live stream

REMINDER: Martin Popoff on tonight’s LeBrain Train!

The LeBrain Train:  2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano

Episode 46 – A Chat With Martin Popoff

Join SuperDekes, Uncle Meat and myself TONIGHT as we talk to the guy who, frankly, got me writing reviews in the first place!  It was Riff Kills Man that inspired me, a book that I’ve been re-reading this week only to find new revelations.  I love when I feel validated by a review in one of Martin’s 90-odd books.

Martin’s extensive bibliography (he is the Isaac Asimov of Heavy Metal) includes definitive tomes on Accept, Rainbow, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath and just about every other band with legendary status.  As my re-reading this week has shown me, Martin has a way of describing music that just resonates.  It’s a talent that I have long envied.

Please spread the word, and welcome Martin Popoff to the LeBrain Train tonight!

7:00 PM E.S.T.
Facebook:  MikeLeBrain  YouTube:  Mike LeBrain

Martin Popoff – Top of the Bill on this week’s LeBrain Train – Friday Jan. 15

I am pleased to announce this week’s guest:  none other than Martin Popoff, Canadian music scribe extraordinaire!  Martin will be joining us to talk about his many books, YouTube shows, and assorted awesomeness.  It is a conversation I have been hoping to have for, oh, 20 years (give or take).

The LeBrain Train:  2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano

Episode 46 – A Chat With Martin Popoff

Join Super “Ironballs” Deke (who hooked it up with Martin), Uncle Meat and myself this Friday as we talk to the guy who, frankly, got me writing reviews in the first place!  It was Riff Kills Man that inspired me, a book that was passed around from friend to friend like a kid passes along a nudie mag.  “Have you ever heard Gillan?  Budgie?  Thin Lizzy?”  These were the words muttered as we handed the book onto the next recipient!

Martin’s extensive bibliography (he is the Isaac Asimov of Heavy Metal) includes definitive tomes on Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Scorpions, Rush, Motorhead, Max Webster and just about every other band with legendary status.  Through all that I kept my treasured copy of Riff Kills Man safely in my desk at work.  I’d write Amazon album reviews on my lunch break, and I had to have Popoff nearby to consult in case of confusion or doubt.

Please spread the word, and welcome Martin Popoff to the LeBrain Train on Friday January 15!

7:00 PM E.S.T.
Facebook:  MikeLeBrain  YouTube:  Mike LeBrain

Art by:  Saige from Weeping Willow Creations

I will be taking the next few days off from writing and posting so I can focus on preparing for this show.

Tres Hombres talk ZZ Top Deep Cuts on the LeBrain Train

Tons of fun, both on and off topic tonight, on the LeBrain Train.  Aaron from the KMA and Kevin from Buried On Mars were on board with some killer lists of ZZ Top’s best deep cuts.  A lil’ bit of overlap but not too much!  We also read off some guest lists:  San Diego guitarist Mike Slayen, and a local Kitchener singer named Mike Mahler.  Check out their lists as well as ours!

Show time index:

Watch from the start to see the latest CD unboxing from Encore Records.

To check out the new music video by Current River called “Hodder To Hell”, skip to 0:16:45 of the stream.

The ZZ Top talk commences at 0:22:20.

At the end of the show I spun the Loudness video for “Black Widow”.  Find that at 2:32:36.  (No copyright strike, yay!)

I hope you enjoy this week’s show as much as I did!  The 2021 season is off to a great start.

 

Gimme All Your Deep Cuts: It’s ZZ Top lists on the LeBrain Train!

The LeBrain Train:  2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano

Episode 45 – “Season Two” Premier

 

It’s 2021, and that makes it an even 50 years since ZZ Top released their First Album.  There is such a rich catalogue of rock, blues and jams far beyond what you hear on the radio.  Join LeBrain, Aaron from the KMA and Kevin from Buried On Mars, as we explore ZZ Top’s deeper cuts.  Songs you may have missed if you didn’t buy the albums.  We’ll be running down multiple Nigel Tufnel Top Ten lists tonight, so you’d better be taking notes!

For those who like to show up early, I will be doing an unboxing.  There are five CDs in this box from Encore Records, from two different artists.  Trying to complete some collections.  Curious?  Then you’ll wanna be there early, before the official 7:00 PM show start.

I’ll also be playing a new music video on the show — a brand new version of “Hodder To Hell” by Current River!

 

After a few weeks of fun seasonal shows, I’m eager to get back to some rock and roll!  50 years of ZZ Top is the perfect excuse to do an episode dedicated to the best lil’ band from Texas.  Best of all, it’s free!  It doesn’t matter if you Just Got Paid today, or if you’re Lowdown in the Street.  This is a show for everyone so come on board the LeBrain tonight for some ZZ Top.

 

7:00 PM E.S.T.
Facebook:  MikeLeBrain  YouTube:  Mike LeBrain

Virtual New Year’s Eve on the LeBrain Train! All aboard for the season finale!

The LeBrain Train:  2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano

Episode 44 – Special “Season One” Finale

 

Got nothing to do tonight?  Join the club!  Better yet, join the stream!  This week’s special episode takes place on Thursday December 31.  It will be a drop-in show, meaning folks will drop in and say hello, and read their own Nigel Tufnel Top Ten lists.  It will be any topic, from music on down to favourite children’s breakfast cereals.  Several guests so far confirmed.  I have a list planned myself, and it’s a very special one!

Special time:

9:00 PM E.S.T.
Facebook:  MikeLeBrain  YouTube:  Mike LeBrain

 

 

 

Boxing Day Live Stream featuring LeBrain’s Mom – “Christmas Memories”

We’re locked down, but not knocked down as this week’s live show proved!  From 1977 to 1991, stories of Christmases past were unfurled for fun discussion.  From the Star Wars years, through GI Joe, Transformers, and Atari, to cassettes, CDs and VHS, the greatest years of our lives were presented.  Then, special guest LeBrain’s Mom joined the latter half of this episode for her first on-screen appearance…bearing wine!

