Saturday, December 28, 2013

The Sounds That Shaped My Year: My Favorite Albums of 2013

In no particular order...


The National | Trouble Will Find Me | 4AD Records



                     Kurt Vile | Wakin' on a Pretty Daze | Matador



Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | Push the Sky Away | Bad Seeds Ltd.


Cass McCombs | Big Wheel and Others | Domino 



Julia Holter | Loud City Song | Domino 


Mutual Benefit | Love's Crushing Diamond | Other Music


                                
 Yo La Tengo | Fade | Matador



Bill Callahan | Dream River | Drag City



Sam Amidon | Bright Sunny South | Nonesuch Records


Foxygen | We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic | Jagjaguwar


Darkside | Psychic | Matador / Other People

Julian Lynch | Lines |  Underwater Peoples



Mikal Cronin | MCII | Merge 




Steve Gunn | Time Off | Paradise of Bachelors



Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Christmas in Ipoh!




Hark! We spent a memorable Christmas at the Banjaran Hot Springs Retreat in Ipoh, Malaysia.



To be tucked between tree-encrsuted, limestone karst cliffs on such a special day was a real treat.


Hot springs, steam caves, bromeliads galore, crystals, massage treatments, warm pools, flesh-munching fishies, foot reflexology paths, tea/biscuits, oh my!






In a well-manicured jungle, even the beasts are tame.









Poinsettias, resplendent and crimson.


Lovers, languid and cheerful.



Dinner back in old town Ipoh - a colonial throwback town nestled between verdant hills and raised on riches pulled from tin mines and felled forests.


A Chinese Malaysian feast to remember:



Bean sprouts plump and righteous...


... cinnamon encrusted bean curd...


....kway teow noodles in an egg-drop soup...


... and Hokkien mee noodles.


We tucked in heartily.


Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Much love,
Nellie, Gavin, & Developing Mouselet

Hark!