Best 2019 BMX Vids + Music from Mike Turner
Our friend Mike Turner works hard running HHBTM Records, as well as Crashing Through Publicity. I reached out to him, as I did with many friends, asking him for his own curated list for Best of 2019. We thought it’d be fun to pair his love of BMX with music from 2019…so, looking back, here we are.
This might be a little late, but the best year end lists usually are. Instead of the normal top picks for 2019 lists, I was really blown away when Nathan pitched the idea of top tracks to ride BMX to. Being a long time BMX nerd and enthusiast this list was much harder than I thought and picking my five favorite BMX clips of 2019 was not easy. So here we go: here are my 5 favorite BMX clips for 2019 with music I feel matches the riders style. Clips in no particular order.
Starting off with Austins own Sean Burns. The intensity, speed, aggression, and just sending it and somehow-making-it-work energy of Sean Burns makes every video he puts out essential viewing. I paired his video with Athens, GA, hip hop artist Dope KNife, who matches Seans energy, aggression, and intensity.
Trey Jones from Orlando is one of my all-time favorite riders to watch (and creator of the BMX event Swampfest). Hes not a big, flashy, trendy, trick rider, but he has style for days and makes old classic tricks look brand new. Always seeing things a bit differently and adding that little bit extra that makes each video unique. Even when performing a familiar trick, he always puts his own spin on it. I paired Treys video with Skinny Girl Diet as they blend sounds from the past from the beginnings of metal to early 90s punk.
Another Austin rider, Nina Buitrago has been riding forever and is always progressing not only her list of tricks, but in helping bring more women into the sport of BMX. She was one of the first women freestylers and she is still out there leading the sport as a pro. She competed against men in the early 2000s when there wasn’t a women’s class and really proved to everyone that its not just a boys club anymore. The video for Nina I chose isn’t strictly a riding-only clip, but I feel her story should be known a bit more. I paired Nina with the band Priests as that same spirit is there in their music as is her riding.
Courage Adams from Pamplona, Spain, released a video in January 2019 that I probably watched 100 times over. One of the smoothest riders around that also goes insanely big. He sends huge tricks while also doing super technical combos and usually riders are more one than the other, but Courage kinda has his own bicycle language. I paired him with Wesdaruler as Wes is super smooth, but also takes huge risks musically, pushing the boundaries of his genre. Much like this video with Courage, the more you listen to the Wes track, the more you discover.
Dane Beardsley of Athens, GA, made my favorite flatland video by far of 2019. In the years living in Athens I never rode with Dane, but I did spend a decent amount of time riding with his buddy Jody Temple and the thing I can say about being a flatland rider in Athens is that it takes a lot of dedication: there are maybe four spots you can ride that are flat, and most of them are usually full of cars, people playing basketball or tennis, or youll be run off by security. Some of the combos in this video, how he gets in and out of each trick, and the slight changes are just insane if you ride flatland, but if you dont, you might not notice the subtle changes that make each combo a bit mind-blowing. I paired Dane with Liverpool band Clinic who has an endless musical vocabulary and connects phrases the way Dane connects tricks in ways youd never imagine..