I had a great night and I hope you did too.  Lots of visual aids this time.  Thanks for watching!

Boxing Day Live Stream — “Christmas Memories” — Hang out Dec. 26 if you’re locked down!

The LeBrain Train:  2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano

Episode 43

Nobody “wanted” lockdown to happen in Ontario, but here we are.  You don’t have to be alone on Boxing Day, no matter where you are.  This Saturday December 26, join the LeBrain Train for a special holiday episode called “Christmas Memories”.  Special memories such as:

  • Waking my dad up with Lego
  • Getting Luke’s X-Wing
  • Finding a Millennium Falcon under the tree
  • Waiting for a train from Stratford in a blizzard
  • Killing time…
  • The Atari years
  • The year I woke everybody up at 1 AM playing GI Joe
  • The dawn of the Rock N’ Roll era:  cassettes, cassettes, cassettes!
  • Boxing Day with WWF’s Demolition
  • 1989:  The first CD player
  • 1990:  Led Zeppelin
  • …and on and on!

There might be guests — or I might just open it up for anyone to join the show.  You’ll just have to tune in and see.

It’s OK if you’re upset or just not in the mood.  Who is these days?  We have been here for each other since the start and the hope is to spread some positive feelings this week.

I’ll be on break for the next couple days.  Have a drink or two, and we’ll see you Saturday December 26.  Let’s get into the sweet nectar of nostalgia!

7:00 PM E.S.T.
Facebook:  MikeLeBrain  YouTube:  Mike LeBrain

 

All The Bands You Never Heard Of…epic 3 hour LeBrain Train

Awesome show this week! The 42nd LeBrain Train was another three hour long epic.  The theme was “Best Bands You Probably Never Heard Of”.  We never settled on a proper wording for it, or a proper system for keeping score.  The goal was to introduce you to plenty of artists we think you’d think.  And we hope you do!  For the first time ever, there was no crossover with the six lists!

Lists by:

Added bonus:  At the mid-way point (1:30:00 exactly) a very-caffeinated-me decided to go on an F-bomb laden rant about people who post The Mandalorian spoilers openly on social media without warnings.  Please enjoy my rant!

The final score:

  • Mike:  11 points
  • Sarah:  14 points
  • Harrison:  17 points
  • Rob:  19 points
  • John:  23 points
  • Aaron:  88 points

Huge thanks to everyone for hanging out so long!  Thanks for watching and see you next week.

Learn All About Bands You (Hopefully) Don’t Know on this week’s LeBrain Train

The LeBrain Train:  2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano

Episode 42

This week’s episode is brought to you by the brain behind 2 Loud 2 Old Music — John himself.  The man is like a music encyclopedia so it’s only fitting that he came up with this particular Nigel Tufnel Top Ten list.  What are your Favourite Artists that Nobody Else Has Heard Of?  Tonight’s panel will answer that question 11 times each, and hopefully give you a ton of stuff to listen to over the Christmas holidays.

Tonight’s panel:

There will also be a couple guest lists for us to run down.  That means you could be getting up to 66 bands to listen to!  (Depending on list crossover.)  Are you excited?  I am!

 

7:00 PM E.S.T.
Facebook:  MikeLeBrain  YouTube:  Mike LeBrain

SCHEDULING NOTICE

There will be a show next week, but it will not be on Friday!  Friday is Christmas after all.  I plan to go live on Boxing Day , Saturday December 26, and talk about Christmas Nostalgia.  From getting my first X-Wing fighter to the year I got Zeppelin, I can’t wait to tell you some stories.

For the following week, I am tentatively planning to go live on New Year’s Eve, Thursday December 31.  I dunno what time yet…it’s not like I have anything else going on…but it’ll just be a New Year’s party.  Mrs. LeBrain is planning to join me and we hope you can too!

 

Iron Maiden Deep Cuts Gonna Get Ya No Matter How Far

Picking a favourite episode among the 41 (!) shows we’ve done is a bit like picking a favourite child.  Impossible to do!  But I took a real shine to this week’s instalment:  the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Iron Maiden Deep Cuts.

Each of us had our own personal criteria to determine if a song was a “deep cut”.  For example, I chose no songs from Live After Death, or any leading tracks from an album.  Harrison the Mad Metal Man decided that he would include no single A-sides, and no songs that were played live…ever.

As an added bonus to this episode, we brought back Geoff from 1001albumsin10years.  The Graph Alchemist himself had to be involved, to track all these crucial Iron Maiden songs.  In particular I wanted to see what albums were dominant.  Geoff then went above and beyond the call of duty by bringing us a four-way Venn diagram showing all the songs that the panel had in common.  Ever seen a four-way oval Venn before?  You will!

The panel tonight consisted of:

  • LeBrain (Yours truly)
  • Harrison the Mad Metal Man
  • Aaron from KeepsMeAlive (in absentium)
  • Uncle Meat

These four lists were all graphed and included in the episode’s statistics.

We also had three “bonus lists” that we ran right at the top of the show.  These bonus lists were submitted by:

  • Reader KK
  • The Mighty Holen
  • Michael the Box Set Wizard

Finally this episode also marked the debut of the brand new LeBrain Train theme song by T-Bone.  So good that I played it three times.  Everybody loves the song and video — let me know what you think too.

Best show ever?  Definitely top five.

Shoot, do I have to do a Nigel Tufnel Top Ten LeBrain Trains now?*

Click to enlarge the graphs:

 

 

* Foreshadowing.