The Hickensian

17.12.05 Come with me on a journey

41 comments
Tagged with: music, review

Not another chuffin best of 2005? Of course, what else?! As is my want at this time of year, I sit back in a comfy chair, with water biscuits and a well stocked cheeseboard to mark my highlights.

Favourite things of 2005:

My Family. It sounds awfully trite, but I’m nothing without them. I love you.
Merlin Manns podcasts.
SXSW was amazing, meeting so many great people. Some I knew before, some I met for the first time, but all such good company!
Rob Weychert’s Musical Breakfast. (The first part of 6six).
VoodooPad. The more I use it, the more I love it. It has no equal.
Flickr for its provision of doing quick, easy blogging to a community without worrying about the site design. I just hope the crack down on ‘non photographic content’ doesn’t get out of control next year.
Safaristand for bringing Omniweb style tabs to Safari.
That people still stop by here to read and offer comments, despite having little to offer in the way of Standards discussion or ground breaking CSS techniques! The goodwill from the Firefox logo is sure to give out soon though!

Music of 2005

Without a doubt, Sigur Ros’s “Takk” has been my favourite sound this year. However, while there have been great albums, nothing got as heavy rotation as ‘Antics” by Interpol did last year.

Sigur Ros – ‘Takk’
Starflyer 59 – ‘Talking Voice vs Singing Voice’
Rufus Wainwright -”Want One & Two”
Ladytron – ‘Witching Hour’
Embrace – ‘Out of nothing’*
Low -’The Great Destroyer’
Arcade Fire -’Funeral’*
British Sea Power – “Open Season”

*I actually got these last year, just after last Decembers ‘best of’ post, but I love them too much to leave them out.

Cheese of the year 2005

Without a doubt, it has to be the Oxford Isis. A great all-rounder.

Hopes for 2006

Samantha starts school in January. This will be a big upheaval to our lifestyle – rather than finishing nursery at 5pm, she’ll be leaving school at 3pm. However, my hope is not that we ‘manage’ timewise, but that she makes friends and enjoys it. Our little girl is growing up! Sniff!
That Omnigroup will get a substantial update to Omniweb out, with the latest webkit, more interface polish and find as you type support. I so want Omniweb to succeed, but in some important areas, they’re behind Safari. Especially Safari on Tiger loaded up with Saft and Safaristand!
That I manage to create a mac-based home entertainment system – music/photo/movie/work server with my G5. Siobhan wants this too. I could just use Windows Media Center (which is excellent), but I want Mac-ness, and quite like the idea of cobbling it together.
That no more embarrassingly manky items of clothing end up on ebay.
That the practice of calling yourself ‘CEO’ of anything you create, will result in severe mocking and derision.

Predictions for 2006

John Oxton will retire from blogging in January.
John Oxton will return to blogging in March.
John Oxton will retire from blogging in May.
John Oxton will return to blogging in August.
John Oxton will return to blogging in September, forgetting that he hadn’t left it yet.

Concern for 2006

OK, here is my worry. It feels as if a lot of people are getting a bit too worthy, earnest, serious and po-faced in their blogging. I’m not naming names, but to me, there seems to be very little fun of late. I might well be guilty of this myself.

Balancing informative articles with wit and humour is hard but John, Jeremy Greg and Merlin seem to manage.

Finally, an apology

Bear with me, I don’t want to sound all Britney Spears about this, but I might. People send me emails, a quantity of which surprises me, and I’m finding that I just can’t cope with it. It goes against my beliefs, but I’ve had to learn to live with not answering all of them. I know how it feels to never get a reply from someone – its rude and it sucks donkey – but there just aren’t enough hours left after famiily and work. If you’re one of the people feeling dissed from not getting a reply from me, sorry, its not personal.

Comments | RSS

No.1

∞ Greg Williams said 1515 days ago:

I have to admit I loved Sigur RÃ³s’ new album much more than I anticipated. In heavier rotation on my iPod this year, however, is AnimaminA by AmÃna, Sigur RÃ³s’ support band.

There’s something minimalistic and delicate that they manage to achieve which I haven’t heard before.

They’re a bit hard to find music for with only one EP available but a site about them is at aminamusic.com

Oh and I totally agree about VoodooPad, too. A stroke of genius that I can’t stop using.

No.2

∞ Jon Hicks said 1515 days ago:

Thanks for the tip off Greg! I’ll get me some of that!

No.3

∞ Joe said 1515 days ago:

‘sucks donkey’. Heheh, very nice.

No.4

∞ badrad said 1515 days ago:

Sigur Ros? You have great taste in music. I thought I was the only one who knew about them.

