Over the years there have been plenty of conversations about how DVD’s are dead and how videos coming out are the same thing as what’s coming out online everyday, just a little longer. Which, yeah, you could make some valid points that it is true. But I think this kind of comes full circle with the “print is dead” thing. It’s not that it’s dying out and won’t exist. It’s a product and for people to want to buy it, it needs to be something that doesn’t suck. You can’t keep repeating things forever and if you haven’t noticed, the model for how magazines are distributed has changed up with the times, and I think the same can be said with full-length videos.
I recently got my hands on a copy of the new Vinyl BMX “LP” DVD that I think is a prime example of what I’m trying to say in this intro. So let’s get into this review already…
Going into this video, I had a rough idea of what to expect. Anyone that is familiar with Tom Arkus or Vinyl should be well aware that there is some heavy trails influence involved. I also knew that Tom has been doing a fair amount of traveling the past few years while slowly collecting clips for this video from around Europe and the U.S. What I didn’t expect is the extensive list of riders that absolutely kill it…
The “LP” video features full parts from Vince Primel, Brad Gibbs, Jeremy Muller, Tom Arkus, Mark Potoczny, Ryan Wert and Brian Yeagle. However, that’s just the tip of the iceberg for riders… This video also features Brandon “Punjab” Pundai, Mark Mulville, Chris Doyle, Gary Young, Alex Magallan, Kevin Porter, Ryan Melia, Chase Zink, Liam Eltham, Tom “Robbo” Robinson, Clint Reynolds, Ryan Popple, Brian Foster, Tom Dillon and a handful of other guys in three separate mix sections.
Now, the reason I feel this video stands out is because I think it breaks the mold of what a “traditional” video is like these days. Over the past few years, I think videos have kind of segregated themselves to be all in on one style of riding; street, trails or park. It’s pretty clear the direction of BMX has been heavily influenced by the huge amount of riders riding street. However, I think the weight is starting to shift back because people are kind of starting to get bored of watching the slow paced, grind, grind, manual, barspin out to hop whip off the curb thing that’s taken over. That’s why the Vinyl video is what it is. The video is pretty heavily influenced by some of the best trails along the east coast and in France, but there’s also a ton of street and cement park clips mixed into this one which helps break things up a bit and really give something for everyone.
The video is also rad because it’s not following the traditional music selection. When you think trails, you think classic rock. When you think street, you think rap and hip hop. LP has a huge mix of music from artists like RJD2, Jimi Hendrix, Santigold, Kid Cudi, Deer Trick, Inxs, The Black Angels, Hot Chip, Ten Years After and more. There’s a little classic, a little rap, a little dubstep and even some heavier music in this which I thought was awesome because I think it rounds the video off really well with the heavy mix of riding.
The majority of the filming was handled by Tom Arkus and the editing was also handled by Tom. Overall, I really liked the way this video was put together. The filming was smooth and clean, there wasn’t any over the top editing with film burns and crazy motion graphics. It was just straight to the point, this is the riding, this is the rider. Boom. I’ve always appreciated the less is more, simplistic style of film work. There’s also a mix of GoPro helmet cam style clips mixed into this which is pretty rad and I almost wish there was a little more of. I know there’s a bunch of riders out there that get stoked on the first person view on a run through a massive set of trails like Hazelwood in Pittsburgh.
Overall, I was psyched on the video. I’m a big fan of trails riding, but I also like seeing some wild street riding and people roasting a cement bowl. I think this video has a good mix that a good number of you could really get stoked on. I guess I wouldn’t suggest this video to anyone that’s only into super technical street riding, because there really isn’t a ton of that. I think the majority of the guys in this video actually only run two pegs and have those things called brakes. So it’s fair to say this one isn’t for everyone. I also think this video is a good representation of what BMX should be about. Good friends, good times, good spots and some amazing riding which is the vibe put off from this one.
Do I think you should buy it? Well, does anything I’ve just said above sound appealing to you? If you said yes, then yeah, I definitely think it’s worth picking up, especially for the price. You can pick the video up on Can You Dig It for $12.99 which comes with FREE shipping right now. You can also pick it up for $12.99 on Dan’s Comp. Don’t live in the U.S or want to order from your local shop? These are the distributors and shops that currently have it available… Source BMX, Empire BMX, Backbone, Greenhouse Distro (U.S.A.), Banos Distro (France), Killemall Distro (Canada) and Allride Distro (Germany).
Still need more convincing, check out the trailers below. You can also find out more by visiting VinylBMX.com
