Well, folks, Winter has blown on in with its attendant power bills and sore noses. So, with apologies to Nelly, all I have to say is that's it's getting cold out there, so put on all your clothes. See below for news updates:

Oh, Go Ahead And Jump: Kirk Pleasant, mastermind behind the craziness of Athens' band Calvin, Don't Jump, and his wife, the wonderfully talented artist and playwright Gretchen Elsner, have been pretty busy lately. They recently began touring the Northeast and Elsner is doing readings from her recently published work At The Sign of the Crimson Monkey, performing as "GE". It's been three years since the last Calvin album and the new one, entitled A Way With Birds, is finally out complete with special packaging. Pleasant has also set up a band listserv for fans and the curious. You can join by writing calvindontjump@yahoogroups.com.

Now This Is Wonderful: Not many outlets exist in Athens for lovers of classical music unless you're into skronk-and-bang type experimental stuff. The First Methodist Church has been working to redress this grievance for by way of their Wonderful Wednesdays. This is a series of classical performances featuring trained musicians who have released at least one full length recording. The concerts are held at noon and are approximately 30 minutes long with lunch served afterward. Donations are appreciated. For more information, you can contact Charlotte Ridgely at erie@negia.net.

Want To Throw A Good Party? Pay Attention: I have just received news of what has to be the most spectacular New Year's Eve party thrown by an Athens entity in the history of the Athens scene. The honchos over at Athensmusic.net are having their party at The Grand Hyatt in Atlanta and have a veritable truckload of sponsors including Bacardi, Jack Daniels, Coca-Cola, and Bombay Gin. The featured performers include Redneck Greece, Das Cowboys UK, The Mark Maxwell Quintet and Cory Jones (ex-Soul Miner's Daughter). It's a little pricey ($135!) but this includes a bunch of extras and up to 10 drinks.

For details go to Athensmusic.net and sign up. Man, if you poured 10 drinks into me at The Grand Hyatt, we'd all be on the news.

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Happy Anniversary, Jeff: Atlanta music rag Stomp and Stammer is having its 6th Anniversary party December 7 at East Atlanta's Echo Lounge. Setting the stage on fire will be Athens' own Jucifer which has been receiving an awful lot of critical acclaim lately and is nursing a groundswell of fans that is sure to bust wide open sooner or later. Also celebrating things in the right manner is Bill Doss' The Sunshine Fix. For those living under rocks or other heavy, hard to move things, Stomp And Stammer is the clever, well written magazine published by longtime music fan/critic Jeff Clark. Clark promises a good time all night including "a roundtable discussion on stem cell research. Balloons, pony rides, free crack for the kids." Happy Anniversary, Jeff. Here's to many, many more.

Oh, Shit Man, We Were So Wasted!: Widespread Panic has recently re-released their Panic In The Streets video on DVD. The film, which chronicles Panic's 1998 concert on Washington Street, is a must see for anyone interested in what was, without a doubt, the most enormous entertainment undertaking in Athens music history. If you weren't around for it, just imagine our entire town swarmed over by 100,000 spinning hippies, curious college kids and way, way too much patchouli and body odor. The re-release will also include the long out of print video Live At The Georgia Theatre which was directed by Billy Bob Thornton back in 1991.

An Ex-Pat Makes It Home, Sort Of: London-via-Athens DJ Danger Mouse has temporarily delayed his plans to move back across the pond. He will stay in London until at least February in order to make the rounds on a promotional jaunt which will include shows, press, etc. Danger Mouse, also known simply as Brian Burton, has been making good on his promise to come back famouse. He's already recorded tracks with hip hop stalwarts Tha Alkaholiks and Pharcyde. He also has been collaborating on an album with Jemini tentatively titled Fat People Are Harder To Kidnap which should be out by early 2003 on the English Labels Warp and Lex. When Burton does get back to the states, however, he'll be making his digs in Los Angeles. Even so, the man will spin gold wherever he is.

Neither Hippie Nor Frat Boy Be: If you've been wondering if there was ever going to be a show at The Georgia Theatre that you'd not have to wade through a sea of Abercrombie And Fitch or a sea of funky hippie smells, rest assured there is. Local heroes Lona will be performing as Tattoo You on December 3. Needless to say, it's going to be a tribute to the Rolling Stones and the guys in Lona should do it up pretty good. Openers Ceiling Fan are sure to be great on that giant stage which will give them plenty of room to make their sound as big as possible. Actually, I was probably a little harsh on the Theatre. But it sure is a pain to try to drive down Lumpkin Street at 2 a.m. with all those people spinning around with their hands in front of themselves.

What Conflict Of Interest?: In keeping with the fine Athens tradition of incestuousness in the music scene, I'd like to direct y'all to check out Flagpole photographer and writer Chris McKay's website, concertshots.com. The sheer volume of photographs the man has taken is mind boggling. The love he has for his work is obvious, too, because it takes a big man to attend shows ranging from Green Day to The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. But, seriously, you will be amazed by some of this stuff.

*Cool As Can Be: "Krautrock" legends Faust have released their newest album Patchwork 1971-2000. The collection covers pretty much every era of the band and is a fine addition for the longtime fan. If you're interested but don't want to shell out the bucks just yet, you can download the entire album for free at bbc.co.uk/music/experimental. See, the English are good for something after all.

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Another Good Man Gone: Jazz pianist Sir Roland Hannah has died after falling ill last month during a tour of Japan. Hannah, who was knighted by the Republic Of Liberia, honed his skills with the best of them, most notably Charles Mingus and Thad Jones & Mel Lewis. Never one to allow himself to become boring and routine, he put himself into semi-retirement in the early 1980s to avoid getting into a rut. But by the end of the decade he had re-emerged and no one could accuse him of becoming boring. Hannah was 70 years old at the time of his death.

*Who Woulda' Thunk It?: Former Smashing Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan is about to dump his newest project, Zwan, on people everywhere. The band has recently signed to the Reprise label and reports indicate that the debut album is just about finished. Before all you hipsters disregard this info as superfluous, take heed. The band is comprised of some pretty solid players including, inexplicably, ex-Slint guitarist David Pajo. Maybe we'll get lucky and the band will mutiny against that whiny, bald kid.

*Seriously Spooky-Ass Shit: Apparently five suspects are still at large following a raid of Tha Row Records on Los Angeles. The Row, formerly known by the much nicer name of Death Row, and CEO Suge Knight have been under investigation for a "gang-related murder." Sixteen other locations in Los Angeles and Las Vegas were also raided and served with search warrants. While Knight himself is not a suspect, several people close to him are wanted in the slaying of Eric Daniels who was, it is believed, killed in retaliation for the murder of Tha Row employee Alton McDonald. Now, I don't know about you, but Suge Knight isn't a guy I'd want mad at me. I'd be willing to bet, though, one could keep him happy by setting him up against the wall and throwing cheeseburgers in his mouth all day.

Lots of local noise this week. But, that's the way we like it. Send all your news to me via email to music@flagpole.com, voicemail at 549-2360; via fax at 548-8981; or by post at P.O. Box 1027, Athens, GA 30603.

Gordon Lamb