I have been running this website for 11 years. I will not go on forever. At some point in an unknown future, I will put the website to rest. I will go down with the ship. I don't have a grandiose personality, but I want to go down in the same magnificent way as the fictive Lord Cutler Beckett in "At World's End". In a dignified way that speaks powerfully and leaves a lasting imprint. Maybe this epic ending is a little bit over the top, after all. I launched the website on March 1, 2014. The first blog entry I posted had the dramatic title "So it begins...". Of course, there was nothing to report at that time. Since then I have posted an anniversary blog post every year. The second blog post (2015) had the expectantly title "So it continues...". Here, I discussed the past, present and future for the site. The third blog post (2016) had the prosaic title "And so it goes on and on and on and on and on...". Here, I did some merciless following up on ambitions and promises. The fourth blog post (2017) had the patronizing title "The necessity of content gardening". Here, I stated that a website, with proper content gardening, could live forever. The fifth blog post (2018) had the technical title "Ratchet effect through organic growth”. Here, I speculated how web indexing and algorithms drove traffic to unprecedented levels. The sixth blog post (2019) had the glorifying title "5 years and 100 000 hits". Here, I rattled off statistics lengthwise and crosswise. The seventh blog post (2020) had the dutiful title "The show must go on". Here, I concluded that the responsibilities I have towards society are too important to be calling it quits. The eight blog post (2021) had the explanatory title "7 is the number following 6 and preceding 8". Here, I complained about muddling through in the time of the pandemic. The ninth blog post (2022) had the cheerful title "Eight is great". Here, I made some random remarks. The tenth blog post (2023) had the rhyming title "Nine is fine". Here, I had nothing to say. The eleventh blog post (2024) had the self-aggrandizing title "Ten years of being insensitive to trends". Here, I ranted about this and that. Today, it's time to summarize the last year in a blog post. The visitor counter indicates 305 076.

Assessment
Executive summary: The website has operated successfully for the last eleven years. New content has been added with regularity and to a sufficient degree without any deterioration in quality. The website is in need of a minor review, primarly with the intent on updating information on existing pages. A plan for this has been developed and implemented. Minor disruptancies in the operation of the website have occured, but this haven't affected production or quality. The coming year we will see a strong focus on content and the management and development of the site.  

Visitor statistics
To go from zero to 300 000 visitors took 3 975 days or 10,9 years. The website didn't have many visits in the beginning. Then the web indexing and Google algorithms began to kick in. The average number of days to reach another 10 000 visitors has decreased over time. Despite changes in Google algorithms the website continues to attract visitors The last year has been a record year. More than 43 000 visitors during the last year. All time high.  

Department statistics
I wrote one new article last year (Foddershock). This says more about the state of the genre, than about me. As I have stated before, new articles have no intrisic value. I don't want to lower my standards. I have a list of 4-5 bands waiting to be included in my prestigious article series. My aim is to write at least one new article the upcoming year. Moreover, I listed zero new artists in the table. I created zero new lists. I wrote 52 blog entries, which is once a week. However, "blogging is not writing, it's graffiti with punctuation" as someone have pointed out. 

Most visited pages
The five pages below are the most visited. The order has shifted over time. The start page (Home) is and have always been the most visited page. Not very surprising. The second page "Artists" is a simple list with links to Discogs and articles. Still, very popular. The third page is the list "10 essential gothic country albums", which comprises a canon of must-have gothic country albums. The "10 best version of Wayfaring Stranger" list has become quite popular in recent years and is placed as number four. Review of "Fossils" (Sons of Perdition collaborative album) is placed as number five. The Sons of Perdition article page belonged to the five most visited pages for many years. It's now placed as number nine.  

Flaws
The website has been up and running twenty-four seven. Almost twenty-four seven. On January 7, 2025 my hosting provider closed the site down. Apparently, the website had been hacked and was used to send out spam. The website was down for a whole week. My hosting provider, with the ironic company name Loopia, believes in non-verbal, non-written and telepathic communication. My friend Mikael, site architect and web analysts had to step in and fix the problem, as always. Loopia got the nerve to send me a "Would you recommend the service to others?" e-mail. Provoking, to say the least. I have done some maintance, but still has a few things to fix. If you stumble over any obsolete or incorrect information or any dead links don't hesitate to contact me and I will fix it. I take some pride in that the website is updated.  

Reflections
Nothing to report under this section. 
  
Future
I will go on untiringly within the limits of family, work and other duties.

