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New Music Monday: The Unicorns

By Dave Sanford Aug 6, 2021 7:45 AM

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The Unicorns — Image used with permission by copyright holder

“They rival The Shins, or The Magnetic Fields, or any of the innumerable indie touchstones, but what truly sets Who Will Cut Our Hair apart is the near-total absence of traditional verse/chorus/verse framework in their songs; to nail beautiful, memorable lines with such remarkable ease is a feat unto itself, but to do so in essentially formless compositions is a different class of achievement entirely.” – Pitchfork

“It’s the sound of people having fun.” – NME

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“The Unicorns manage to polish an array of pawn shop instruments into miniature masterpieces.” – Dusted Magazine

Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone? was the only proper full length album by The Unicorns, and was originally released in 2003. The album gained wide and immediate praise, with broad critical and commercial acclaim from outlets as diverse as NME, Pitchfork and The Village Voice. This cult affection is probably best summarized in the album’s involvement as the premise for the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother i.e., the basis for the lead character falling in love with said “mother” being their mutual love of the obscure Who Will Cut Our Hair…?.

The Unicorns disbanded shortly after the release of WWCOHWWG?, with founding member Nick Thorborn going on to create the band Islands, and perform in various projects. The Arcade Fire shows are the first time The Unicorns will be performing in over a decade.

Purchase the remastered version of Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone? on iTunes or Amazon!

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Elevate your elegance: Choosing your first cigar

Face, Head, Person

Earlier this year, I was strolling the streets of New York and ended up sitting in the Carnegie Club with an Old Fashioned in one hand and a cigar in the other while My Way by Frank Sinatra played from a speaker flanking leather-bound books behind the couch I had been using as my perch. It was my first cigar, but it led to a slight obsession that recently found me on the back deck of a lodge in Kenya, staring at Mount Kilimanjaro and smoking a stick while giraffes meandered by. Admittedly, there has been no intention in my budding hobby; I am aimlessly choosing the cigars that look good (the ones that look like those smoked by Arnold or Stallone in the movies, obviously). But I have decided to approach these in a new way, with a little help from my friends over at La Aurora, who graciously decided to navigate my ignorance with some info compiled by Brand Manager John Gaglio, with input from Master Blender Manuel Ynoa, CEO Ed McKenna, and Brand Manager Elvis Batista.

What to look for in your first cigar

FIFA’s Gianni Infantino Is Uglifying the Beautiful Game With $20 Billion Plot — But the Global Soccer Community’s Punching Back

People, Person, Crowd

For the better part of two decades, perhaps even more, corruption has allegedly run rampant within FIFA. Sepp Blatter, in particular, became the face of alleged extortion schemes, and he operated with impunity while at the helm of the organization for 17 years, from 1998 until his forced resignation in 2015 amid an FBI corruption probe. He’s banned for life from all football-related FIFA activities. If you’re new to the organization’s alleged deep connection to corruption, Netflix offers a brilliant 2022 documentary, FIFA Uncovered. In that documentary, Gianni Infantino appears in his previous capacity as Secretary General of UEFA (2009-2016) and later as the newly elected FIFA president, who vowed to root out corruption and hand the beautiful game back to the people where it belongs.

That, as it turns out, was all wishful thinking.

Escobar Cigars, Co-Owned by Nas, Drops Four-Profile Robusto House Blend Collection

Blade, Knife, Weapon

Imagine that, Nas is getting closer to ruling the cigar world. The legendary rapper’s Escobar Cigars, which he co-owns, is making waves with the launch of a new four-profile House Blend collection. The launch is in partnership with Cigar Chief, one of North America’s largest premium cigar retailers.

The Manual has not yet had the chance to do a taste review (a pack is on the way), but Escobar Cigars says the four-profile House Blend collection (Maduro, Premium Blend Connecticut, Habano, and Connecticut Robusto) “has its own distinct wrapper, filler, and strength profile,” and that “all four are rolled in 5 x 52 Robusto format using classic Cubano entubado construction.”