Belated 2007 Round-up

Ah, just got time for a spot of self-indulgent looking back at 2007...

Albums:
Tio Bitar - Dungen
Hey Venus! - Super Furry Animals
Take Time To Wonder In A Whirling World - Soft Hearted Scientists
New Magnetic Wonder - The Apples In Stereo
Strawberry Jam - Animal Collective
Night Falls Over Kortedala - Jens Lekman
Sarabeth Tucek - Sarabeth Tucek
Famous Problems - The Butterflies Of Love
Candylion - Gruff Rhys
Holy Mountain - Wooden Shjips

Gigs:
The Radio Dept / Great Lakes / I Was A King - Water Rats

...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Koko

The Black Angels / Flowers Of Hell - Sonic Cathedral

The Butterflies Of Love - 100 Club

The Beep Seals / Congregation /The See See - The Spitz

Espers / Voice Of The Seven Woods - Dingwalls

The Apples In Stereo - Bush Hall

Circulus - The Museum of Garden History

The Hot Puppies / Chrome Hoof - Tapestry Goes West

Super Furry Animals - The Roundhouse / Royal Festival Hall

Things:

Dari Meya clothes - Owls! Cats! Toadstools! Yes!

Dr Stuarts teas - Especially Echinacea Flavour and Apple and Ginger flavour. And fab illustrations by Brett Ryder on the packets.

The End Of Mr Y - A new Scarlett Thomas book! With bewildering physics! And time travel.

Dressing like a Biba Robin Hood for two days - At Tapestry Goes West. Why can't I always carry a sword around? My nephew does.

Russell Brand on BBC Radio 2 - don't go out on Saturday nights no more.

Grapefruit Absolut - a delightfully refreshing way to enjoy neat vodka.

Places:

Sydney - Zillions of big old bats in the Botanic Gardens. Sailing into the harbour on the Manley Ferry - the skyline looking like a shiney comic book drawing. Going to a Dollyrocker Movement gig in the middle of Mardi Gras with chronic jetlag. Hoping to secretly live in our friends' pool-house forever.

New Zealand - Driving round the South Island - I am queen of the road (no one else on it). Seeing our lovely friends again - we miss them. Marvelling at glaciers - they're pale blue you know. Delicious breakfasts that you never get in England. Never wanting to come home.

Stockholm - Hermans veggie help-yourself restaurant - like being at a suburban '70s hippie party. Some excellent sleeps cocooned in the top bunk in a cabin on the Malardrottiningen hotelboat. Klubb Sockerdricka with The Sweptaways acapella, al fresco on a balmy Swedish summer evening. Pet Sounds record shop. And bar.

Limni Keriou, Zakynthos - Kittens are our friends! Free ouzo. Balancing on a lilo. Discovering the secret path over the mountain. Getting lost in an olive grove (again).