COB in a few weeks. A few of the combos that open the section are staples in his contest runs. Some of the combos that blew me away in their execution, were: flip to gliding xft upside down on pedal to opposite forwards rope pivot to xft peg wheelie up to forward g-roll (undertaker) to opposite inside backwards spinning gerator, so so stylish and perfect technique. The ender is sexy! Backwards spinning manual out forward manual ala Matthias Dandois, jump to two footed backyard pivot bar flip to forward g roll pivot to xft peg wheelie turbine jump to backwards spinning manual out forwards manual whopper out, butter! For a guy in the contest eye all the time, this is an amazing section, does not disappoint at all.

Yoshihiro “Taka” Nishikama is up next, another back wheel rider, but so different than Ucchie. One of the most refreshing things about Japan, is the diversity in styles and this dvd seems to almost shout that out! I haven’t seen much if any footage of Taka in a long time, the section opens with this tasty line, multiple xft mega spin turbines to backwards spinning xft lawnmower pivot to upside down wheelie carved to junkyard on the peddle pivot to pedal time machine, so hard to pivot on the pedal like that! Great opener. Like Tomokazu, Taka attacks the back wheel so fast, dump truck pivot to multiple xft upside down turbines shove it to regular upside down turbines shove it to xft backwards spinning upside down wheelie shove it to backwards spinning xft pivot to time machine peg wheelie perverted out! Bad ass! His ender, is so tech you may get lost, inside rolling sw ft dump truck xft on pedal hand around the back with he turbines! jump to greater to two foot backyard flip to peg wheelie to inside sw ft dump gliding on pedal pivot to pedal g roll turbines undertaker out. Taka’s use of the back brake is amazing, new school style with old school set up. Food for thought, ladies and gentlemen!

For some reason, I was thinking the next section would be kind of chilled, after Ucchie’s and Taka’s but how wrong I was. The next section goes to Keiji “Tamao” Nakamura, the opening line turbine whiplash to right foot steam step direct to halfpacker turbines 360 pivot to halfpacker whip to halfpacker was so intense, love this guys style! His ender, fire hydrant steam wind him into hitch turbine steam jump to tea kettle jump yammer xft steam, super tech!

Takuma Kuwamura flips the script once again, diverse styles! His style is short fast back wheel combos, a lot of tricks centred around the spinning decade out to pedal, roll back to (regular and opposite), inside mega spin turbines into, digging the vibe to this section, filmed in park, skaters flying around, people walking by, my favourite combo he did was inside rolling two foot dump truck pivot xft upside down wheelie pivot backwards gliding lawnmower flip to upside down gliding pedal wheelie jump and switch to backwards riding out, so nice! Takuma’s riding is so different than everyone else’s. This is kind of ringing true to pretty everyone on this dvd, definitely unique riding styles going on.

Shinichi “Russia” Kiba is tech! recently his riding has looked more polished than ever before, he’s developed his very Paul Osicka influenced style to the point where nowadays I think he’s now putting his own mark on it, the last combo for example is insane! Half cab nose wheelie jump to inside xft steam without holding bars xft kick/pivot to x up hang ten 360 to steam turbine whiplash back into x up hang ten boomerang around xft forward karl pivot to steam fire hydrant bar roll back out, super steezie and so much energy in that combo! Tech, tech!

The next section might well be one of my favourites of the dvd, which is bold statement. I found myself screaming at the screen a lot, the section opens with a super long pedal manual to smith decade, the next combo regular foot half lash to gliding junkyard to inside xft coasting backyard pivot to peg wheelie backwards half lash spinning forward death truck smith decade out screamed fresh!! If not that how about forward death truck tweaks his leg like rolling candyman (remember those?) pivots inside xft peg wheleie perverted decade land to pedal jump back to smith, Kotaro is insane!!! I could go one and on, really you need to buy this dvd! One of the best sections I have seen in a long time!

Owner of 430, Hiroshi Uehara has the next sexton, I haven’t ever seen much footage from him before, so was super good to see this section, you can see the Chad Degroot influence in Japanese riding which is no bad thing at all also in his music choice for his section. Trick wise, Hitch darkside to rear wheel backpacker with ease, and for me the standout combo, inside gliding sw ft dump truck peg to peg overtaker out, really short and sweet combo right there!

