Authors | Flagpole Magazine | Athens, GA News, Music, Arts, Restaurants

Blog posts by Gabe Vodicka, Editor

Hear a Song From New Madrid's Normaltown Records Debut

Blog: Homedrone

Today, Pitchfork premiered the first single from New Madrid's upcoming Normaltown Records debut, which is called Sunswimmer and is out Feb. 25, 2014. The writer of the blurb, UGA grad Ian Cohen—P4K's designated "Athens guy"—also couldn't resist throwing an R.E.M. mention in there, which, yeah. (In case you're wondering, New Madrid sounds abso-fucking-lutely nothing like R.E.M.)

Stream "Manners" after the jump.

By Gabe Vodicka | December 6, 2013
Watch a Psychedelic New Video from Future Ape Tapes, Playing Schlitzmas Saturday

Blog: Homedrone

Shapeshifting psych-noise outfit Future Ape Tapes—a duo comprised of local dudes Donald Whitehead and Tom Visions (formerly Tom Television)—has just released a new album, Lives, which you can stream or download for a name-your-price fee over on Bandcamp. That's the splendiferous cover art above.

Watch the video for "Bodily" after the jump.

By Gabe Vodicka | December 6, 2013
Watch Cracker Play 'Low' on Flagpole's Parade of Lights Float

Blog: Homedrone

The Parade of Lights took over downtown Athens last night with its motley selection of wacky floats, excited children and semi-sober revelers. The best float? Why, as always, of course, it was the Flagpole/AthFest/40 Watt Club vessel, which this year featured a very special musical guest: the one and only Cracker.

After the jump, watch the band play "Low."

By Gabe Vodicka | December 6, 2013
Win Tickets: Those Darlins Play Green Room Tonight

Blog: Homedrone

Nashville-based garage-rock group Those Darlins play Green Room tonight, Thursday, Nov. 5 with Music Band and Monsoon. Tickets are $10 at the door, but we've got a pair to give away. To win, comment after the jump with why YOU deserve to go for free. We'll choose the best answer at 4:30 p.m.

By Gabe Vodicka | December 5, 2013
Big Star Documentary Screening at Ciné This Weekend

Blog: Culture Briefs

Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me, director Drew DeNicola's critically acclaimed new documentary on the would-be-legendary Memphis power-pop group responsible for inspiring basically a whole generation of underground rockers, will play at Ciné beginning tomorrow, Friday, Nov. 6, at 7:30 p.m.

The band, known for its earworm-y rock anthems like "September Gurls" and "In the Street"—the latter of which would be re-recorded by Cheap Trick and used as the theme song for "That '70s Show"—released three outstanding studio albums before fading away in the 1980s. A reunion album of sorts (minus founding member Chris Bell, who died in 1978, and featuring two members of The Posies in his stead), In Space, was released in 2005. Frontman Alex Chilton died in 2010.

Buy tickets and watch the trailer after the jump.

By Gabe Vodicka | December 5, 2013
Find the #Hidden #HangoutMusicFest #Tickets in #Athens #Wednesday

Blog: Homedrone

The Hangout Music Fest, a three-day festival that takes place each year in Gulf Shores, AL—so you can get your beach-bum on and see a bunch of bands—will happen May 16–18, 2014.

The lineup has yet to be announced, but last year's bill was pretty star-studded: Stevie Wonder, Kings of Leon, Tom Petty, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Grizzly Bear, The Shins and a host of others performed.

Because it's 2013, and #everything must have a #socialmedia component, festival reps are currently #traveling city to city as part of what's being called the #FindItKeepIt scavenger hunt.

#Tickets for the #2014 happening will be hidden around #Athens on #Wednesday, Dec. 4. To win, you've gotta follow the #Fest on Instagram, where it will post #clues as to the #tickets' location.

Good #luck!

