The Hickensian is the journal of Jon Hicks of Hicksdesign. Somebody wake up Hicks

I’ve not kept up this tradition for a couple of years, so this is a post to remedy that. As usual, not all of these were actually released this year, but without further ado and in no particular order, my favourite albums:

Grimes – Visions

A real breath of fresh air, and bursting with creativity.

I Break Horses – Hearts

I’ve discovered more new music through the last.fm plugin for Spotify in 2012 than ever before, and this Swedish duo is the one of the highlights.

Joy Formidable – The Big Roar

This Welsh trio make a fantastic noise and a new album is due out in a few weeks! Yay!

Oceanographer – Spilling Blood

Best bandcamp purchase of the year. Atmospheric Brooklyn Rock. Hope they come and play the UK this year!

Baroness – Yellow and Green

Many felt this double album was too much of a leap away from the Metal of ‘Blue’, but I found it to be an epic.

Mastodon – The Hunter

This would’ve been on 2011’s list (if I’d got off my bottom to write it), but I played it so much in 2012 that it deserves to be on this one.

The Abassi Brothers – Something like Nostalgia

Another Last.fm discovery, and one from 2008 too. Instrumental post-rock.

Phantogram – NIghtlife EP

Eyelid Movies has joined the list of favourite albums of all time, and until a new album ‘proper’ comes along, this 6 track EP more than fills the gap.

Professor Elemental – Father of Invention

Mr B and the Professor may have made up their Chap-Hop differences, but to me, the Good Professor still has the edge musically for me.

A Winged Victory for the Sullen (self titled)

A side project of Adam Wiltzie of Stars of the Lid, and a downright beautiful one too. Sublime ambient soundtrack.

I’ve set up a Playlist on Spotify of my favourite tracks:

A late entry (not available on Spotify) would be one of the most pleasant surprises of the year. None other than Charlotte Church, who has gone all Bat For Lashes:

HP Sauce is a treasured British institution. It’s the essential cooked breakfast ingredient as well as being mighty tasty in cheese sandwiches. It may be owned by Heinz these days, but the recipe is unchanged.

Or is it? Today, I saw a story from last year that suggests it has fiddled with detrimentally: HP Sauce recipe secretly changed after 116 years. Fortunately, I have a contact within Heinz that was able to confirm that this is of course the Torygraph trying to make a story out of nothing…

When we reduced the salt in HP Sauce in November 2010 there was no outcry. That is until the media-led hullabaloo in September (2011) which left many thinking we had just made a fundamental change to the HP recipe that somehow altered its familiar taste. But this is simply not so.
We did rigorous consumer testing before making a tiny salt adjustment last year, and this proved that there was no significant change to the great taste of HP, it was just a little healthier. HP’s essential ingredients of Tomatoes, Malt and Spirit Vinegars, Molasses, Spices and Tamarind, which create its traditional taste, have not changed. Salt is a minute ingredient.
In the 10 months since the change consumers have been buying just as many bottles as ever – more than 500,000 bottles a week and around 22 million bottles since the adjustment. HP Sauce tastes just as great as it always has.

Phew! HP continues to be a sauce of manliness! Applaud that facial hair!