On Friday, January 20th, 2017 the fourth installment in the JIB mixtape series, ‘JIB: Tape Four’ premiered in a warehouse in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Jib is in their own words, a project that focuses on creating footage of riders that are living & riding in the Philadelphia area.
We expressed interest in reviewing the video for the website and purchased a copy through the Berks St. website. Jonathan Schimpf was kind enough to provide us with an early online viewing of the video to help expedite the review process. You can read the entire review, after the jump.
“Schimpf out did himself on this one. This is a refreshing video with some real re-watchability.” – Matt Smith, @mattheyea
– Matt Smith, @mattheyea
Intro:
The video is a little over thirty minutes in duration and opens with a short minute long intro that blends old documentary footage with modern scenery and riding. The documentary footage also provides vintage scenery and historical facts about the City of Philadelphia. The sections of the video are tied together with interludes modeled in the same style throughout the video that give off a great overall feel.
Pat Schlitzer:
The intro is followed by Pat Schlitzers section. Pat also provided the titles and animation for the video. Pat’s section is full of smooth riding made up of mostly single clips with a few technical lines mixed in, good spot usage and quite a few impressive gap tricks. There’s also a number of bigger tricks as the section begins to wind down including a wild 270 gap into a storm door from a loading dock, a big sub-rail double peg to 270, and a nice kinked rail double to ice pick. How he managed to roll away from his last clip is still a mystery to me.
Mix Section #1 – Stinkpit:
The first mix section of the video comes from the Stinkpit crew and features riding from Eric Capone, Fran Meehan, Dan Conway, Gannwear, Marty Moore, Ryan Scott, Dennis Bunn, Anthony Yock, Robbie Downward & Jarret Mayo. The entire section is made up of single clips and a lot of heavy grinds and combinations. Some notable clips include a wild ledge ride to 180 by Dan Conway, a smith to over smith on a flat rail by Marty Moore, and a huge nollie gap by Eric Capone.
Nick Bott:
Nick Bott has the only section that doesn’t use an instrumental song in the video. It also has a little more of an aggressive vibe than the previous sections right from the start with a tight runway leading to a hangover to 180. Nick’s section also features more lines than the preceding sections which are full of grind combinations and rail tricks. The section closes out with a solid banger on a kinked rail. A large feeble to hard 180 and fakie double peg grind hop up 180 over on a flat rail also shouldn’t be overlooked.
Mix Section #2:
The second mix section of the video features a long list of riders including Cody Neiswender, Matt Smith, Josh Stair, Chris Andrijiw, Anthony Villani, Justin Benthien, Kevin Bass, Tommy Gunn, Mike O’Donnell, Matt Spencer, Jersey Joe, Jamie Barnhart, Tony Meeks, Sean Carroll, Joe Kirschenbaum & Brian Donahue. This section has a great vibe and mix of riders and styles. Everyone comes through with solid clips but in my opinion McLovin’, Josh Stair, Justin Benthien and Tommy Gunn’s footage really stood out and made an impression.
Jon Schimpf:
Jon has a creative style that stands out. The smith to x-up ride to 180 around the 18:43 mark was one of my favorite clips throughout the video. Jon’s section is mellow but filled with tech. tricks linked together with manuals, fast plants and the forementioned xup rides, all of which he manages to make look smooth despite some far from ideal setups. The closing clip is also on par with the rest of the section, technical, creative and smooth.
“So damn good. My official review right there.” – Nilo Hodge, @riverrunsnorth
– Nilo Hodge, @riverrunsnorth
Mix #3 – Chocolate Truck:
The third mix section of the video features the Chocolate Truck crew and includes riding from Kevin Vannauker, Ryan Niranonta, Joe Niranonta, Nick Barrett, John Yoh, Grant Maddox, Matt Miller, Breyon Woods & Mike Swift. The section is full of great riding but Kevin Vannauker’s barspin to fence ride and Nicky B’s feeble grind at the 21:25 mark really stood out to me. Mike Swift’s ender would also be impossible not to acknowledge, by far one of the most progressive street moves I’ve ever seen.
Steve Tassone:
Steve Tassone’s section of the video has a refreshing upbeat feel to it in part due to the song choice which pairs really well with his riding style and the way the section is edited. Lot’s of quick one hit clips with a few lines mixed in. There’s also a few big moves in the section including a really good gap to flat rail from a handicap ramp and a ledge to ledge gap over a rail to manual. Steve is also providing distribution for the DVD through his Berks St. venture.
Mix #4 – Atown Trash:
The fourth and final mix section of the video comes from the one and only Atown Trash crew. The section includes riding from Knick Smith, James Hess, Eddie Grabert, John Greenage, Fateem Williams, Chris Volkwine, Pat Quinn, Erick Carment & Josh Frey. Overall the section is everything you would expect from the Atown Trash crew, beer waxed smith grinds, gully setups, sketchy grinds and a classic East Coast street vibe.
Joby Suender:
Joby Suender closes out the video with a great section full of smooth riding. The section includes a few technical lines but as you would expect from a closing section, it’s got a lot of big tricks as well. I can’t help but make note of the wallride to tabletop to flat and the tabletop over a rail gap. I was also really into the rail gap into the storm door at the 32:02 mark. The last two clips of the video are pretty wild but you won’t find any spoilers here, you’ll have to judge for yourself.
Final Summation:
‘JIB: Tape Four’ is a great reminder of why independent BMX films are important. It also does a great job capturing the spirit of the Philadelphia BMX scene. The filming and editing were both done very well and the music flows with the riding in each section. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed ‘Tape Four’ and recommend picking up a copy as I have watched it several times since the start of this review and found it’s only grown on me more with each viewing. As my hard copy has just arrived in the mail I’ll soon be adding the DVD into my collection along side Tape Three, but not before watching one more time.
Thanks for reading.
Special Thanks: Jon Schimpf, the Jib crew and Steve Tassone at Berks Street.