Author: Tom Bickerdike

If you have an iTunes account, you may have discovered this surprisingly turn up in your library. That is because it was available exclusively for free to all 500 million iTunes users at the launch of the Apple Watch and iPhone 6. What kind of band would attempt this? U2, of course. I will admit that I do like U2. Their work in the 80s is still held in high regard today, especially ‘The Joshua Tree’, as is their early 90s album ‘Achtung Baby’. That for me was for their last great album. Sure ‘All That You Can’t Leave Behind’…

“One day we will return, no matter how much it hurts. And it hurts.” Last year, Manic Street Preachers ended their “hiatus”, to look for a better word, with ‘Rewind the Film’; a stark contrast to the more rocky, grumpy and rebellious sounds associated with ‘Generation Terrorists’ and ‘The Holy Bible’. Their latest offering ‘Futurology’ is, to put it in their words, “Post, Punk, Disco, Rock”. Recorded in Berlin, ‘Futurology’ features several avant-garde German references, including bands such as Kraftwerk. There is also certainly a Russian influence behind this album. For example, ‘Mayakovsky’ refers to the poet, actor and playwright…

Tommy Ramone, the original drummer and the last surviving member of the American rock band the Ramones has passed away at the age of 65. According to Variety, he had been undergoing treatment for bile duct cancer and died in hospice care on 11th July. Erdelyi Tamás was born on 29th January 1949 (though he claimed he was born in 1952) in Budapest to a Jewish family, who immigrated to the United States in the 50s, arriving in Forest Hills, NY. In the mid-60s, he met guitarist John Cummings at high school and they both became part of a four-piece…

30 years today, “The Boss” released his seventh studio album which would become one of his most commercially and critically successful along with his breakthrough album ‘Born to Run’. He became a global icon. Springsteen’s previous album ‘Nebraska’, a series of recorded home demos, was a far more dark and acoustic piece with bleak themes of isolation and pessimism; it was described as “one of the most challenging albums ever released by a major star on a major record label”. By contrast, ‘Born in the U.S.A.’ was a return to the confines of stadium rock. The title track is a…

It is a World Cup year and musicians will want to cash in on the opportunity by releasing a song to show their support. So, here are some of the best and worst (blimey, there were a fair few to choose from) World Cup songs. The Best… New Order – World in Motion (1990) ‘World in Motion’ was recorded for Italia 90, written by New Order and Keith Allen. This was very much of its time, but a stark contrast to New Order’s work from a decade before as Joy Division. This lifted the mood of the nation prior…

When you think of past works by Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, you think of the success of ‘Brothers’ and ‘El Camino’. They had the unquestionable appearance of rock albums. In contrast, their eighth studio album ‘Turn Blue’ looks more psychedelic. Honestly, look at the cover! ‘Tighten Up’ has long been considered their most popular single, along with as the Grammy-winning ‘Lonely Boy.’ Personally, my own personal favourite track is ‘Little Black Submarines’ – an underrated masterpiece. Believe it or not, Turn Blue was announced back in March via Twitter by Mike Tyson (yeah, the retired boxer!). This included the…

BUHC Men’s 2s fell to Aberystwyth 4-1 in the first hockey match of Varsity. Aberystwyth set the pace of the game early on and scored their first goal within the first 5 minutes, after a defensive error from Bangor. This was followed by a second goal shortly afterwards. Bangor highlighted that one of their problems was their lack of play on the wings. This was coupled with some lack of communication. Despite this, Bangor kept pressing into the Aberystwyth half, winning key plays and couple of short corners. They were eventually rewarded with a goal at close range from Mike…

Last year, creator Bryan Fuller took perhaps literature’s most famous cannibal, redefined him and shocked the small screen. Now, he is doing it again. For those of you who are unaware, Hannibal is adapted from the series of books by Thomas Harris, set before Red Dragon, the first in the series. Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) is a criminal profiler for the FBI, who has an ability to empathize with murderers. Troubled by visions and losing touch with reality, he goes to see a psychiatrist – Dr Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen). The episodes in the first season were named after…

