Bronze Medal

Like about 90% of people I first properly listened to Bronze Nazareth on the well meaning but ultimatley muddled "Think Differently" Comp.

Anyway I checked out "The Great Migration" by Bronze Nazareth, and it's very nearly great, but in the current musical landscape it stands out like a sore thumb

This is track 2 "The Pain" and to be honest if you're not sitting there like a nodding dog you must be deaf, it's a great beat.

http://www.mediafire.com/?whumsftt3bd

Ok so the samples at the start are a bit cluttered,

During the drop out after 1:50 BN doesnt take off like he should, with no beat to stick to it should have been a prefect place to show off,

The fact his flow has a distinctly post kanye quality to it in some passages does bother me as well, but he definitley shows promise

plus he's not above going for a kind of budget "Hard to Earn" pose occasionally

Back To The Future

Adidas are bringing back the 80s shape superstar!

It seems C-Law's been making very definite waves over at Adidas, and as well as the beautiful ZXZ ADV from the "C-Law Pack" (which it seems, sadly won't be making it to shelves on this side of the Atlantic.

Here they are in case you missed them


But he hasnt been resting on his Laurels, he's also been instrumental in bringing back the 80s Superstar shape, so these should be on the way soon

(all pics clearly lifted from Adifans.net)
and there's plenty more there should you want more detail




I wonder how many more times I can get away with using "Back to the future" for a retro shoe release

Secret Hardcore past pt1

In this first installment of what will (might)become a regular feature (if I can find enough photos with tenuous links to HC)

I present Lenworth George Henry CBE



not only is the man better known as Lenny Henry responsible for Theophilus P. Wildebeeste, but you can see from this photo that DJ Delbert Wilkins himself might just have been partial to some Yoot Crew, sorry, Youth Crew.

I couldnt find much information about this photo, I can just assume though that this expression is what happens when listening to Ray Cappo hit that slightly irritating Mr Cadbury's Parrot tone that he seemed quite fond of

As a side note, I've just discovered that Lenworth did backing vocals on Kate Bush's 1993 album "The Red Shoes". I've not heard that record, but I hope it's got Lenny's one man gang vocals on the choruses.

On Safari

(Note - the photos in this entry are not mine, many are credited, please check out the sites that they're from)

Anyone who knows me will know that I love the Nike Air Safari, me & Biz Markie (There, that's got the obligatory mention out of the way).

I don't have any of the 1987 OG pairs, but seeing as I already have enough shoes that I havent got round to wearing yet, I don't think I need any shoes that I CAN'T actually wear because the midsoles will crumble to dust.

I do however have multiple pairs & colourways of the 2003 retro, and I love them.
The OG colourway is of course unbeatable, but all of the 2003 versions worked & were in colours/colour blocking that worked with the shoe.

Original Colourway


Dragon Red


White/Navy


Mowabb


All classics, although sadly the mowabbs still elude me.

I liked some of the SB stuff that came out last year with the print on, (not so much the shoe itself) because it worked with the print, worked with the original colours and didnt totally hammer the print into the ground.
You can see the stuff here:
http://i13.tinypic.com/309ilw7.jpg


Over the years there's been a whole bunch of other shoes with the print on & some have worked better than others, the Huarache Light Bursts worked well, even the dunks worked well, the AM LTD wasnt really my cup of tea, and I cant seem to get too excited about the AM1s, they just seem slightly redundant to me.

In the last year or so Nike's produced an increasing number of variations on the print, some featuring the same texture as the original and some being merely printed on,

As a result a print that was once a historical oddity has more recently found itself all over everything from rereleased Air Assaults, both Hi & Low tops, a JP exclusive Oasis boot, second and third (both dire) AM90 colourways, a recreation of the first AM90 but in boot form (which I have to admit I caved in and bought). In Dark grey & Lime green on an Air stab, which somehow manages to combine a print I love and a shoe I love and produce something almost totally unappealing, Printed on to a garish AM95 & Court Force pairing, decorating the heel tabs on the dreadful Advantage and I'm sure I'm missing some others.
Some of these worked, some were almost painful.

In short Nike haven't forgotten how to completley run a design element into the ground until you're completley sick of seeing it.
This time out though, they've really excelled themselves.

Presenting the NEW Safari colourways (photos pinched from sneakerfreaker)





Presenting the Air Force One Safari


Presenting the Air Max 1 Safari



WHY?

They all look completley terrible.
Why is the print coloured, why do the AM1 and one of the Safaris look like the colourblocking was done by Stevie Wonder? It bears no relation to the panelling or history of either shoe, and just looks absoloutley dreadful!

As for the AM1, firstly the print is wrong for the colourway, secondly it just looks REALLY BAD.

