Videos

#1018: Surfing the October Colours (Cottage Video)

RECORD STORE TALES #1018:
Surfing the October Colours (Cottage Video)

 

The last cottage weekend before closing was totally maxed out!  And I don’t mean Max the Axe!

Life is too short.  It must be lived to the fullest.  When you and I first met here at mikeladano.com, I was 10 years younger.  Spending four hours on a Saturday pounding words into a keyboard was nothing back then.  Today I’d rather be experiencing life.  So that’s what we did.  From music to food to photography, we enjoyed our last weekend at the cottage before closing, to the max!

The music for the road was top notch.  Ghost’s new album Impera received another spin.  It’s as good as the day it was released.  Then while hanging out in the “G” folder, we rocked out George Lynch’s debut solo album, Sacred Grooves.  Better than any of the Lynch Mob albums.  It also enabled me to teach Jen a little bit about the mighty Glenn Hughes.  His struggles and triumphs.  On the road home, we rocked David Lee Roth’s Eat ‘Em and Smile and Your Filthy Little Mouth.  A pretty solid selection of guitar rock.

The fall colours were spectacular.  Orange, yellow, deep maroon.  As you are all well aware, I am not usually a “fall guy”.  This year has been a little different.  I have a friend in California who finds all this Canadian weather beautiful and fascinating.  For her, I enjoyed documenting the weekend with video tours and personal messages.  It totally made this fall weekend a different experience for me.  It was like seeing the place through new eyes.  And this is now going to be part of my wellness plan for winter.  She wants me to continue sending her fun videos and pictures of the Canadian landscape during the snowy months.  I checked my phone — do you know how many pictures of snow I had from past winters?  Two.  TWO.  I have photos on my phone going back to 2014, and I only have two with snow in them.  With her enthusiasm and encouragement, I’m going to have fun documenting the winter of 2022-2023!  I’ve never had this before — a friend in a sunny climate who has requested Canadian snow videos!  On the condition that I stay safe and don’t crash my car or break my neck!  This gives me a whole new project to do this winter, that I never had before.  I feel very positive about going into the cold, dark winter months.

I’m recovering well from my dental surgery and ate two steaks this weekend!  They were awesome!  As were all the fish and mushrooms I cooked up.  No A5 wagyu in stock at the butcher’s shop though.  That will have to wait until next year, I suppose.

We did something else different that we haven’t done in recent years.  We went into town!  I took some video of the big waves, a daring surfer, and some quaint streets.  Something new for this video.

Please enjoy this last cottage video before we close — all to the music of Tee Bone Erickson and Max the Axe!

Full Drive: 1 hour and 45 minutes from Tiverton to Kitchener

I’m not posting this with the expectation that anyone will spend an hour and 45 minutes watching me drive home from the cottage.  This is for me.

However, if you want to hear a live bootleg of Max the Axe playing their first gig with the current lineup…it’s here.  I actually didn’t intend to use it, but I clicked the wrong music folder and it will take hours to re-save.  So here you go!  The track list for this video is:

MAX THE AXE

Live on the Farm Aug 4 2017

“The Other Side” (Instrumental)
“I Don’t Advocate Drugs”
“River Grand”
“Next Plane to Vegas”
“Uptite Friday Night”
“Randy”
“Scales of Justice”
“Sick of Living”
“Thirsty and Miserable”
“Gods on the Radio”

Trillion Dollar Threats

“Overload”
“Guns To Iran”
“Daddy Was a Murderin’ Man”
“Labyrinth”
“I Don’t Advocate Drugs”
“Belljar Party”
“Blood Runs Red”
“River Grand”
“Uptite Friday Night”
“Immortal”
“Space Marine”
“Mutant Mind”
“More”
“Letter To Yourself”
“Livin’ the Country”
“Mexican Standoff”

Bonus track

“Scales of Justice” (Remix)

Points of interest:

  • Lots of passing
  • Weird castle at 9:50
  • Weird single-lane bridge at 12:15

VIDEO: Unboxing the COSMIC SUPERHEROES “Hell Yes Ma’am Sessions” CD and other swag!

The Cosmic Superheroes are a band out of North Carolina, and I have just received a copy of their new CD, Hell Yes Ma’am Sessions!  Bluesy, rootsy rock and roll with boogie!  I’m digging their sound.  What caught my attention was that they covered “Peace Pipe” by Cry of Love, one of the greatest songs of the 1990s.  They were also produced by John Custer, so you know the final result would sound good.  And it does!

Check out the unboxing video below, and become familiar with the Cosmic Superheroes!

VIDEO: The Last (Summer) Train

Summer is over.  Today is the first day of fall.  For the final cottage video of the summer, you can see more of the incredible wildlife that we have come to expect.  This is edited to the tune of my favourite Tee Bone Erickson song, “The Last Train”.

While it is always sad when summer comes to an end, it must be remembered that things are not like they once were. I don’t think I’ve ever gone swimming in September before. Fall is not necessarily the depressing wet cold thing it was in the 80s or even the 90s.

