DOOT DOOT DOO, LOOKIN’ OUT HIS FRONT DOOR: It’s been a while but the always anticipated Kurt Wood Front Porch Record Sale will happen once again Saturday, Oct. 19 (9 a.m.–6 p.m.) and Sunday, Oct. 20 (12–6 p.m.). Wood is a known quantity in record collector circles nationwide and, after his several decades in the game, I’m presuming he’s known internationally as well. He has thousands of titles available for sale, both 45 RPM singles and 33 RPM long players, with prices all starting at $1. Trust me when I say his castoffs are very nearly exactly what you’ve been looking for, and if you can’t find something desirable here, then cast the net of your tastes a little wider. The porch is located at 1080 Oconee St. (at the corner of Oconee and Carr streets). For more information, you may call 706-614-1867, but I can’t imagine you need any more.
JOIN IN THE CHANT: Hardcore synth punks Obscurity just released the first two songs off its upcoming Digital Obscurities album. These two songs, “Kiss The Carcass” and “Who Shot The Sheriff,” continue the traditions set up by the band when it released its debut tracks back in May. That is, these each come to the altar of digital hardcore/modern goth with their hands full of offerings. While “Who Shot The Sheriff” is the more tuneful of the two, the whole thing is kind of less melodic than those early tracks. So, in this way Obscurity is even more hardcore than they were. I dig it! Find it at obscurityy.bandcamp.com, and follow instagram.com/obscurityband to keep up.
SAFE AT HOME: Songwriter and guitarist Matt Howels puts out music pretty consistently and often uploads collections of demos, even though a lot of times they sound fine and finished to me. His latest batch is titled Broad Street Demos and contains four tracks. I’m most inclined to like and praise the Todd Rundgren-isms of “Something New.” Howels also puts a lot of his blues knowledge to work here. This is especially true on the instrumentals “Go With The Flow” and “6 Add 9,” which are great examples of his skills and each has a little jazz flourishing about them, too. He’s at his most singer-songwriter-y on the opening song “I Love You,” which is both sweet and sad in a kind of undefined way. Find this and explore a lot more at matthowels.bandcamp.com.
A FEW BUCKS HERE, A FEW BUCKS THERE: I’ve been telling y’all pretty consistently about all the goings on and happenings surrounding JOKERJOKERtv, including the upcoming VHS Fest on Nov. 3. Now, though, I want you to turn your eyes toward putting a few bucks in their pot to help them keep going. The entire operation from putting on events to hosting its TV show on YouTube has been primarily paid out of pocket. Always in a tenuous situation, a very serious financial setback (i.e. a $2,000 water bill due to a leak) has turned the stress up to 11. JOKERJOKER is looking for 12 local businesses to participate in its “Community Support Initiative” for 2025. So far, they report that they’ve acquired one, so there’s 11 spots left and then that’s it. Please see jokerjokertv.com/sponsors for details of what the above entails. For one-off or even recurring donations, please use the “Donate Now” option behind the “support” menu item on the front page of jokerjokertv.com. And since you’ll already be online, while you’re doing that go ahead and open another tab and keep youtube.com/JOKERJOKERtvofficial bookmarked.
DAYDREAMING: Preorders are still open for the 12” vinyl release of Carnival which is the music recorded by Limbo District in 1982 at Mitch Easter’s Drive-In Studio (Winston-Salem, NC). These five songs wound up being used as the soundtrack to Jim Herbert’s film Carnival which is how it received its title. This is a very limited physical release with only 200 manufactured. Its official release date is Oct. 24 and, of course, you’ll be able to purchase digital download copies from then until forever, but these physical records will absolutely sell out. So if you’re the money-spending type that I know you are, jump on this. For more information, please see chunklet.bandcamp.com.
HOMEGROWN: For the third week in a row, I’ve been thoroughly impressed with the Hard Tack label. They’re releasing things at such a clip, though, that keeping up takes some time. So that’s why I’m just now getting around to the six-song self-titled release by F.E.B.S. I have zero idea what this acronym stands for, so don’t bug me, bug them. In any case, though, this is a very nicely crafted collection of roots and folk blues music with strong lyrics to boot. It was recorded by the duo on a Tascam 4-Track—a similar setup was used to record Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, by the way—and then mixed and mastered by engineer Ben Hackett (New Madrid). Find this at hardtackk.bandcamp.com.
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