This post doesn’t actually have anything to do with the Bongzilla track “Champagne and Reefer” from their 2005 album Amerijuanican (or with Muddy Waters‘ original version, for that matter), I just had it stuck in my head as I often do. Miss that band.

Anyhoo, as you can see above, The Obelisk received a whopping 255,132 page views for September, which is fairly awesome. Some of that is directly attributable to the forum and the fallout over Black Pyramid breaking up, but there were a few other spikes across the month, and they helped out as well. It may or may not be a fluke (each month I always think there’s no way I’ll ever be able to top that month), but over a quarter-million hits in 30 days is pretty killer any way you look at it. I’ll take that.

So thanks as always. Visits came in from 120 countries around the world, with the US, UK, Canada, Germany and Australia comprising the top five (Sweden was sixth). Among American cities, New York City was tops as per usual, but California edged out New York for top state, followed by Texas, Massachusetts and Oregon. My home state, New Jersey, was sixth, and Wyoming — which is perpetually last — sent a whopping 8 visitors this way. I’m pretty sure that’s a new record.

The podcast, which I fear is being outshined by all these track premieres and streams of albums, was downloaded a meager 115 times. On the forum, on the other hand, there are 817 registered users as of right now, with 46,551 posts total in 3,293 topics. General Discussion alone is nearing the 40,000-mark at 39,443. It’s pretty awesome and I’ve managed to find some killer bands on there. If you missed it, Curse the Son posted their album for streaming, and that’s good stuff.

Lots to come in October though, so here’s a quick-ish rundown:

The Maple Forum: I’ll be putting the HeavyPink 7″ up for pre-sale tonight or tomorrow. What that will consist of is the same ol’ link where you can buy it, so basically it’s the same thing as ever. The difference is I put aside a shipping label with your name on it and send you a record when they come in, which should be in two or three weeks. The system works. More soon.

I’m also in talks with Riff Cannon, Cortez, When the Deadbolt Breaks and Tasha-Yar about doing albums with them in 2012, and there’s still Clamfight to come when that record’s done, so yeah, a lot of good stuff in the works as far as the label goes. I don’t think I’ll get to put out all those albums, but those are quality bands you should check out one way or another, and I’d be proud to work with any or all of them, time and finances permitting.

audiObelisk: The plan is to have a new podcast coming this weekend. Not sure when I’m going to have time to actually make it, but that’s the timeline I’m working on anyway. Until then, enjoy the Colour Haze track, which I was thrilled to be able to post, as I’m a total nerd for that band. I’ll also have Lonely Kamel and Sandrider tracks up this week, Isole and Samsara Blues Experiment next week, and more after that, I’m sure. Music on a blog about music. Crazy times, indeed.

Features: Rwake goes up this week. I still need to get my questions out to Mars Red Sky and Sungrazer. Email interviews always take me forever to put together. I’m still trying to work out how to Skype with Ollie Stygall of Grifter — hopefully that doesn’t take me this entire month to make happen — and I’d love to get on the phone in the coming weeks with Elder and Black Cobra as well, as their albums are pretty stellar. I’ll also be putting together a Six Dumb Questions with Wiht, who were just reviewed today, if you missed it. Speaking of reviews…

Reviews: The list goes on. I’ve got a bunch of stuff at home that still needs to be logged in, but on my list here at the office for the next month is Ogressa, Sea of Zyn, Morbid Wizard, The Heavy Co., Samsara Blues Experiment, a Groan/Vinum Sabbatum split, Hull, Eggnogg, The Dive and plenty more I hope to get to. The plan for the rest of this week is Elder, Sandrider, Beastwars and The Wounded Kings. Always a lot to review. I’ve more or less accepted it as a fact of life. Won’t hear me complain.

Live Reviews: Seemed to be something of a glut this month with the Small Stone showcase and the rest, perhaps at the expense of a couple disc reviews, but I’m doing my best. This Friday I’m headed to Brooklyn to see Archon, When the Deadbolt Breaks and Earthride, and I’ll be at shows Saturday and maybe Monday as well before next weekend, so it doesn’t look like there’s much of a slowdown. Hope you’ve enjoyed the recent live review stuff, anyway, and the pictures, despite the weird flash trickery. I need to buy a flash, I guess.

I know there’s more, but as always, I haven’t a clue what it might be. Instead of pushing it, I’ll just say thanks again for reading, writing and all the rest.

Much appreciated,
JJ Koczan
Hamartia Pabulous Taskmaster

Tags: self-aggrandizing, The Numbers

This entry was posted on Monday, October 3rd, 2011 at 4:44 pm and is filed under The Numbers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.