By Gabe Vodicka | December 3, 2013
New Drive-By Truckers Album Has a Name, Release Date, Cover Art

Blog: Homedrone

The new record from local Southern rock kings Drive-By Truckers, which was formerly scheduled for a February release, will now come out Mar. 4, 2014 via ATO. The thing has a name, too—English Oceans—and some pretty damn fantastic cover art, which you can see above.

The band will make its first semiannual hometown stand of 2014 in February, when it will perform three consecutive nights at the 40 Watt Club. A full U.S. tour will follow; dates will be announced next month.

From the press release:

In typical DBT fashion the songs depict an array of characters. “Pauline Hawkins,” is based on a new novel by Willy Vlautin. DBT’s ever-keen political edge can be seen in two songs on the record. Cooley’s “Made Up English Oceans” and Hood’s “The Part of Him.” “It’s about political assholery -- there’s someone new playing that role every few months,” says Hood. “Grand Canyon,” the final song on the album, is an emotionally overwhelming tribute to Craig Lieske, a longtime member of DBT’s touring family. Lieske died suddenly in January and the album is dedicated to him.

Check the album tracklist after the jump.

By Gabe Vodicka | December 3, 2013
Hear a New Track from Local Rapper Chrismis

Blog: Homedrone

Jefferson rapper Crystal Fair, a.k.a. Chrismis, is gearing up for the release of her new mixtape,Committed Vol. 2, and has shared a track from the album (just in time for, uh, Christmas), which you can stream after the jump.

By Gabe Vodicka | December 2, 2013
Athens Symphony Christmas Concert Tickets Available Now

Blog: Culture Briefs

Starting today, you can pick up complimentary tickets to the Athens Symphony's annual Christmas Concerts from the Classic Center Theatre box office. The performances will take place Saturday, Dec. 14 and Sunday, Dec. 15, and will feature musical pieces such as “Gloria in Excelsis,” “White Christmas” and “O Tannenbaum.”

Tickets are limited to four per person, and are required for entry. The Classic Center box office is open Monday–Friday from 10 a.m.–6 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m.–1 p.m.

By Gabe Vodicka | December 2, 2013
Hear a New Song From Madeline (Feat. Members of Wowser Bowser)

Blog: Homedrone

Photo by Daniel Fell

Locally bred singer-songwriter Madeline Adams has been camped out in Atlanta for a bit now, so it's unsurprising that the first bit of recorded material we've heard from her in months features contributions from three members of an ATL outfit, avant-pop group Wowser Bowser.

"Parents Houses," a reflective, holiday-themed song, is lusher and sleeker than Madeline's past work, though the singer remains the focal point; with its faded drum programming and icy synths, it's a lovely, grayscaled tune.

Listen after the jump.

By Gabe Vodicka | December 2, 2013
Athens Power Rankings for the Week of Nov. 25

Blog: In the Loop

Welcome to Athens Power Rankings. In the spirit of sports rating systems, through painstaking analysis, we rank the top movers and shakers in the Classic City each week. Who's hot? Who's not? Find out after the jump.

By Gabe Vodicka | November 25, 2013
Hear the First Single from The Woodgrains' New Album

Blog: Homedrone

Courtesy of Handpicked Artists Presents, here is the first single from The Woodgrains' upcoming self-titled sophomore LP, which was recorded at Full Moon Studio with engineer Jay Rodgers.

"Nobody Too" finds the longhaired Athens-via-Waycross trio (voted Best Rock Band at this year'sFlagpole Athens Music Awards) solidifying the psychedelic, Southern-tinged, Zep-heavy rock and roll sound it introduced on last year's From Marshall, to Venita.

Stream it after the jump.

By Gabe Vodicka | November 21, 2013
Win Tickets to Every 40 Watt Show in 2014

Blog: Homedrone

Image via Facebook

Local nonprofit musicians' resource center Nu çi's Space is once again teaming up with the 40 Watt Club to raffle off a "golden ticket" to each and every show the club hosts in 2014. And really, it's two golden tickets, since the winner is ensured a plus-one, too.