What we anticipate seldom occurs, but what we least expect generally happens. Take unexpected resurrections, for instance. The Woodbox Gang are putting out their first album since 2012. The album will be released in the spring or summer of 2025. You can preorder the album. For only $20 you will get the new CD shipped to your address and a digital download of the full album (US only). It will also be released on vinyl (not for the perceived sound quality, but for the album cover aesthetics). Unfortunately, at the moment there's no international preorder. The new album will be titled "Brown Cane Toad". According to the frontfigures Hugh DeNeal and Alex Kirt, it's going to be an all-acoustic album including a washboard (upgraded with a paint brush cleaner to achieve a softer sound), dobro, acoustic guitar, upright bass, mandolin and banjo. The frontfigures have declared that they will not try to go down some new route. They will return to where it all started with trashcan Americana and caustic acoustic cacophony. In my opinion, very good and fitting epithets. Why do they want to release an album after all these years? The Woodbox Gang feel that they need to make some new music because there's new things going on in the world. I think the new album will be rough around the edges. Spicy language cannot be ruled out. I want to get a copy of the new album. A lot of time has passed. In March 2025 it's going to be 25 years since the Woodbox Gang played their first show together at the Yellow Moon Cafe in Cobden, IL. In fact, 25 years in the genre is like 100 years in real life. 

Opposite words are expressions in the language where each term conveys contrasting meanings. Killer is a superlative that is being used to describe the tracks of the highest quality of an album. Filler is a superlative that is being used to describe the tracks of a lesser quality on an album, used for example in order to make it up to an album length of say 45 minutes. It's in the nature of things that there are far more filler than killer albums. It's not an academic exercise to distinguish the one from the other. You will know them by their fruits. My list of killer albums comes with no surprises. Vol. 4 (Black Sabbath), Desire (Bob Dylan), Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd), Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie), The Boatman's Call (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds), Greetings from Asbury Park NJ (Bruce Springsteen), Parallell Lines (Blondie), The Queen is Dead (The Smiths), Marquee Moon (Television) and Rumours (Fleetwood Mac). There's no all killer no filler album in the gothic country genre. This kind of music is an aquired taste, imperfection is part of perfection. The 10 killer albums mentioned above are different amongst themselves, but there are three common denominators: theme, coherence and execution. Many people think that adding an extra feature or additional layer always improves quality. On the contrary. "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."

The book "High Fidelity" by british author Nick Hornby is one of my favorites. I don't really know why, but it could be that it's elegant truffled with recognition, references, moments and spot-on lines. The book has been adapted to film (and takes place in the US). This transfer works unexpectedly well. One of many colourful characters in the book (and film) is "Ray" Raymond, former neighbour, conflict resolution counselor and the romantic rival to the protagonist, Rob Gordon. When Rob's girlfriend, Laura, leaves him, his whole world falls apart. Laura moves temporarily in with the rival. Rob's portrait of Ian "Ray" Raymond isn't particular nice. "I'm starting to remember things now: his dungarees; his music (African, Latin, Bulgarian, whatever fucking world music fad was trendy that week); his hysterical, nervous, nerve-jangling laugh; the terrible cooking smells that used to pollute the stairway; the visitors that used to stay too late and drink too much and leave too noisily. I can't remember anything good about him at all." Rob humiliates himself beyond comprehension and ultimately lapse into stalking. In the book he is confronted by Ian "Ray" Raymond. Rob tries to defend himself and says that he has stopped stalking. "We've noticed, and we're glad. But, you know... how are going to make peace here? We want to make things easier for you. What can we do? Obviously I know how special Laura is, and I know that things can't be good for you at the moment. I'd hate it if I lost her. But I'd like to think that if she decided she didn't want to see me any more, I'd respect that decision. D'you see what I'm saying?" In the film the role of Ian "Ray" Raymond is played by Tim Robbins. He doesn't hold back. In fact, he plays out the whole register and gives all the conflict resolution counselors of the world a bad name. Counseling may sound serious, adult and mature. But, being calm, understanding and Zen-like comes at a price, which is repressed agression. Not an admirable trait for a counselor. 

Salter Cane was formed around 2002/2003. They have relased two full-length albums and one EP between 2006-2010. Then the albums stopped coming. Now they are, without prior notice, back with a new album "Deep Black Water". I'm very surprised, partly because of the rarity of the occurrence in itself and partly because of the album sound. It sounds like the band has slept in an oxygene tent for the last 15 years and then just stepped out and resumed their thing, totally unaffected by time and space. In the article about Salter Cane on this site, it's stated that their thing is "gothic country", "melancountria", "country noir", "folk noir" and "alt-country darkmeisters". The new album is more gothic western influenced than their previous ones. There's a lot of guitar going on. I don't mind. On the contrary. I have a weak spot for gothic western music, especially when it's performed so well. The best songs are "Something Underwater", "Daylight Too Soon", "Lighting House", "Carry Her Home" and "Send Down The Floods". Executive summary: surprisingly good album from Salter Cane. My only complaint is that there are no cd copies for sale. You can listen to "Deep Black Water" and buy it in digital format at Bandcamp, just click here (opens in a new window).