Advent song for December 6: Little Saint Nick

You may think this is late in the day, but I haven’t even opened day five on my actual advent calendar yet, so I’m doing pretty well to get it up (just) before dusk (if you’re in London or the south of England).

I sometimes think the Beach Boys are my favourite band of all. They just make a sound like nobody else, don’t they? And this video is a dream – a film of a live performance, synced perfectly with the actual album audio, because nobody actually wants to listen to a live performance. Do watch out for the dancers  suddenly appearing at about 1:30.

In even better news, did you know that a boom in battery storage is giving the UK a fighting chance of meeting the net zero emissions target? Well, you do now.

White Christmas, December 20: The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys might even be my favourite band of all (not counting the Beatles and the Carpenters and the Pet Shop Boys and the Who and probably some others). This starts off so slowly that I keep thinking someone’s accidentally playing it at 33rpm rather than 45, but it’s a gloriously swooshy and whooshy version, with singing as luscious as you’d expect. Also, all Christmas songs should end with a sweep of violins, I have decided.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to sleep for 48 hours. I think I am too aged for the Christmas party season.