10 Skate Films Worth Watching for the Music Alone

Skate videos and edits can elevate a song from obscure to immortal. The precise pairings of sound, that moment when a song clicks with the footage—it makes you feel like a skater, in touch with the sublime.

Like spot selection and style, the choice of song is part of the trick, and when timed correctly, it elevates and enhances your skate video viewing experience. There are unwritten rules as to what types of songs can be used, but in 2016, the breadth of sound, genre, and freedom to challenge convention is what has viewers scouring their feeds for the next awesome vid. Here are some of the best examples of audio/skate pairings from 2016 so far.

Getting out of your comfort zone is #trending in 2016, as evidenced by Lucien Clarke, Chewy Cannon, Shawn Powers, Danny Brady, Blondey McCoy, Jamal Smith, and more who are eschewing their typical London brick for iconic L.A. schoolyards and historical spots. The soundtrack relies heavily on the house music splashes that Palace pioneered, along with VHS footage, but you also get hit with a Carnage x Section Boyz track and some of the team’s best footage to date.

From the production to promotion, Away Days is far from low key, which includes the actual skating. It's a lavish project anchored by big-time pros and chaperoned by living legend Mark Gonzales. Living on ledges is everyone’s favorite Parisian pastime, and Lucas Puig came through with one of the most graceful and technical displays of skateboarding to date. While the Pet Shop Boys track worked perfectly, this “redux” set to Gucci Mane’s “Heavy” punctuates Puig’s prowess on a board.

Pontus Alv delivers video genius, from his sprawling surreal interludes to capturing the personality and spirit of every trick, spot, and team rider. The soundtrack to I like it here inside my mind, don’t wake me this time is a post-punk primer, skate rock homage, and ambient wash all at once. Tortoise, the Cry, Kraftwerk, Ceramic Hello, Solid State, Johnny Rad, and more share the stage with Alv’s vision. Joy Division breezes by too, so you won’t feel guilty wearing the shirt anymore.

Jeff Kutter’s Boys of Summer video was 2015’s feel-good hit, featuring raw Los Angeles footage set to a nostalgic '80s soundtrack. In the spring, this cut of Hockey’s Andrew Allen surfaced, with a lesser heard Men Without Hats song backing his signature mix of beastly finesse. It’s also got plenty of cameos. If you’re unfamiliar with AA’s approach, it’s a blend of beauty and brawn; unorthodox tricks done on unorthodox spots, looking completely natural and a little terrifying at the same time.

Static IV’s Josh Stewart led the Theories crew out West for an East Coast winter respite. The trip coalesced in this robust nine-minute edit of East, West, and beyond skaters taking new approaches to L.A.’s terrain. Stewart dug in the crates for the soundtrack, which bounces from Dick Dale to the Equals, and then from Jimi Entley to the vintage, scuzzed out, psych rock of Index. It’s a smooth jaunt through genres, providing you with a nice list of deep cuts to scour YouTube for.

Expectations were high for Ryan Garshell’s GX1000 full-length. With Al Davis, Jake Johnson, Yonnie Cruz, and Brian Delatorre on deck, Garshell delivered one of the year’s most revered offerings, tapping into the essence of skate video heritage, while remaining completely fresh and modern. The VX-filmed opus now lives exclusively on DVD, so you’ll have to get your hands on a copy in order to hear Raekown’s classic cut “Ice Water” brush up against psychedelic Adrian Younge tracks.

To tease his new DVD, Bright Moments, Zach Chamberlin released a small portion of the film about New Jersey/Bay Area Irie pioneer Matt Field's comeback. Sure, the dreads and rasta vibes may have been ushered in by the Alva Posse, but in the mid ’90s, Field brought supreme flexibility, street creativity, and an entirely new focus on reggae. So, what better to accompany the former Rasa Libre founder on this long, strange trip than “(To Unlimited Devotion)” by the Grateful Dead? Combining the two added a freeing and spiritual dynamic to the video.

Earlier this year, the world lost one of New York’s true artists when Suicide co-founder Alan Vega passed. Vega’s menacing croons were the punch that matched Martin Rev’s programming, creating a genre unto themselves. Filmed mostly in Barcelona and Toronto by Richard Quintero, the footage of Bobby De Keyzer’s technical precision enhances the tension-filled track like a rubber band that stays perfectly taut.

As is often the case when East Coast crews go to the West Coast, Peter Sidlauskas and the Bronze56k clan plugged into San Francisco’s wealth of hilly spots, segueing seamlessly into the nuts and bolts of a heavy NYC-based montage. In keeping with Sidlauskas’ work, the soundtrack is a smoky jaunt through several waves of sound, including tracks from Dean Blunt, James Ferraro, Nirvana, and a high-hat pulsing “Sade” remix by Florian Kupfer.

With veteran cinematographer Greg Hunt at the helm and a team stocked with top-shelf talent, Vans’ first full-length video was primed to be a watershed moment for skate videos. Known for his avant garde work with Alien Workshop and the big budget magnitude of the DC Shoes video, Hunt expertly framed the brand’s heritage with the team’s earnest skating, giving Propeller a slick presentation that stayed authentic and focused on determined trick documentation. With Curren Caples, Chima Ferguson, Rowan Zorilla, Gilbert Crockett, Daniel Lutheran, and more bolstering brand veterans and legends—most notably, 2015 Thrasher Skater of The Year Award winner Anthony Van Engelen—Hunt chose an equally iconic list of bands to provide the soundtrack. Iggy Pop, Motorhead, Circle Jerks, Siouxsie, the Banshees, team rider Ray Barbee, and Ozzy Osbourne converged to make Propeller absolutely breathtaking.

Want more skateboarding in your life? Check out 'The Dons of Action Sports From California to Kauai,' an interactive deep dive into the lives and successes of pro action sports athletes Sebastian Zietz, Ryan Sheckler, and Mike "Hucker" Clark.