Unico's Isolation Survival Guide #2
It's been another crazy week, and honestly, they're probably gonna be crazy for the next several months. But we're here together and that's all that matters. To start this off, we'd just like to say THANK YOU. Thank you, thank you, thank you. The support that we've been receiving over the last few weeks has been overwhelming. While we might be pretty loud on social media at the moment, we're really feeling it too, and we're doing everything we can to survive and keep our team together - you guys buying wine makes that happen and we cannot express how much we appreciate it. We're truly humbled.
But enough of the sappy stuff; The other thing that is keeping us going is CONTENT. All of the, music, movies, food and of course, the booze related things that have made us forget or even just feel good about this crisis listed below! One of the great silver linings that has come from this, just plain rubbish situation, is that people have come up with wonderful creative ways for us to come together LIKE our Unico Zelo Digital Happy Hour live every single bloody day from 5PM ACST/5:30PM AEST. Enjoy gang!
MUSIC
Ben Gibbard's daily 'Live From Home'
Speaking of Live Streams, there's been a plethora of Musicians doing live streams performing from home, live streaming to all - particularly in America where a large chunk of the country is in full lockdown mode, specifically the city of Seattle where the legendary emo/indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard lives. To keep himself from going nuts indoors, he's been live streaming performances every single day, performing acoustic Death Cab classics, along with tracks other projects like the cult favourite The Postal Service and his solo work. But the highlight has really been the array of covers that he's been performing, like Radiohead's 'Fake Plastic Trees', Joy Divisions 'Ceremony' and his 100% Cover Sunday's standouts of The Shins 'New Slang' and Big Star's 'Thirteen' (personally one of my favourite songs ever!) Definitely gonna tug on some heartstrings, but the sense of optimism that has rippled through Ben's voice throughout his career keeps it from being a depressing affair. Awesome stuff.
Bonus: Run The Jewels' 'Yankee and the Brave'
Just a quick one: Run the Jewels dropped a new song on Instagram during producer El-P's NYC based isolation called 'Yankee and the Brave (jump the street corona edition)' in an effort to "hold you down in strange times". Not for the faint of heart, but a head banging anthem if there ever was one. If you're feeling frustrated in this situation - here's a track for you.
NETFLIX
'GOOD TIME'
A movie you may have missed and you'll be kicking yourself you didn't watch it earlier. Josh and Ben Safdie are two of the most creative and up and coming filmakers on the planet right now and this was the movie that brought them to centre stage - before the acclaimed Uncut Gems with a sublime perfomance from Adam Sandler. Good Time stars Robert Pattinson as 'Connie' the bank robbing older brother of Ben Safdie's Nick, Connie's mentally handicapped younger brother - in an effort to not give anything away about the plot, let's just say: Complications Ensue. This is an absolute barn burner of a thriller, a hyper stylistic, paced to perfection, über captivating heist and getaway film. There's not a false note here, the script, direction and cinematography are superb and holy moly didn't we forget that Robert Pattinson is a mighty fine actor! This is surely the role of his career, and much like Matthew McConaughey and Keanu Reeves, this is the start of his renaissance. Don't believe me? Watch this and then remember: he's gonna be the next Batman.
FOOD
Sourdough Bread
It's hard getting bread at the moment hey? Why not start baking at home! Making your own Sourdough is one of those things you've always wanted to do but 'you don't have the time'. Well - now a lot of us have the time, and this is totally something that you should start as a little project: making bread from wild yeast rather than packet yeast - we love wild yeast! You can either head to a local artisan baker nearby and nick some of their sourdough starter or you can start from scratch! Need some videos to go along with? Check out Joshua Weissman, a YouTube professional, who was formerly a professional chef, and makes some of the better produced food videos on the internet at the moment! We've been watching a few of these at the minute...
BOOK
David Walsh - 'A Bone of Fact'
David Walsh is a polarising figure but a damned important one. An über wealthy man who made his millions from gambling decided in his own strange way of balancing out the sins of his income, by creating a legendary Australian modern art museum - MONA. From MONA came one of the more revolutionary art festivals Australia has to offer: Dark Mofo. Safe to say, Walsh has completely changed the face of Tasmanian tourism and Australian modern art experiences, and A Bone of Fact is his sharply written memoir of it all. If you've visited MONA, or just aware of Walsh overall, you'll know he's a tongue in-cheek humorist of the highest order, and here is a 360-odd page distillation that is captivating start to finish. Get inside the mind of one of the more unique Australians.
BOOZE
Gentle Folk's 'Villages' Chardonnay + Pinot Noir
Gareth and Rainbo Belton have absolutely done it again. Their 2019 release of their 'Villages' Chardonnay and Pinot Noir is just as good as it gets. There is not really too much to write here. The Chardonnay is as focused and pure as can be, with svelte texture, tremendous fruit purity and a gorgeous acid line. The Pinot Noir is plush and refreshing, topped off with a wonderful and fragrant savoury spice line of star anise and cardamom. Simply put: some of the best examples of these varieties out of the Adelaide Hills, as we've come to expect from the Belton's. These will be in short supply so get amongst them - 10% off in a mixed 6 pack from the guys direct so why wouldn't you!