Find out how to enter after the jump.

By Gabe Vodicka | November 21, 2013
Johnny Winter to Sign Records at Wuxtry Today

Blog: Homedrone

Word comes down from the fine folks at Wuxtry Records downtown that legendary Texas bluesman Johnny Winter will appear in-store today at 5 p.m. for a meet-and-greet and to sign records and CDs.

More after the jump.

By Gabe Vodicka | November 20, 2013
Is OutKast Finally Getting Back Together? (UPDATE: Yes)

Blog: Homedrone

OutKast is finally getting back together.

By Gabe Vodicka | November 19, 2013
Live Review: Deerhunter at 40 Watt Club, Saturday, Nov. 16

Blog: Homedrone

Photo Credit: Robert Semmer

Deerhunter

Elf Power, the opener at the 40 Watt Saturday night, was very good. It was no surprise; Elf Power is usually very good. But I'd like to take a quick minute to talk about Deerhunter, because Deerhunter was fucking great.

More after the jump.

By Gabe Vodicka | November 18, 2013
Six Things to Do This Weekend

Blog: Culture Briefs

Photo Credit: Robert Semmer

Deerhunter

1. Partake in Spotlight on the Arts' weekend-long Jim McKay love-in, including a screening of his R.E.M. doc Tourfilm Friday at Cine.

2. Let Ben Bridwell break your heart (and join the pregame for tomorrow's showdown against Auburn) Friday at the 40 Watt.

3. Also at the 40 Watt: let Deerhunter weird you out and rock you out Saturday night.

More after the jump.

By Gabe Vodicka | November 15, 2013
Hear an Explosive New Track from Uncle Pizza (Feat. JuBee, murk daddy flex)

Blog: Homedrone

Below, stream a just-released track from Uncle Pizza, the mysterious, Italian-food-themed new collaboration between local MC Dwayne "JuBee" Webb (of JuBee and the Morning After), producer murk daddy flex, whose sample-driven instrumental hip hop has been a Flagpole favorite this year and "Tony Rigatoni," a.k.a. Woodfangs' Elliott Anderson.

The delicious "Dynomite" is a saucy, cheesed-up slice of fuzzed-out hip hop that goes decidedly hard. (There's the ridiculous cover art above.) JuBee assures us there's more coming, but for now, this two-and-a-half-minute jam will have to do.

Stream it after the jump.

By Gabe Vodicka | November 13, 2013
This Week in David Lowery Beefs: YouTube, Rap Genius

Blog: Homedrone

Photo Credit: Jason Thrasher

David Lowery

UGA Music Business Program lecturer and Cracker/Camper Van Beethoven frontman David Lowery isunhappy about a lot of things these days. Recently, he has devoted plenty of blog space to professing his unhappiness with the YouTube Music Awards (you can find all his #YTMA coverage here, including posts where he digs up grainy jihad recruitment clips and spammy "buy-steroids" videos in an attempt to prove the point… that YouTube is evil? Or a serial copyright infringer? Or maybe just bad for kids? It's sort of unclear).

Elsewhere, Lowery has spearheaded a study that attempts to out the 50 most "undesirable" lyric websites (ick, that phrasing)—unlicensed (or dubiously licensed) sites that publish song lyrics—with the No. 1 culprit emerging as the community-oriented, hip hop-centric annotation site Rap Genius. The National Music Publishers Association has taken the case.

More after the jump.

By Gabe Vodicka | November 12, 2013
New Drive-By Truckers Album Set For February Release

Blog: Homedrone

It's pretty diverse. But we recorded it as if it was an uptempo record even though some of it may not be; we just went in and did it and it worked out naturally. It definitely moves, and I think it captures where the band's at right now, which is in a really exceptionally good place.

—Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers on the group's new record, due out in February 2014. The comments come today in an interview with Billboard, which misspells David Barbe's name and calls DBT bassist Matt Patton "Mike."

By Gabe Vodicka | November 11, 2013