Roctober #51...plus UK Points Gray review....

I have a huge Sweet daddy Siki (wrestler/country artist) interview in the new Roctober and you can even see him hanging out on the cover with Neil Hamburger, Tiny Tim and the Chipmunks (I also wrote some Chipmunks updates). As well July Fourth Toilet/Points Gray bandmate Julian Lawrence has a comic about getting turned on to K-Tel's Nutty Numbers. From the description: "A massive issue from Roctober this time around – filled with a wealth of information on unusual novelty and comedy records – plus lots of other odd vinyl too! There's a huge amount of interviews here – with Jimmy Lynch The Funky Tram, Mr Lee, Neil Hamburger, Dave Alvin, Dr Demento, The 1985 Chicago Beras, Rappin Duke, and others – plus bits on Richard Pyror, Pedro Bell, Brother Dave Gardner, Andy Kaufman, and Jack White's Third Man Records – plus a massive stand up records discography, and loads lots more! Massive reviews and other bits too – and easily the best musical bang for your magazine buck."
Order here:
https://www.dustygroove.com/item/671689



UK site Terrascope ran an interesting review of The Points Gray LP (available here: http://www.tediumhouse.com/artists/points-gray or at good stores in Vancouver, Toronto and more). Here's the review:

originally recorded in 1999 but not released until now “off Shore” by Vancouver based Points Gray, although they played live as AIDS, has an undeniable power in its lo-fi Folk Noire ramblings. A voice all its own that will either enthral you or grate with you, I can't imagine much in between. Personally, it has a taken a couple of plays before my ear tuned in, but I am glad it did, as songs such “Echo Power” and “People  Hate You In This Town” contain the same sardonic lyricism as The Velvets whilst being oddly constructed in a Syd Barrett, Skip Spence kinda way. Featuring future members of Wet Dirt, July 4th Toilet, and The New pornographers, the music is acoustic, reasonably free-form and is more uneasy than easy listening, although there are hidden depths to be discovered, pockets of beauty and a strange sense of stillness at its core. Limited to 300 copies, with a hand-drawn lyric booklet plenty of information on the cover, this is an excellent package that preserves a little slice of musical history.

The New Pornographers

Seeing The New Pornographers at CNE on Saturday brought back serious memories, a whole lot of 'Oh yeahhhh, I forgot about that!' including  this funny video where we were all puppeteers for the band, excuse my ill-advised beard flirtation.....I also ate some deep fried coca cola. Afterwards John Collins and I discussed the amazing qualities of the underdocumented 90s Vancouver music scene (ie. an insanely  pivotal 3 Day Stubble/Evaporators gig from 1992, I made the flier and probably have it wayyy deep in a dresser drawer somewhere) that stretched into the 2000s, damn, gets me thinking, hmmmm.
 
 
 

WET DIRT bandcamp, art and lyric booklet

I finally put the entire WET DIRT album up on Bandcamp, so now it's even easier to listen to it/download....this was my first Toronto band...

Coming across like an early seventies, slightly-fried, band of freaks, the rather excellent Wet Dirt sound suitably messed up on their album “Self Sabotage, The Early Years” with the stoned groove of “Bad Choices” setting out their stall with the chorus “Bad choices, made some bad choices, gonna make some more”. Add to this fine guitar playing, a solid rhythm section,and an ear for melody, and you have a perfect opening song and statement. Moving on, “The Chill Out Man” is weird and creepy, nonsensical word play, and a crawling guitar line creating a strange atmosphere, the song sounding like something Zappa could have created. As the album progresses the band get weirder, louder, more interesting by turns with “Hot Pink” managing all three at once. Elsewhere, “Invalids” is post-punk noise, angular guitar and an individual vocal delivery adding to the tension of the lyrics reminding me of Pere Ubu, whilst “Of Felt” is a song about the tactile pleasures of felt, as it should be. If you are searching for something different, energetic, angry and weird then this should hit the spot, a minor classic. (www.inyrdisk.com)
-Terrascope

Here's the link:
 http://wetdirt.bandcamp.com/





Here's the link to the art and lyric booklet that I made, too:
http://robertdayton.tumblr.com/post/57023214644/wetdirttheband-wet-dirt-cd-art-and-lyric

ZINE DREAM 6/ KARAOKE / et al

Hey folks, I will be selling the newly released Points Gray LP (which has been getting some great airplay on the legendary WFMU: the track "Growing Beards" sparks up the comment board with people weighing-in on male grooming more than anything really), The Canadian Romantic winking pic, doll (now for sale at Likely General, 389 Roncesvalles as well), book, maybe some weird old zines and issues of Drippy, some personal items  that I'll be purging from my home as I prepare to my move to Kitchener-Waterloo. Everything I can fit in a half table.
It's happening between 12 - 5 pm on Sunday Aug. 4th. at The Tranzac in Toronto !
292 Brunswick Ave. Pop by and try or buy or say hi.....
ZINE DREAM has stuff happening all weekend, check out their site:
http://zinedream.com/
Speaking of 'weird old zines' Broken Pencil has been running some of their early old zine reviews. They just ran an old review of my old zine Bunyon from the 90's.  Check it:
http://www.brokenpencil.com/news/todays-zine-review-bunyon-zine

Nice mentions of my Mom, it's been eight months since she died, she was a really good writer.

