What's in your Walkman? 🎧
Can't I just spend a week eating biscuits and watching movies?
November greetings! I hope you've had a week of laughter and achievement. I've had a little of both, along with a bout of the ol' mask acne (mask-ne?), which apparently is so common right now my dermatologist yawned when I told her.
But hey! Let's switch gears with a quote from Brian Eno:Â
"When I lived in New York in the early 1980s, I remember seeing this composer, Rhys Chatham, walking down the street with a Walkman. It was the first time I'd ever seen a Walkman. And I thought, 'That's a stupid idea. That's never going to last. Why would you want to walk down the street and not listen to the street?' I completely failed to grasp that one."
This week you can walk down the street listening to Brian's latest compilation, BRIAN ENO (FILM MUSIC 1976-2020). I put a track from it on my Spotify playlist, which I swear beats an algorithm and includes new additions from Death Valley Girls, The War on Drugs, Isaac Rother (I love this dude), Big Ideas, and Nation of Language, who cover the Pixies' "Gouge Away."
(Shout-out to Tennessee-based company Buff City Soap!)
*clap clap clap-clap-clap*
EVENTS!!!Â
There have been so many great livestreams lately I can't keep up, but here are a few on my radar:
- Dolly Parton is playing Christmas music live TODAY at 1 p.m. ET on Amazon Music's Twitch channel.
- Tonight the band Sparks is doing a livestream.Â
- There's an all-star DEVO virtual tribute Nov. 14 from 6-10 p.m. ET. Wear your Energy Dome!
- Nov. 14 at 9 p.m. ET: Our pals at Slicing Up Eyeballs play the best alternative music from 1985 on Twitch.
- Nov. 16:Â Emmylou Harris and Marty Stuart are doing a livestream with City Winery.
Thanks to all the folks who keep me updated on virtual events, especially our pal Amy Prohaska, who will send you an incredible weekly email of music listings if you shoot her a nice note at amysshowslist@gmail.com.
Remember when I wrote about attending Colin Quinn's drive-in comedy show? It's now available to watch on HBO Max! The hourlong special is part-standup, part-documentary, and if ya look closely you'll spot me in one scene with my Converse hanging out a car window.
WHAT I'M READING: I found a copy of Glyn Dillon's graphic novel THE NAO OF BROWN at East Village Books, and holy moly, it's the most fantastic thing I've read in awhile. I don't want to say too much because I haven't finished and spoilers are awful, but the story involves OCD and toys and love and Buddhism.
I gotta go buy some soap now, but I'll see you next week. Address all positive correspondence to whitmath@gmail.com. You are a light and a muse.
Looking for my lost shaker of salt,
Dr. Pepper, DDS
"A good fruit cake is a good fruit cake. A bad one is really bad."
- Fred Schneider
READ MYÂ NEW BOOK FOR KIDS!
Don't forget to check out REALLY WEIRD MYSTERIES: LOCH NESS MONSTER, which is now available on Epic! (Most kids have free Epic accounts through their school.) It's full of facts and incredible illustrations by Simon Leclerc.
Reach out! Find me on Twitter, Instagram and at whitmath@gmail.com.