Blog Topic: Great Job

Culture Briefs: More on Chris Conley's Plans to Film an Epic Lightsaber Duel

By Blake Aued | December 20, 2013 2:54pm

Image credit: ducksizedhorses via reddit.com/r/uga

Like the Force, Flagpole's man-crush on University of Georgia wide receiver Chris Conley grows stronger every day.

The self-described nerd recently sat down with the Macon Telegraph's Seth Emerson to talk… and talk… and talk about his Star Wars fandom and plans to shoot an epic light saber duel on campus sometime next year.

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Culture Briefs: Driving Miss Daisy Author to Be Inducted into Georgia Writers Hall of Fame

By Jessica Smith | December 17, 2013 5:05pm

Olive Ann Burns, Mary Hood and Alfred Uhry have been selected as the newest members of the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame, to be officially inducted in a ceremony this fall on UGA's campus.

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Homedrone: Dusting it Off: The Dream Scene's Christmas Album

By Gabe Vodicka | December 17, 2013 3:16pm

Dusting it Off is a blog series where Flagpole's music writers unearth local albums from days gone by.

The Dream Scene, the arguably brilliant, retro-futurist pop project helmed by local musician Javier Morales (Grass Giraffes, Quiet Hooves), has had a typically busy 2013, recording tons of material and putting it out it in bits and pieces—on Soundcloud, on cassette—but Morales' most indelible release came in 2009, when he collected four years of holiday-themed recordings onto one stellar LP.

Music after the jump.

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Homedrone: Our Favorite UGA Football Tribute Songs of 2013

By Gabe Vodicka | December 16, 2013 1:26pm

Sure, UGA's football season may have been a crushing disappointment on multiple levels, but that doesn't take away from the awkward YouTubian glory that is the fanmade fight song. Thankfully, 2013 was a banner year for Georgia Bulldog tributes. Check out our favorites after the jump.

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Homedrone: Athens Luthier Scott Baxendale Chosen to Restore Elvis Presley's Guitars

By Gabe Vodicka | December 11, 2013 11:08am

Incredibly cool news this week as local musician and master luthier Scott Baxendale, who runs Baxendale Guitar and also operates the Athens Luthier Academy for aspiring guitar-makers, has been commissioned to restore Elvis Presley's guitar collection, which is housed up at Graceland. (There he is above, holding the King's 1956 Gibson J-200.)

More details—including another bit of cool news for Baxendale—after the jump.

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Homedrone: Hear New Music from Gyps, Who Don't, murk daddy flex

By Gabe Vodicka | December 10, 2013 2:07pm

Bored at work? Need some of that sweet new Athens music to help you cope with the crushing monotony of day-to-day life? You're in luck, 'cause we've compiled three of the best new local releases into one handy blog post. Dig in after the jump.

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Homedrone: Live Review: New Madrid and What Moon Things at Caledonia Lounge, Saturday, Dec. 7

By Dan Mistich | December 9, 2013 11:12am

What Moon Things (photo via Facebook)

Hey, didn’t we say something about a '90s revival the other day? If you were at the Caledonia Lounge Saturday night, you found yourself right there in the thick of some good old guitar-rock (albeit with a few slight modifications).

After brief, yet solid, sets from Triathalon and Velocirapture, What Moon Things hit the stage with their cross-pollination of My Bloody Valentine’s shoegaze-haze and Failure’s spaced-out rock. The three-piece New Paltz, NY-based outfit doesn’t yet have a proper record released (at least I can’t seem to find one), but mark my words: this band will be making waves in no time. It was a bit hard to hear the vocals over a sea of fuzzed-out guitar, but I seem to recall that there were quite a few songs about alcohol. (You’ve gotta know your audience, right?)

More after the jump.

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Homedrone: Hear a Song From New Madrid's Normaltown Records Debut

By Gabe Vodicka | December 6, 2013 4:53pm

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.

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Homedrone: Watch a Psychedelic New Video from Future Ape Tapes, Playing Schlitzmas Saturday

By Gabe Vodicka | December 6, 2013 1:11pm

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.

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Homedrone: Watch Cracker Play 'Low' on Flagpole's Parade of Lights Float

By Gabe Vodicka | December 6, 2013 11:52am

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."

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