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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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The provocative art of Mexico City Teresa Margolles’ haunting Vaporización Text by Franklin Melendez Much like Mexico City itself, the art scene in the complex metropolis sprawls in unexpected directions, encompassing a dazzling array of media, discourses and strategies. Despite a few “crossover successes” though, this vibrant community remains largely unknown – or more accurately, […]
Two photographers find beauty in the war-torn. Text by Fiona Killackey Holiday photos usually feature blood-orange sunsets, cocktails, tans and a beach that spans over an imaginary horizon. Eliciting memories of a distant time in which you escaped the drone of keyboards, the painful tone of an alarm and the inane chatter on the subway, […]
The interstate highway system turns 50 this month Text by Angelina Sciolla Photographs by Michael Northrup “To understand America, you must understand highways,” wrote Washington Post reporter Robert Samuelson. “In this past half-century, these masochistic marvels have – along with telephones, television and jet planes – reshaped American culture.” Masochistic marvels? Most of us probably […]
Wordplay Directed by Patrick Creadon In the occasionally fuzzy world of habits and addictions, some things are clearly much worse than others. For instance, smoking is probably worse than picking your nose, but better than robbing liquor stores. The compulsion to tackle The New York Times crossword puzzle, then, must surely rank somewhere between channel […]
Text by Mitchell Miller Photograph by Gautier Deblonde My friend Elke is giving me one of her quizzical looks. It is a magical thing, encompassing amusement, pity and a quick scan of all available exits. A fellow film critic, she is compelled to unleash this interpersonal nuke as countermeasure to yet another intemperate rant over […]
Text by Andrew Rodgers When the forgettable film Rules of Engagement was released six years ago, it was almost universally panned, but Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan had some kind words for one of the film’s supporting players, Guy Pearce. In his review, Turan singled out Pearce’s “impressive” work in the film and […]
Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly in Robert Altmans A Prairie Home Companion The iconic director examines garrison keillor’s historic radio program. Text by Yon Motskin If there is such a thing as a quintessential Robert Altman picture, his latest might just be as close it gets. The iconic director is best known for painting […]
Written by Robyn Dutra Photograph by Michael Greenberg James Walley has been called “the King of Butt-Flattering Denim Design,” and his coronation has come after only a few short years since founding My Ass jeans in 2004. To say the “sexiest jeans in Europe” are made of premium denim merely hints at the true innovation […]
Oslo might not be Europe’s largest metropolis, but then again, that’s part of its charm. For the Travel issue, SOMA trekked over the green hills and open skylines that surround Norway’s capital to find some of the hidden secrets of the “City of Tigers.” 1. Where do you go to find yourself? 2. What do […]
Text by Danielle Grant Photograph by Karl Walter Stand-up comedy is a relatively new form of performance art that has created some of our nation’s most treasured and fascinating personalities, and we want more. Meet Jasper Redd. Redd is a good old-fashioned Southern boy who decided to pursue comedy on a whim and moved to […]