No.5

∞ James AkaXakA said 1515 days ago:

You’re dead right in your predictions for 2006 :)

No.6

∞ Zach Inglis said 1515 days ago:

Hehe. You bastard. Why’s everyone doing this now.

I’ve been writing up mine for a few months (bulleting as it came) though, i’ll wait closer to the year ends :p

No.7

∞ Faruk Ates said 1515 days ago:

I may have missed the SXSW of 2005, but meeting you (and so many others) at @media 2005 was still great!

No.8

∞ Ben said 1515 days ago:

My prediction for this year’s round ups is that these are not the first jokes we’ll see at the expense of John Oxton. Poor guy, he’ll retire on January 1st convinced that he’s become ironic.

I sat down and tried to refine my “best albums” list yesterday, only to suddenly get into another record I’d not even considered. If I hold out long enough, I might just be able to steal other people’s favourite things (by which I mean the ideas, obviously. Don’t worry, your CD collection (and cheese) is safe).

I should thank you for the Sigur RÃ³s tip on Flickr too. I’ve picked up three of their albums since, some if it is earth moving.

No.9

∞ Colin Frame said 1515 days ago:

Ha, I’ve just been working on my own lists as well, was about to post one of them but stopped to hit refresh on NNW first and whaddaya know, you’ve got yours up already!

My actual lists won’t be hitting till the very end of the year though, who knows what might happen between now and then!

No.10

∞ John Oxton said 1515 days ago:

LOL! I can’t even remember where I put my blog? can anyone help?

I agree on the whole too serious head up one’s own smelly bum thing. The sooner people realise I am the greatest web designer of our generation the easier their small shallow lives will be.

Oxford Isis is noted.. going to farm shop tommorow! ;-)

No.11

∞ Alex Beard said 1514 days ago:

Ahahaha. The Oxton part is so true. :)

You know we love you though, Mr. Oxton.

No.12

∞ Nathan Smith said 1514 days ago:

Jon: I can identify with you a bit on the email thing. I’m sure I get nowhere near as much email as you do, and I find it hard to keep up with even the amount that I get. Much of it is from people wanting me to give feedback on a church site design’s progress, etc. I have found that by referring them to a forum I frequent, others can often give them decent feedback. It works out, as their questions get answered, and I don’t feel bad for not returning email. I thought maybe you might consider that as an option. Just a suggestion.

No.13

∞ Jon Hicks said 1514 days ago:

It’s funny, every year I post my end of year review, and every year someone says “Everyone’s doing this now!”, like its some new meme!

No.14

∞ FatBusinessman said 1514 days ago:

It feels as if a lot of people are getting a bit too worthy, earnest, serious and po-faced in their blogging.

Agreed: however, I think the presence of Union Jack Y-fronts, cheese reviews and buying a bloody Dell then on your site should quite thoroughly allay any fears you may have about becoming too serious yourself.

No.15

∞ Colly said 1514 days ago:

Love your lists, Jon – don’t apologise for them. Mine’s out soon…

Sugur Ros is a good choice (in my ten, but not no.1). My ex-girlfriend (Icelandic) bought me their first album in 1999, six or seven months before it was released in the UK. It was a tough time for me then, but stuck in Iceland in deep snow, with the weight of the world on my shoulders, that album somehow lifted me and made me look at the world differently.

I still don’t think they’ve matched that album yet, but “Takk” is close.

Colin Frame: “Who knows what might happen between now and then?” – I wrote the very same thing on my blog last week…

Moaners: For Christ’s sake, let people do what they want on their own blogs. That is law. We all do lists, so what? I wrote my first list in 1982 in an exercise book, so nobody else is allowed? Balls.

No.16

∞ Brad Chmielewski said 1514 days ago:

Ah, some great music picks Jon. I love reading people’s list of music, software, movies. If everyone is doing it, I love it! More for me to read.

No.17

∞ Greg said 1514 days ago:

It feels as if a lot of people are getting a bit too worthy, earnest, serious and po-faced in their blogging.

I’ve been thinking the same thing, I wonder if that’s due to war…

No.18

∞ Kristopher Gosser said 1514 days ago:

Hey Jon. I love Sigur Ros as well. Have you seen them in concert? Amazing stuff.

I gave them my best album of the year nod as well. You should take a look at my write-up. It’s my latest post on the front page:

http://www.krisgosser.com/blog/

No.19

∞ richard said 1513 days ago:

I’m down with the new Imogen Heap album. So, so good.

No.20

∞ erin said 1513 days ago:

Keep us informed about your mac-based media center… would love to see what you come up with.

I am sure you have already, but be sure to check into the Xbox Media Center developments – my hubbie mod’ed ours to send to his brother and the interface is quite nice and has come along way from when we checked it out a while back. Believe it is Linux-based and open-source – so you could improve upon what has been done or be a major contributor.

