Deep Shag

Last week we had Parquet Courts and parquet floors. Drew left a comment about missing a good deep shag pile carpet during the winter months. Which led to Dirk leaving a related comment and deep shags and rugs and me pondering other possible songs about flooring. And then driving to or from work this week I remembered Luscious Jackson and their song Deep Shag.

Luscious Jackson were the first signing to The Beastie Boys' Grand Royal label. Deep Shag is the only record of theirs that I own. I don't know why I own this one and not any others because despite not having listened to it since 1994 or thereabouts I still quite like it. There are 70s funk and soul vibes, with 90s beats and scratching, and a cool laid back vocal about deep shag. Seeing as shag doesn't have the connotations in the US it has here, I'm assuming it is indeed a song about carpet.

Deep Shag

And now sitting here typing this I have recalled Stereolab's The Noise Of Carpet, a short lived Weatherall project called Lino Squares and Weller's From The Floorboards Up too. This series could run and run.

Spent The Summer Holed Up In A Room

A Christmas song for you- hey, it's the twelfth of December, in two weeks it'll all be over. In 1993 St Etienne joined up with The Charlatans' Tim Burgess to record this song, a festive Europop duet. St Etienne's own Bob Stanley was born on the 25th of December 1964. I'm hoping somebody has bought me Bob's new book Yeah Yeah Yeah for Christmas.

I Was Born On Christmas Day

Earth From Space

This stunning timelapse photography of Earth, filmed from the International Space Station at five miles per second and 240 miles up above our heads, is well worth giving just a few minutes of your time to today- and to fill you with just a little bit of awe and wonder. The sunrise at 2.04 is breathtaking (and watch out for the shots of astronaut Don Petitt at the end). Well done David Peterson. I'd choose a different soundtrack but perhaps that's just me.




Everything was going so well until Sandra Bullock and George Clooney turned up...

Votre Cote Yeye M'emmerde

This is tres bon mes amis, tres bon. A two chord organ and guitar led groove, with thumpalong drumming, boy-girl vocals and some swearing in the title from The Liminanas- it's got everything hasn't it? Oui. Sure to brighten up your Mardi.

If It's Monday Morning

Please allow Lee Hazlewood to get you up and at 'em this December Monday morning...

If It's Monday Morning

Dracula

This old Gorillaz b-side, all dub influences and wheezy easy going charm, is perfect for Sunday morning. Damon sounds as listless as can be.

Dracula

Biggy

Warpaint seem to be gearing up for January's best release. This new song has appeared on Soundcloud and is easily the equal of Love Is To Die (which popped up a month or two ago). This has all the constituent Warpaint parts and is a dream. I'm not going to describe it- listen for yourself.

Nelson

It's worth remembering (as Drew and others have pointed out), as everyone joins in to pay tribute to a great man, that admiring Nelson Mandela was once a political act.