Tony Hawk Ride on wheels for real

Tony Hawk Ride pretty much failed at doing what it set out to: recreating the authentic thrill of skateboarding through a video game and plastic board peripheral. The controls and game were panned by reviewers, and in HMV's Oxford Street store I have seen huge piles of the unwanted game boxes in a corner with massive price reductions but still nobody wants to buy it. Even the TV spot for the game showed more of the player's carpet than the gameplay on-screen. Nice threads.

Some enterprising skaters have customised the plastic board with wheels and grip-tape, and it seems to stand up to the rigours of the ride. Unfortunately, the video does not catch any special move trick combos so we'll probably never know if the buttons still function.

[Via Kotaku]

Onra is on the beat

Onra - The One feat. T3 from Slum Village from Onra on Vimeo.

Another rising French producer, Onra, has just released his third album and it definitely hits the 80s old-school funk sweet-spot. Likened to Hudson Mohowke's debut record "Butter" (best track - "Joy Fantastic"), "Long Distance" also feature a collaboration with Olivier Daysoul ("Long Distance"), as well as T3 from Slum Village ("The One", see the video above), and a great cover of the S.O.S. Band's "High Hopes" with Reggie B. Love it.

Javelin!

I discovered Javelin a few days ago, and their Avalanches/Go! Team/DJ Shadow-esque style instantly had me hooked. "STD Fury" is a track they produced for a group called SEX/ED, and should probably be played in schools to teach the kids to strap it up.

Their album "No Mas" was released in May 2010, and you can download one of the stand-out tracks, "Oh! Centra", below courtesy of superb music blog RCRD LBL.