After ZINE DREAM 6 in the evening at 11 pm I will be hosting karaoke again at The Beaver (1192 Queen Street West), unusre what my outfit will be but karaoke always gets more than a tad wild there....
As part of International Zine Month, we’ll be posting a zine review a day on our blog in July. Today’s review is from Issue 3.
20 pages, Act #7  main creator: Robert Dayton  $2 plus $1 postage  317A Cambie St., Vancouver, BC  V6B 2N4
This is an excellent chronicle of the BC  hipster scene, as well as the travelogue of Rob’s journey through the ugly  landscape of his soul. This zine speaks  to the despair of being a thinking  creating person with such fervour that  it is almost like the kind of prayer  people make in their heads as they are  walking home from work after a  desperate, shitty day. That said, there are  a lot of comics in this zine including the  unforgettable Ackerman Dick story and  Shawn Bristow’s Just When I Thought  I Had A Grip On Life Love Rams It’s  Fist Up My Ass. Oh Yeah! Anyway,  Rob’s family obviously has a knack for  self confession, because the prose  that pushes this zine into the limelight  where you can see the zits and  loneliness are by Rob and his Mom.
Mom – who is, in fact, identified only  as Rob’s Mom – gets to start the zine  off with a letter about adjusting to her  recent move to small-town  Saskatchewan. This is a great piece of  inflected prose, every sentence is an  ([un?]intended) punchline. She should  write a book of this stuff, it would  definitely win the Leacock award for  humour. Particularly notable was the  portrayal of the “elderly gentleman”  who keeps driving by her new home in’  order to present up to date reports at  the town coffee shop on what the new  folk are doing. Hilarious. Now don’t  skip the rest of the zine, but Rob’s own  gut wrenching admissions from a diary  (fact or fiction, it don’t matter) come at  the very end. Eight pages of diary  entries see Rob move from love-sick  puppy to irrational dick-head while his  health steadily deteriorates under the  office flourescents and his band-mates  rebel against his authority. As if that  wasn’t enough, constant cameo  appearances by indie bands and zine  kids alike give this diary a lifestyles of  the poor and fucked up feel that both  undermines and speaks to the repetition  of being alive. A bunion is the inflamed  swelling of the first joint of the big toe,  but Bunyon is the shrinking swell that  never stops chafing.
- See more at: http://www.brokenpencil.com/news/todays-zine-review-bunyon-zine#sthash.6wuPAbCK.dpu
20 pages, Act #7  main creator: Robert Dayton  $2 plus $1 postage  317A Cambie St., Vancouver, BC  V6B 2N4
This is an excellent chronicle of the BC  hipster scene, as well as the travelogue of Rob’s journey through the ugly  landscape of his soul. This zine speaks  to the despair of being a thinking  creating person with such fervour that  it is almost like the kind of prayer  people make in their heads as they are  walking home from work after a  desperate, shitty day. That said, there are  a lot of comics in this zine including the  unforgettable Ackerman Dick story and  Shawn Bristow’s Just When I Thought  I Had A Grip On Life Love Rams It’s  Fist Up My Ass. Oh Yeah! Anyway,  Rob’s family obviously has a knack for  self confession, because the prose  that pushes this zine into the limelight  where you can see the zits and  loneliness are by Rob and his Mom.
Mom – who is, in fact, identified only  as Rob’s Mom – gets to start the zine  off with a letter about adjusting to her  recent move to small-town  Saskatchewan. This is a great piece of  inflected prose, every sentence is an  ([un?]intended) punchline. She should  write a book of this stuff, it would  definitely win the Leacock award for  humour. Particularly notable was the  portrayal of the “elderly gentleman”  who keeps driving by her new home in’  order to present up to date reports at  the town coffee shop on what the new  folk are doing. Hilarious. Now don’t  skip the rest of the zine, but Rob’s own  gut wrenching admissions from a diary  (fact or fiction, it don’t matter) come at  the very end. Eight pages of diary  entries see Rob move from love-sick  puppy to irrational dick-head while his  health steadily deteriorates under the  office flourescents and his band-mates  rebel against his authority. As if that  wasn’t enough, constant cameo  appearances by indie bands and zine  kids alike give this diary a lifestyles of  the poor and fucked up feel that both  undermines and speaks to the repetition  of being alive. A bunion is the inflamed  swelling of the first joint of the big toe,  but Bunyon is the shrinking swell that  never stops chafing.
- See more at: http://www.brokenpencil.com/news/todays-zine-review-bunyon-zine#sthash.6wuPAbCK