Who gets the final section in such a good team? Hiroya Morisaki. The man is on it right now, also like Ucchie, must be one of the contenders for the win at the Red Bull COB in a few weeks. The section gets hot real quick, mega spin half whopper one scuff fire half whopper one scuff peg wheelie full whopper no scuff foot jam decade out, fucking amazing! The last combo of the video as you can imagine coming from Hiro is absolutely bonkers! Xft mega spin turbine half whopper no scuff xft inside steam shove it turbine whiplash shove it inside xft steam to backwards spinning xft tomahawk jump to halfpacker pivot to xft inside steam pivot to steam in half a second bar steam bike flip to spinning lawnmower pedal time machine out, the sheer difficulty/power and the way Hiro executes all his tricks is worthy of the last section. I could have wrote down every combo, but you honestly need to just go buy this dvd! It is available from Brakeless distribution and Flatland Fuel. Get it!

In conclusion, Absolutely banging, the 430 DVD wins on all sides, production, riding quality and diversity, camera work, piece of art! Flatland wins most of all. Thank you Hiroshi!

Review: Effraim
Images: Effraim & Aggro Rag

The era of ‘zine making during the late 80’s/90’s always to me seemed to fit flatland and the creativity bursting within every flatlander. When I started Totally Intense zine back in the day, I would swap regularly with other zine makers worldwide. The one zine I always dreamed of getting ahold of, was Aggro Rag. The holy grail of all zines. The sine was put together by Mike Daily from the Plywood Hoods who of course changed flatland forever, I was always curious what there zine would be like.
For years, there were just small glimpses from the pages of Freestylin’ to go from, that wetted the appetite to see the zine even more.

Recently the news broke that Aggro Rag was being re-released. I knew that was my chance to finally get the zine I always wanted.
And the issue doesn’t disappoint, I found myself lost for a few hours, nothing else in the world mattered during the first read. I recall my girlfriend trying to have a conversation, to which I listened to how much of that conversation I will let you guess….

Zines likes flatland are so personal, I find the two compliment each other perfectly, the cover of Chad Johnston doing a pedal 5 personally signed by Chad was and is a really nice touch. If you ask me, nothing compares to the zine days, that personal touch cant be matched.

The inside cover is a collage of images from the rap Dennis McCoy bust out on Dorkin’2 with a short interview with Large Ray and DMC. Aggro rag is really a collectors item for any flatlander that has been riding long enough to remember the Dorkin’ era. The main focus of this issue, despite the cover title “the hip hop issue”, the big focus of Issue 13 are interviews.

Interviews with:
Chris Day
Aaron Dull
Frank Garrido
Joe Gruttola
Greg Higgins
Jim Johnston
Chad Johnston
Adam Jung
Craig Lepage
Mark McKee
Dave Nourie
Gary Pollack
Derek Schott
Gerry Smith
Tim Treacy

All these riders made a huge contribution to the sport whether original tricks, or to their scene. The stories are absolutely gripping, the whole issue is so educational.
Maurice Meyer writes about “influences” and his particular influence back in the day at Golden Gate Park, Damon Frost.

There seems to be a running subtext throughout to find out who invented scuffing, the article indeed asks “Why Tim Treacy is the ultimate undergrounder:, with really great insight from Tim himself, Aaron Dull, with Tim Treacy and the backyard. But also these interviews go into detail about the original riders and characters who all contributed in some way to make flatland and BMX what it is today (Derek Schott and the rolaid, Adam Jung – handstand i- hops, Dave Nourie- Old school legend, Joe Gruttola and his infamous accidental one footed double decade, Craig LePage and the Landspeeder, Gary Pollack and the PInky Squeak, Gerry Smith, style icon and smith decade originator, Cover star, Chad Johnston breaks down his brakeless pegless style and talks about the Team Scrounge days, I could go and on.
Besides flatland there of course is hip hop content with insightful interviews with Aesop Rock, Dark Time Sunshine, Death Grips.

If you are at all into the history of flatland, and you want to know where it came from, and why you are doing what you are doing right now, then you need to get ahold of this!
Top marks to Mike Daily, and the Plywood Hoods! Thank you once again for all you have done for flatland! Go order the zine right now, absolute classic!

On 01.01.13 The complete Collection of Aggro Rag will be available, all 12 issues! Including a new exclusive interview with the man himself, Kevin Jones.

Ordering details:

Cost per copy is $10 shipped 1st Class to U.S.
Cost per copy is $11.50 shipped 1st Class International to Canada and Mexico.
Cost per copy is $13 shipped 1st Class International to Worldwide.

DIBS RULES APPLY
This is a limited edition. Please call dibs if you want to buy a copy, then:
PayPal to mickogradylives@hotmail.com