THE SPRING ISSUE
Head Bling
Text by Robin Liss Respect your ears! That’s the battle cry of the many manufacturers who are trying to pry people from their beloved white earbud iPod headphones and purchase higher-end models. The reality is that while the iPod-included headphones may look cool, their sound quality is pretty poor. On top of that, walking around […]
Aero Luxe: First Class Amenities
Photographed by Kenji Toma LUFTHANSA JAPAN AIRLINES MALAYSIA AIRLINES ICELANDAIR CATHAY PACIFIC AUSTRIA AIRLINES US AIRWAYS
SOUTHFIELDS
Photographs by Alex Freund Fashion Editors: Lisa Mosko (women’s) & John Tan (men’s) Brown linen /cotton jacket by Comme des Garcons Shirt. Yellow buttondown shirt Bloomingdale’s Private Label. Bolo tie with silver end tassels and tan leather braided cord from The Family Jewels Vintage Clothing, NYC. Grey cotton jeans by A.P.C. Black boot and black fedora […]
Last Word: Stephen Elliott
Text by Patrick Knowles There are few things in this world more painstakingly tedious than covering a political campaign and more than a few accounts of political junkies overdosing in the shadows of the muck raking machine. When acclaimed Chicago-born author, Stephen Elliott set out to follow the Red and Blue dust trails in 2004, […]
Short Attention Span Guide To Travel
Boutique hotel Ostoya Palace You know those decadent destination magazines that tempt you with rapturous accounts of truffle oil massages, pristine white beaches and bamboo reeds tapping gently against French doors? Well, SOMA doesn’t have the stomach – or, frankly, the budget – for such trifles. Instead, our intrepid and discerning correspondents Kerry Olsen and […]
Hotel Vitale
Test by Heather Wagner You know you’re in San Francisco when a hotel has a yoga lounge in the penthouse. Unlike hip hotels the world over, DJ concierges, disco-ball-bedecked hot tubs and exclusionary hotel bars have no place here. Priding itself on being an “urban oasis” in design, philosophy and decor (a soothing, citrus, neutral […]
East Meets Budapest
It would be a bloody shame if, after fighting like hyenas during the 20th century, staving off the total sublimation of their cultural identity by some rather formidable foes, the Hungarians just laid down and allowed their capital to be overrun by the insatiable beast of contemporary globalism. And while specks of shiny modernism have […]
With or Without Reservations
Text by Heather Wagner Hype is a strange thing. In some cases it’s entirely justified, while other times it’s just that – hype. A hollow house of cards painstakingly assembled by lacquered PR professionals intent on luring hapless scenesters to various of-the-moment establishments. So it was with mild trepidation that I approached the Hollywood Roosevelt […]
Fine Chaya
Text by Yon Motskin The original idea was to fuse a French brasserie with a Japanese chaya (teahouse), but after more than 20 years cooking on the West Coast, the Chaya restaurants resemble less of a Eurasian immigrant and more of a native Californian born, bred and fed. Executive Chef Shigefumi Tachibe came to California […]
Sound Check
Metallic Falcons Desert Doughnuts (Voodoo-EROS) Sierra Rose Casady from CocoRosie teams up with friend Matteah Baim to comprise entrancing folk-metal arias at lullaby speed, replete with desert conception imagery of mythic proportion. Like the name of the collaborative team, Desert Doughnuts soars with atmospheric echo, evoking both Jana Hunter (who makes a guest appearance) and […]
Band of Horses
Text by Mila Zuo Photograph by Robin Laananen “It’s really the only thing I ever wanted,” Ben Bridwell, singer of Band of Horses, says about playing music. While their debut album Everything All the Time is a splendidly lithe and catchy work, Band of Horses’ live show imparts a kind of mesmerizing dialectical energy: Bridwell’s […]
The Cathartic Cries of Wayne Coyne
Text by Patrick Knowles A few years back, sometime after the release of The Soft Bulletin and before Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, I found myself screaming my lungs out with hundreds of Flaming Lips fans in one long-pronounced maddening howl. As our yells escalated to deafening levels, the music became nearly inaudible. Lead singer […]
To Be Esperly
Text by Kendra Macleod Photograph by Alissa Anderson Being accustomed to the grimy dinge of indie-band venues, I walked into the Town Hall Theatre in New York, and being ushered through the theater to cushy seats was a somehow comforting experience. The larger audience for the headliner of this show, Stereolab, had not quite made it […]
Nine Perfect Minutes: Karen O
Text by Jaan Uhelszki On Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ second album Show Your Bones, the New York trio totally upend their world, changing the band dynamic, their music and even trading Karen O’s rather seditious haircut for a sleeker bob. But as they say, everything is everything, and that transformation is reflected in the music, replacing […]