As part of International Zine Month, we’ll be posting a zine review a day on our blog in July. Today’s review is from Issue 3.
20 pages, Act #7  main creator: Robert Dayton  $2 plus $1 postage  317A Cambie St., Vancouver, BC  V6B 2N4
This is an excellent chronicle of the BC  hipster scene, as well as the travelogue of Rob’s journey through the ugly  landscape of his soul. This zine speaks  to the despair of being a thinking  creating person with such fervour that  it is almost like the kind of prayer  people make in their heads as they are  walking home from work after a  desperate, shitty day. That said, there are  a lot of comics in this zine including the  unforgettable Ackerman Dick story and  Shawn Bristow’s Just When I Thought  I Had A Grip On Life Love Rams It’s  Fist Up My Ass. Oh Yeah! Anyway,  Rob’s family obviously has a knack for  self confession, because the prose  that pushes this zine into the limelight  where you can see the zits and  loneliness are by Rob and his Mom.
Mom – who is, in fact, identified only  as Rob’s Mom – gets to start the zine  off with a letter about adjusting to her  recent move to small-town  Saskatchewan. This is a great piece of  inflected prose, every sentence is an  ([un?]intended) punchline. She should  write a book of this stuff, it would  definitely win the Leacock award for  humour. Particularly notable was the  portrayal of the “elderly gentleman”  who keeps driving by her new home in’  order to present up to date reports at  the town coffee shop on what the new  folk are doing. Hilarious. Now don’t  skip the rest of the zine, but Rob’s own  gut wrenching admissions from a diary  (fact or fiction, it don’t matter) come at  the very end. Eight pages of diary  entries see Rob move from love-sick  puppy to irrational dick-head while his  health steadily deteriorates under the  office flourescents and his band-mates  rebel against his authority. As if that  wasn’t enough, constant cameo  appearances by indie bands and zine  kids alike give this diary a lifestyles of  the poor and fucked up feel that both  undermines and speaks to the repetition  of being alive. A bunion is the inflamed  swelling of the first joint of the big toe,  but Bunyon is the shrinking swell that  never stops chafing.
- See more at: http://www.brokenpencil.com/news/todays-zine-review-bunyon-zine#sthash.6wuPAbCK.dpuf
As part of International Zine Month, we’ll be posting a zine review a day on our blog in July. Today’s review is from Issue 3.
20 pages, Act #7  main creator: Robert Dayton  $2 plus $1 postage  317A Cambie St., Vancouver, BC  V6B 2N4
This is an excellent chronicle of the BC  hipster scene, as well as the travelogue of Rob’s journey through the ugly  landscape of his soul. This zine speaks  to the despair of being a thinking  creating person with such fervour that  it is almost like the kind of prayer  people make in their heads as they are  walking home from work after a  desperate, shitty day. That said, there are  a lot of comics in this zine including the  unforgettable Ackerman Dick story and  Shawn Bristow’s Just When I Thought  I Had A Grip On Life Love Rams It’s  Fist Up My Ass. Oh Yeah! Anyway,  Rob’s family obviously has a knack for  self confession, because the prose  that pushes this zine into the limelight  where you can see the zits and  loneliness are by Rob and his Mom.
Mom – who is, in fact, identified only  as Rob’s Mom – gets to start the zine  off with a letter about adjusting to her  recent move to small-town  Saskatchewan. This is a great piece of  inflected prose, every sentence is an  ([un?]intended) punchline. She should  write a book of this stuff, it would  definitely win the Leacock award for  humour. Particularly notable was the  portrayal of the “elderly gentleman”  who keeps driving by her new home in’  order to present up to date reports at  the town coffee shop on what the new  folk are doing. Hilarious. Now don’t  skip the rest of the zine, but Rob’s own  gut wrenching admissions from a diary  (fact or fiction, it don’t matter) come at  the very end. Eight pages of diary  entries see Rob move from love-sick  puppy to irrational dick-head while his  health steadily deteriorates under the  office flourescents and his band-mates  rebel against his authority. As if that  wasn’t enough, constant cameo  appearances by indie bands and zine  kids alike give this diary a lifestyles of  the poor and fucked up feel that both  undermines and speaks to the repetition  of being alive. A bunion is the inflamed  swelling of the first joint of the big toe,  but Bunyon is the shrinking swell that  never stops chafing.
- See more at: http://www.brokenpencil.com/news/todays-zine-review-bunyon-zine#sthash.6wuPAbCK.dpuf

