Hi everyone, Sam here. This is an introductory message to my new Substack enterprise, which I am calling “Electric Nebraska.” I am truly grateful for everyone reading, and I plan to make good use of your attention in the coming days, weeks, and months.
I’ll have plenty of exciting announcements then, but for now I’ll simply alert you to an article I wrote last week for The Independent about the Carnegie Hall tribute concert for Sinéad O’Connor and Shane McGowan. It’s been a long time since I did this kind of thing: attending a show, taking notes through the whole thing, sketching out an essay on my iPhone on the way home, filing the piece in the wee hours of the morning, and waking up to my byline on a website. It was a rush, and I always like writing about Sinéad (see also this and this). I wish I had space in the piece to address Cat Power’s cover of “Feel So Different,” which was a smooth, dreamy reinterpretation that’s still kicking around my head.
A lot of the other freelance writing I’ve done this year has been more behind-the-scenes, but if you dig around the web you can find a press bio I wrote for the new Jessica Pratt album. Here’s a link on a label website if you want to read it.
Other than that, not much to report. I read Molly by Blake Butler and have been recommending it to everyone I know. Profound, brutal, complex writing that articulates lots of heavy thoughts that I’ve never read in a book, at least not so honestly or eloquently. This week I’ve been listening to a lot of Carly Simon. Pretty much all her albums have at least one all-timer on the tracklist, and you can still find most of her records at used shops for between $5 and $15 a pop. I love the way even her simplest songs are layered with weird harmonies and double meanings and lyrics that alter your understanding of the preceding lines. It is frustrating to read interviews and reviews throughout her career and nobody wants to talk about this stuff. Today I am very taken with the chorus of “Look Me in the Eyes” and the spacey synth running through it.
Last thing: Sometimes on Instagram I do “Ask Sammy” Q&As that are a lot of fun, and I’d like to extend that grand tradition to this newsletter. If there’s anything you want me to talk about more in depth, please send an email to the address I’ve launched specifically for this purpose: asksamsodomsky@gmail.com. Don’t be shy!
Warmly,
Sammy