RECORD STORE TALES #1240:
Life is short sometimes, goes by in the wink of an eye

Changes have been afoot.  Not all has been well.  I have been quiet.  You probably haven’t noticed, but life is…interesting.  We’re not ready to talk about the changes yet.

Some things remain the same, and on Friday April 17, we loaded the car with new tunes and made our way to our lake retreat for the first time in 2026.  We began the trip with Judas Priest and Ozzy Osbourne’s new version of “War Pigs”.  This one really blew the ears open for the road trip.  What a track.  Destined to be a classic.  Later on, we followed it with some April Wine.

It was the first time I’d driven to the lake in the dark in close to a decade.  In that time, both my eyes and nerves have aged.  We made it safe and sound, albeit a bit tired.

Writing is difficult.  There are a lot of things I just don’t feel like talking about right now.  I hope that this summer will bring all of the things I enjoy:  flying drones, doing shows from the cottage, cooking food, taking pictures and making videos.  And whatever else comes our way that I can turn into a creative endeavor.

We will return again soon, and we have planned the first live show of the weekend.  With good friend Peter Kerr, Harrison and I will discuss our Top Five Artists that are Not Rock!  The first cottage show of the season will likely be indoors due to the cold, but you never know.  We are back!

The first drone flight of the weekend occurred Sunday April 20 before 7:00 AM.  It was below freezing.  Our first flight at negative temperatures!  Flying above the birds, I captured beautiful views of Lake Huron by the beach, and revealed much higher water levels than last fall.  Let’s hope that they don’t retreat again.  The detritus of winter can be seen on the beach.  A huge log washed up, impossible for a person to move.  Only the power of snow and ice could have moved it here.  For the drone video, I chose the song “Life Is” by Arkells for this flight’s soundtrack.

I ran into a new problem, which is moisture condensation inside the drone camera.  I ordered some silica gel packs to try to get rid of the moisture, but this is new territory for me and I’ve never had to deal with this before.  Hopefully, I can solve the issue.

Driving home on Sunday, we chose the new Arkells album Between Us for the soundtrack.  The album has catchy songs, but very few that have captured me.  We’ll have to give it time, but early signs point to this being “just another album” by the Hamilton band.

Much more intriguing is Quebec’s Angine de Poitrine.  Everyone is talking about them.  Their albums are completely sold out everywhere and go for over $150 on Discogs.  A CD reissue is due in June, but until then all we can do is stream.  This band uses a custom microtonal guitar/bass doubleneck to achieve song melodies that sound like someone bending the notes precisely every time.  A duo, they loop their parts and build the songs slowly.  An addictive band and a cool way to end our weekend. Ignore the alien costumes. While they may have drawn eyes to the band, the music is what you need to focus on.

Enjoy the photos below, and see us live on Friday April 24 with Peter Kerr from Rock Daydream Nation. The cottage is waiting for your arrival!