updated stuff

I totally forgot to mention that Pagelicker won a National magazine Award for our interview with Irvine Welsh! Yayyyy!
See that pic? That's me and Sipreano delivering the freshly pressed Points Gray LP to Zulu Records in Vancouver. He wrote the liner notes and there's also a download code and an art & lyric booklet by me and Julian Lawrence printed with blue ink on grey paper at Colour Code. 500 copies!!!
In Vancouver it is also available at Neptoon, Red Cat, AudioPile, Dandilion, and more!
In Toronto it is at June, Soundscapes, LP's LPs, Kops, and more!
You can order it and Balls Boogie through Tedium House/Revolver distribution who are the best:
http://www.tediumhouse.com/artists/points-gray
http://www.tediumhouse.com/artists/july-fourth-toilet

Recommended for people who enjoy music.
The Canadian Romantic winking photos are still available on Etsy, at Magic Pony (target market: young women) and Eyesore!
Ohhh and WFMU played Points Gray the other night! Love that station, so good!
Let me even things up with some bad news: I'm a narcissist in the wilderness.

worn out

I am worn out from last night's performance. That is good. Here's some video from our first show:

New Horizzzons - Zine Dream 6 Fundraiser

The members of New Horizzzons ready themselves in earnest for their next show,
The Zine Dream 6 Fundraiser at Izakaya (294 College Street, Toronto) on Thursday July 18!
Music is rawww demmmo of "Put It Out There" by New Horizzzons.




Playing with: FASSBENDER, BOING VOYAGE (formerly New Fries, Roseanne), and CREEP HIGHWAY!
$5-10 donation

cancel

NEW HORIZZZONS had to cancel our set tonight due to medical reasons. New Positions is playing instead.
I host karaoke at the Beaver Sunday night (1192 Queen west)

Canned Hamm scat



Thanks Paul Anthony!
(from the Canned Hamm show June 1st 2013 in Vancouver...a most wonderful audience and evening)

Points Gray Toronto Launch Tuesday June 11th

Come celebrate the release of this down beat record (with MP3 download code and art booklet)! Album to be listened to at 11 pm and sold for a special one night only price! Appropriately moody DJ set by DJ Body Beautiful (aka Robert Dayton) PLUS: a midnight candlelight recitation by The Canadian Romantic !

In Vancouver, BC during the late 90s Robert Dayton, Dan Bejar and Julian Lawrence recorded an album called "Offshore" under the name Points Gray. This is an album that the three of them are proud of even these years later. It has never been released on vinyl. In fact it has never been released in its' entirety!
But now it has!

The late 90s in Vancouver were an interesting and artistically exciting time.
Julian and Robert were going full steam with their act July Fourth Toilet, Canada's wildest and most unpredictable band ever with a mandate of no two shows the same and were in the midsts of recording their first album, an album where they wanted people to feel loved. And Robert had not yet started work in the comedic song and dance duo Canned Hamm.
Dan had released the second album "City Of Daughters" by his act Destroyer and he had just begun playing in the band The New Pornographers.
Robert approached Dan saying that acid folk music is long forgotten -oh, if only they knew what was to come a few years later, if only, though they were too unique to ever fit in anyways- and it would be good to give it a melodramatic downer damage vibe to suit all the intense lyrics that he had. Work was begun in earnest and it all seemed to flow easily and freely from the two of them. Julian joined them to provide important atmosphere with electric guitar, banjo, keys and samples and such.
It certainly has a distinctive quality and is rather unlike most albums.
They played only one show under the unfortunate monicker of AIDS- hey, it was the end of the 90s! No one had thought to put that unpleasant word in a bandname back then! They changed the name to Points Gray as they wanted something honest and direct that would not overshadow the music.
The album was recorded by Mark Gabriel at Method Studios engineered by July Fourth Toilet member Mark Gabriel.
It really informed their later work, certainly for Robert with the acts Canned Hamm, Hallmark, and Wet Dirt and for Dan with his This Night album.
With this LP Robert, who is also a visual artist, has designed a brand new cover using pen and ink and washes, it comes with a lyric and art booklet, quality mastering done by Josh Stevenson who always does an incredible job, he had previously mastered such things as a Destroyer reissue and the second July Fourth Toilet album as well as recording such acts as Sex Church.
With liner notes by Kevin "Sipreano" Howes who is neck-deep in a wide range of multimedia projects designed to preserve criminally undocumented Canadian music history. His reissue work w/ Seattle-based Light In The Attic on the Jamaica To Toronto series, Doug Randle, Sixto Rodriguez, Monks, and Motown's Mowest label has been featured in MOJO, Rolling Stone, Pitchforkmedia, The New York Times, The Globe & Mail, CBC, BBC, and NPR.