I Feel Alright: Playing Catch-Up

So I suppose I'm officially back and as my second order of business I'd like to discuss some links which I would have posted here had I not been slacking for the last year or so.

First off here are a few music pages that deserve your attention:

Modern Hut
This is my buddy Joe's (Don Giovanni Records/Talk Hard/For Science) new project. I havent gotten a chance to catch them live as of yet but I'm really into the songs I've heard.

ATM Machine
This one is just getting started and features John, another For Science alum. It's interesting to say the least and it'll be cool to see how this one develops.

Brandon Tussey
Thanks to the dogg Steinhardt for alerting me to this one. This is Brandon Tussey's (former vocalist for The Connie Dungs and A Radio With Guts) new solo project, the songs up on the page are awesome- way fuzzy and loud with those classic high/abbrasive/vocal chords soaked in bourbon and dragged through a pile of glass Tussey vocal stylings complete with lots of effects. He'll be releasing his first solo record (on which hes apparently played all the instruments as well as done the mixing and production himself) this month. I believe the release format will be fairly primitive, burnt cd's and handmade covers.

Screaming Females
This band has been around for a while and is just finally getting the attention they rightly deserve. A female fronted rock n roll shred-fest, you can get their newest effort Power Move (released by Don Giovanni) as well as their 2 self released LP's over at the Don Giovanni website. The records are incredible and every time I've seen them live they've been stellar. Don't sleep on these guys, they'll be huge very soon.

Next, since I've been gone theres been development in the Trumbull camp:

Its been a long time coming but apparently someday soon issue 1 of Trumbull Magazine will be hitting the stands. It's being headed up by my friends Sami Reiss and Owen Black and I wrote a piece for it last summer featuring a mix of true inebriation-fueled stories from my life over the past few years (with names changed to protect the guilty) and the magazine will feature things of this nature; feature stories, reviews, photographs, etc.
You can get a clearer picture of the project at www.trumbullisland.com and hopefully once this issue gets off the ground it'll be on a more regular schedule.

Next up, enter the Grillo's empire:

In the past few months my dogg Trav Grillo's company Grillo's Pickles has been taking off in Boston. He's got some distribution going around the city and has cornered the market on pickles in the Boston Common with the opening of his innovative pickle cart. Munching on one of these delicious italian dill spears isnt like biting into some whack vlasic, Grillo's are a whole different beast: made fresh with fresh ingredients (cucumbers, vinegar, salt, spring water, grape leaves, garlic, dill, herbs/spices) these are an all encompassing taste experience. He's been getting some great press and he deserves it.
Here are some local features from the past few months:
Grillo's: Damn Fine Pickles On The Common
In A Pickle
So if you're a fan of delicious food stop by the Common (the cart is located outside the Park Street T Station) or hit up the Grillo's website at www.grillospickles.com and become a convert.
And don't forget to follow Grillo's on Twitter at http://twitter.com/grillospickles.

Finally, I'd like to mention the fact that I've become one of the countless Malcolm Gladwell converts over the last couple weeks. I started out with a copy of Outliers that my roommate had leant me and I couldn't put it down so immediately afterwards I proceded to tear through his first two books Blink and The Tipping Point. At the present time I've just been working my way through his archives from the New Yorker and the like over at www.gladwell.com and I'd just like to put it out there that I highly recommend all of his work, all 3 books were certainly worthwhile endeavors.

Ok, so we've made a few strides on our way to catching up and I'd just like to leave you with a few downloads. This week has been an incredible week for music in Boston. Last night I was lucky enough to see the Meat Puppets over at the Paradise Rock Club and they were perfect as expected (despite reports of their last Boston performance having been lackluster I thought that their stage presence and song selection last night couldn't have been cooler). Coming up are two more gigs that I'm really excited for, John Vanderslice and The Tallest Man On Earth @ the Middle East Downstairs on 6/14 and then Bill Callahan @ the Brattle Theater on 6/15; so here are some great records that I've been jamming out to get ready for these gigs: