Sam Sodomsky

2 months ago | pitchfork.com | Sam Sodomsky

As a precocious youth, Jerry Garcia found escape through painting, studying the Bay Area figurative style of abstract art. Late in life, it was scuba diving, acquainting himself with the ocean floors of Hawaii, petting octopuses and eels, setting a world record for the longest time spent underwater. But when he was turning 30, all Jerry wanted to do was play pedal steel.

2 months ago | flipboard.com | Sam Sodomsky

1 day agoJanuary has vanished in a flash, but it was a consequential month with a few opening announcements and plenty to look forward to over the next 11 months. This is Eater Chicago's Most Anticipated Openings for 2025, and we’ve sifted through social media posts, PR blasts, and chef interviews to …

Oct 22, 2024 | hearingthings.co | Sam Sodomsky

“What else can you say to help a friend with a broken heart?” MJ Lenderman asks in “You Don’t Know the Shape I’m In,” near the end of Manning Fireworks. It’s another quotable, coolly conversational line from a songwriter quickly becoming renowned for them. But something is different this time.

Oct 4, 2024 | gq.com | Sam Sodomsky

Stephen Malkmus is stuck in traffic, driving a car full of precious art across the country. Pavement just played a reunion show in Seattle, which gave Malkmus the opportunity to visit his old home in Portland, where he lived with his wife—the sculpture artist Jessica Jackson Hutchins—and their two daughters. His job now is to transport some of Hutchins' more delicate sculptures to the family’s new place in Chicago. “I'm in such a state of flux,” he reflects over the phone from the road.

Sep 28, 2024 | pitchfork.com | Sam Sodomsky

Let’s say it doesn’t work out. You cross over from adolescence to adulthood and wind up living a life you didn’t choose. The rooms are depressing and fluorescent; the people who once offered comfort grow distant; any ambition for the future is replaced with a somewhat nauseating impulse just to get through the day. David Berman sings to one such person in “Pretty Eyes,” at the very end of The Natural Bridge, an album he made when he was 29.