This video also features a cameo by my old friend and guest contributor Aaron Lebold.  I don’t think I have seen Aaron in person since the Record Store days!  We hung out and shot the shit for about an hour.  He brought me some crazy Optimus Prime figures that you will see as well.  Good to see an old friend, and good to have company at the lake, which we have not had since well before the pandemic.

MOVIE REVIEW: Mystique – Standing on the Firing Line (Guest video review by Uncle Meat)

Thanks to Marco D’Auria for the use of three exclusive movie clips in this review.

VIDEO: Max the Axe – “Randy” Remix – August 25-28 at the lake

I am pleased to present to you a work in progress by Max the Axe: a new remix of “Randy” by Robi Banerji. This remix veers wildly from the original album version of the song.

There are lots of dogs and cats in this video for you pet lovers.

You’ll notice we saw our UFO at the lake again on that August weekend. And weirder than ever. Explain this to me, people. See for yourself!

VIDEO: Rocking August Weekend to the Greatest Hits of Tee Bone Erickson

Sometimes my videos are inspired, sometimes less so. This time was one of those times I just couldn’t seem to satisfy myself. However, there’s still some great footage here. A couple of blue jays, some delicious steaks, incredible sunsets, waves in slow motion, and miniature Schnauzers. All to the greatest hits of our good pal Tee Bone. And you can’t resist his music!

Last Train: The Mystique documentary with Marco D’Auria and special guest Martin Popoff

The Last Train – The MYSTIQUE Film

A big thanks to Marco D’Auria and special surprise guest Martin Popoff, for schooling us on Mystique!  From Hamilton Ontario, Mystique were a metal band with a riffy progressive rock bent.  Though they later evolved into a more hard rock sound, their metal side seems to be what has stuck with fans and collectors over the decades.  Their highly sought physical product commands high prices for original copies.  In this interview we covered:

  • The starting point, and Martin’s role in the genesis of the film
  • Mystique, their sound, image, and rare releases
  • Exclusive clips from the documentary film Mystique:  Standing on the Firing Line
  • Rare memorabilia
  • The Hamilton music scene
  • The future

See what the fuss was all about in Standing on the Firing Line: the Mystique documentary!  The film will be premiering in September:

The Westdale
1014 King Street West
Hamilton, ON L8S 1L4

Friday September 16, 7:30 PM

The band will be there, memorabilia will be on display in a “Mystique museum” of sorts.  Martin Popoff will be on hand and Marco will be introducing the film in person.  Tickets are still available.  Get your tickets by clicking here.

Additionally, we made the difficult announcement that this episode will be the final LeBrain Train.  Two and a half years ago, a pandemic changed everything about the way we interact socially.  Now the world is changing again and I need to re-prioritise certain things in my life. I spent a lot of Friday nights in front of a screen talking to you, laughing with you, sharing with you and surviving a pandemic with you.  Now I’d like to spend Friday nights looking at sunsets with Mrs. LeBrain.

It has been a pleasure and a privilege doing this for two and a half years, and I thank you all for making it possible!

Thank you to Meat, Harrison, Tee Bone, Kevin, Sarah, John, Geoff, Aaron, Marco, Tim, Rob Daniels, Robert Lawson, Max, Dr. Dave, Dr. Kathryn, James, J, Lana, Erik, Thussy, Dranovous, Michael Morwood, Mike Slayen, Brian, Brent, T-Rev, Scotty, Mom, and anyone I may have forgotten for coming on the show and bringing your own special sauce to the mix.  And of course, to Chris Sarre who I could never get to agree to come onto the show, but was still part of the heart and soul of it anyway.

I love you guys.  Truly I do.  Towards the end of the show, we played a brand new Tee Bone song called “The Last Train”.  It is a collaboration with Dr. Kathryn Ladano on bass clarinet.  I think it’s one of the best things they’ve ever done.

The Last Train…wow that’s hard to believe.  See you somewhere out there, some time, eventually!

Marco D’Auria takes us on the Firing Line with the Mystique Film! Live tonight!

The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike & Harrison

Episode 114 – MYSTIQUE – Standing on the Firing Line with Marco D’Auria

Canadian Filmmaker and Contrarian Marco D’Auria is back on the LeBrain Train tonight to discuss his new film Mystique: Standing on the Firing Line!  Mystique was a progressive metal band that formed in Hamilton Ontario in the 1980s.  They released a single, a demo, and an EP which today are highly valued collectables.  Their image might have been more hard rock/hair metal, but their music was far more challenging than their look.  Unfortunately the band never released their 1989 album, which was recorded but never properly mixed.  Now Marco is bringing Mystique back to the attention of the metal masses with this documentary which will debut in September.

Harrison and I will be peppering Marco with questions about this band, their discography, and his film.  It is something he is very proud of, and from what little I have seen so far, he should indeed be proud!

Marco will also be doing a giveaway!  In other words – catch this one LIVE.  This will be a special show, and we have more surprises up our sleeves.  Clips from the film (including unreleased music) and more will be going down tonight.  Seriously, don’t miss it.  You know how we do things here.  We like surprises.  Expect surprises.

Friday July 15, 7:00 PM E.S.T.  on YouTube, Facebook and also Facebook!