Hicks.design Journal: Latest articles

I’ve written at length about my search for the perfect digital music app.

Here's another little update to the Qobuz Beta theme.

This is small bug-fix version of the custom Qobuz theme for the Beta release.

Sister Ray Davies, whose debut album Holy Island featured on my top 20 of 2025, played Oxford's diminutive The Library pub in Cowley Road last night.

There's a Qobuz Beta for desktop available to download from the Qobuz Club forum (Beta Club channel) and I was curious to see what's changed, and how much my theme had to be updated.

In my big ass Music App post, I’d mentioned the iOS/iPadOS app Albums, but since the debut of the MacOS catalyst app, I'm due a revisit to see how it fits with my criteria.

Since I wrote that big-ass music app post last year, Apple Music's desktop app has seen some nice updates, not least due to the release of their new design language, ‘Liquid Glass’, in MacOS 26 Tahoe.

To summarise my experience with the alternative music streaming service Qobuz: great ethical company, the best sound quality, but I couldn't quite get on with how it looks.

Tyler Ramsey (ex Band of Horses) played the Jericho Tavern last night.

I love apps that ignore traditions and explore new, different ways of doing something.

A great night out with neighbour Doug Tolley (Nine is the Level) to see Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan at the Bullingdon in Oxford!

To summarise my experience with the alternative music streaming service Qobuz: great ethical company, the best sound quality, but I couldn't quite get on with how it looks.

Something a bit special for episode #60!

I couldn’t let episode #59 be anything else but a celebration of one of my favourite bands: Starflyer 59.

"Is this your idea of romance?"

When Danish band Mew arrived on the scene, having (very) young children prevented me going to many gigs, so tonight was both the first, and last time I got to see Mew.

There was an excellent in-store performance from Kula Shaker at Truck Oxford tonight.

It's been ten years since 'Hickensian Christmas II' on Troika, probably because I get more curmudgeonly about 'Christmas Music' every year.

18,970 ↑ Scrobbles 6,701 ↓ Tracks 1,655 ↓ Albums 1,275 ↑ Artists 93 ↑ Albums Bought 14 ↓ Gigs 20– Books read Album of the year This has felt like a particularly good year for music, and as such, it's been hard to keep the list down to 20.

Ever since Stars of the Lid Forever went live last month, I've been getting a nice batch of new show recordings.

The band Stars of the Lid should be familiar to anyone who's read the Hicks.design Journal or listened to Troika.

The band Stars of the Lid shouldn't be unfamiliar to anyone reading this blog, or listening to the Troika Podcast.

Fat Lil's in Witney is hosting another night of live ambient and experimental music, sponsored by Chase Bliss, on 16th November 2025.

For the last twenty years (bar a four month absence during COVID lockdown) I’ve worked from a ‘proper’ office, renting with other freelancers.

Know what song comes next before it plays?

With the remaster of Stars of the Lid's debut album Music for Nitrous Oxide being released, they're a band that's been on my mind a lot recently.

I finally made it to the V&A East Storehouse this weekend, to see my icons in use.

Today brings a long-awaited new album by Greet Death and BC Camplight.

Every year, the Hicks Brothers get together for a few days of walking, cycling, eating and drinking.

I woke up in the bedroom of the Airbnb, to a malevolent presence holding me tightly down to the bed.