I genuinely don't understand how someone at Nike signs off on these designs, surely somewhere along the line someone must say "uhhh, that looks really fucking stupid, start again".

maybe I'm just missing the bigger picture and there's a garish all over print hoody on the way to hook up with these.

The Safaris themselves are part of the "tech pack" which has an apparell line of surprisingly reserved really good looking jackets etc. To the point where I cant even see where the shoes are meant to fit in to it.

I messed about with one of the new safaris a little in photoshop to see if it would be possible to customise it with a view to it being wearable, and using that base, this is the best I could come up with


Without recolouring the whole midsole, the collar, and the print itself (which is beyond my abilities) these will have to remain just an unwearable embarrasing blot on the Safari's record.

A Dutch History Lesson

You can never ever know too much history about whatever it is you're into, whether it's Hardcore/Hip Hop or any interest expansive enough to have it's own Culture.

There's a million and one "Early days of Hip Hop" documentaries, and the vast majority of them recycle the same old footage, and stick to the same template, so it's nice to see something a bit different

Big Fun In The Big Town is a dutch documentary peice and more than worth watching, both cause it's not a complete cookie cutter retread, and that there's some awesome footage and it's good hearing some of the stuff related by people who were involved rather than the voice overs

Just sit through the introduction & try to put thoughts of mayonnaise on your fries out of your head, and you might just learn something

So here it is:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6180649181264600371&hl=en

Enjoy

My Adidas:

Adidas Superstars, an absoloute classic, undeniably dope.

Yet I havent worn a pair for years, there's 3 main reasons for this:

1: Since the back end of the 90s they've been unfortunatlely tarnished by appalling rap metal bands attempting to show off their "hip hop roots" in their footwear if nothing else, and ever since the majority of pairs I've seen have been sorry looking once white pairs thrashed to bits by students and alternateens with character bags.

2: The whole 35th Anniversary overkill,
hundreds of pairs, most of them ugly as shit.
Familiarity breeds contempt and all that.

3: Although they look undeniably dope, they have a tendency to be absoloutley crippling if you actually wear the fucking things for more than an hour, it's not that the "shell" itself cuts down the space in the toe (it does) or that they can fit quite narrow.
It's that the sole unit may as well be made of fucking concrete.

Even knowing all of this, I keep looking at them, & I've even ended up with a pair sitting in a box for about 8 months & only worn them once for about 30 minutes (before I bought something else to wear instead because they were killing me).

so I sat down, made a few alterations & I think I've improved upon the feel (at least for me).

A couple of weeks ago, I bought another pair to see if I could repeat the process, here's what I did:

Step 1.
Get the laces out of your new kicks


Step 2.
Fold back the tongue to reveal the insole


Step 3.
Get your fingers in under the insole & rip it out, this can be a little work since the foam can rip where it's glued in, but get as much as possible out.


Step 4.
Replacement Insoles
Replacing the insoles with thinner ones makes the inside of the shoe a bit more spacious, & helps deal with the restrictions of the toecap etc.
I normally prefer to use Nike Free insoles, - they come in 2 types, a standard foam, and the 5.0 with the extra padding under the ball & heel of your foot as you can see here



this time though I tried out "Woolworths Natural Cork Insoles" just to see if they were any good .


Here's the Adidas insole thickness compared with the Cork one, Seeing as cork is naturally springy, I'm expecting a little cushioning from them


Fit the insole as you normally would


Step 6.
Hold the sides of the shoe wide open. Looking at the shell, you should be able to see where the sides of the shell (that sit above your toes) are joined onto the sides of the shoe with a felt like material.

Cut either side of the shell, making sure to pay attention to the stitching & not cutting through anything vital,
It should look like this


when you've done this, you should be able to flex the back edge of the shell forwards like this


This should allow your foot some extra space under the shell.

Step 7:
You've seen one of these before, it's one of the spacers you get in *cough* Nike shoes to help hold the shape while they're in the box, this one happens to be from some Jordans.



Stuff the underside of the spacer with the paper the shoes come stuffed with or anything similar, to bulk out the spacer


put the spacer in the shoe & slide it forward until it just makes the back part of the shell curl up slightly


Step 8.
Laces
This time I'm using "In The Loop" laces, purely because they were the easiest available in the correct length. They're a decent lace, but can pull thin a little easier than some.



You're going to want 54" laces,
the 45"s that Footlocker etc sell will not reach the top lace hole of the shoe.

Step 9.
Lace em up.
I'm assuming you know how to lace properly.
Leave the spacer in to hold the form of the shoe & lace around that





And here's the first pair I did as well (you can see the Nike Free Insole inside, even if it is a shitty phonecam photo)

Ease Back

Well now I've made this thing, I should put something up on it I guess

So before the good stuff arrives, here's something for those who don't know (and that really shouldnt be any of you)