Cause your interface will, of course, much better than what they have thus far. But have to admit, was quite impressed with the Project Mayhem 3 skin for it highlights how slick and pro it can be and allows currently.

Arguably better interface than the Windows Media Center edition.

No.21

∞ Denis Radenkovic said 1513 days ago:

That the practice of calling yourself â€˜CEOâ€™ of anything you create, will result in severe mocking and derision.

As the CEO of 38one, which will become global in the following year, I am not sure if I like this.

No.22

∞ Ara Pehlivanian said 1513 days ago:

That the practice of calling yourself â€˜CEOâ€™ of anything you create, will result in severe mocking and derision.

Hahahahaha! Yes! Good one. I couldn’t have put it better myself.

No.23

∞ Alun Rowe said 1513 days ago:

I’ve decided I’m going to do a best of 1995 on my blog when I finally get my head around Textpattern.

This should keep me cool in a kind of Retro/ironic way I hope. Oh and I’ll be posting on Compuserve just to give it the right vibe…

Alun Rowe, CEO of 10yearsoutofdate.com

No.24

∞ Andrew Hamann said 1513 days ago:

Dang. Seeing that SXSW has the pull to bring in people from across the world really makes me proud to live in Austin. Also, all this talk about Sigur Ros on here and other sites makes me want to go out and but one of their albums.

No.25

∞ matt Carey said 1512 days ago:

Keep us informed on the media centre jon—wanting to do the same and trying to work out things like eyetv etc. i have an ntl box which makes it harder!

No.26

∞ Hunter Chorey said 1512 days ago:

Hey Jon,

If you like Sigur Ros, I’d highly recommend a band called Hammock.

Their website is here: Hammock Online . Very airy, etherial soundscapes; They stream both of their albums on the site so you can get a feel for them and decide whether it’s worth checking out their full albums. :)

Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

– Hunter

No.27

∞ Jon Hicks said 1511 days ago:

Hunter – thanks for the Hammock recommendation! Just my kind of sound!

No.28

∞ nick harris said 1511 days ago:

See, Takk is good… but I definitely prefer ”( )”.

Album of the year for me though has got to be Elbow; Leaders of the Free world.

Hammock sound interesting, I’ll definitely be checking them out in the new year.

No.29

∞ Maaike said 1511 days ago:

Is no-one else going to mention The Arcade Fire? I saw them in concert this year, they were amazing. They also have an EP out which is rather good.

Flickr ends up somewhere on top of my list as well. Yay for Flickr!

No.30

∞ Jon Hicks said 1511 days ago:

“Is no-one else going to mention The Arcade Fire?”

– Apart from being in my list you mean?

No.31

∞ Maaike said 1511 days ago:

Of course! I meant: no-one else but you, obviously :-)

No.32

∞ Jon Hicks said 1511 days ago:

Just checking! ;o)

No.33

∞ Daniel Beattie said 1511 days ago:

come with me on a journey…........ through time and space…...

How’s Vince Noir doing?? ;o)

No.34

∞ 3options said 1511 days ago:

I’m sure I wont be the last to say that Firefox’s icon is fantastic. Awesome job on it. :)

(I did read that entry, by the way and haven’t just come here to say this :P)

No.35

∞ alexandra said 1510 days ago:

.. i fell from my chair laughin on your 2006 prediction :)))

I would predict: in April Mr Oxton opens up a second blog just to drive us nuts ;)

Merry Christmas

No.36

∞ Mark said 1510 days ago:

I have been on a real Split Lip Rayfield kick lately as well as Annie Lennox. Can she ever stop being just smooth?

No.37

∞ PurplePenny said 1505 days ago:

I’ll check out that cheese. I wonder whether Taylors stock it (slightly closer to my workplace than the Covered Market).

BTW—you wondered why people stop by here and offer comments: I visit here because (as you will have gathered from my comment above) you’re local. It’s nice to read a blog with stuff that I can relate to.

#12 Nathan—which forum?

No.38

∞ Birgit said 1505 days ago:

Have not listened to the new Sigur RÃ³s Album yet (maybe because the () album disappointed me a little bit), but now I will! Still think ÃgÃ¦tis byrjun is one of the best albums ever. Favourite song: ViÃ°rar vel til loftÃ¡rÃ¡sa. So beautiful.

No.39

∞ Jens Meiert said 1503 days ago:

Make Usability Week 2006 a 2006 highlight, as was the User Experience 2005 Conference one of the highlights of 2005.

No.40

∞ Niall Byrne said 1503 days ago:

Hey nice album list! I haven’t listened to Takk that much yet but it seems good. I’ve posted my favourite songs of the year here – http://www.nialler9.com/blog/