Photo by Hettie Beales-Cox On 13th March Bangor’s student radio, Storm FM, along with Bar Uno, hosted yet another successful Band Night. The evening began with second-year student, Adam Williams. Let’s say he was the ‘calm before the storm’. His solo performance with guitar as accompaniment was perfect. He has such a unique voice that overpowering instrumentation would have ruined it. His entire set left a sense of mellowness to the atmosphere in Bar Uno. Next up was a slightly more upbeat band, What The Dickens?. Being veterans of the Band Night scene, they clearly had the audience’s attention. They…

Beck’s last album ‘Modern Guilt’ (2008) received mixed reviews. Filter and Allmusic liked it, whereas The Guardian called it “a vanity project”. Since then, he has become a producer for artists including Thurston Moore, Stephen Malkmus and Charlotte Gainsbourg. He also wrote music for the 2010 film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and released the ‘Song Reader’ project in December 2012. The project was 20 songs presented solely as sheet music. ‘Morning Phase’ is Beck’s twelfth studio album and the first from his new label Capitol Records. It is a “companion piece” to ‘Sea Change’, his critically acclaimed album from…

An album called ‘Thirty Two’ could be reference to any number of the obscure things in life – and yet this is Reverend and The Makers – making the album name decidedly less cryptic. Constantly down to earth – Jon ‘The Reverend’ McClure even tells his fans to stop moshing at the band’s gigs – they decided to simply name the album after his age. Ironically, this is also the average age of a Radio 1 listener, although you won’t be hearing any of this album on that station (due to a long-standing feud over playlist selections). You may be…

Michael Gove recently criticized this much loved sitcom about its depiction of the First World War and how “left-wing academics” were using it “to feed myths” and damage patriotism by clearing Germany of any blame. How? It is a useful and also very amusing learning tool. Well it was for me…Thank you Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis. I will be honest and say that the first series, The Black Adder, was not a huge success. The funniest moment was in the first episode when Blackadder accidentally kills his uncle – Richard III. History is therefore re-written and instead of Henry…

During the 90s, we listened to them and loved them. Then, they faded into obscurity. Nowadays when you hear them, you probably wonder “Where are they now?” Well, here’s what happened to them… Steps Claire, Faye, Lisa, Lee and, of course, “H”. Steps’ first major hit was ‘5, 6, 7, 8’ in 1997, which has received some longevity. Do you remember your teachers at primary school getting up on stage and dancing to it wearing cowboy hats, wanting you all to join in? That only reached #14 in the charts. Record producer/songwriter Pete Waterman admitted he wanted to create a…

The punk scene in the 90s was dominated early on by Nirvana, but after the release and success of their second studio album ‘Kerplunk’ in 1992, record labels were starting to pay attention to Green Day. They eventually agreed to sign with Reprise Records after a good connection with representative Rob Cavallo. This led to their major record label debut – the internationally successful ‘Dookie’. The first single released, ‘Longview’, begins with a bass line from Mike Dirnt which is somewhat mesmerising. This continues throughout the song, which is interrupted by loud bursts from Billie Joe Armstrong. It concentrates on…

So, has 2013 been a good year for music? We’d like to think so, as there have been some noteworthy album releases this year. Therefore, here’s our selection for Seren’s 10 favourite albums of this year (in no particular order). There are some notable absences which deserve an honourable mention, including ‘AM’ by Arctic Monkeys, ‘Rewind The Film’ by Manic Street Preachers, ‘Night Visions’ by Imagine Dragons and, of course, David Bowie’s ‘The Next Day’… Thomas Bickerdike – Dropkick Murphys: Signed and Sealed in Blood “The boys are back and they’re looking for trouble.” Appropriate words from everyone’s favourite…

It is hard to believe that it was back in 2006 that James McAvoy won the BAFTA Rising Star Award. Since then he seems to have gone from strength to strength. Adapted from the controversial novel by Irvine Welsh, McAvoy plays DS Bruce Robertson, a corrupt member of the Lothian Constabulary who is in line for promotion. He will attempt this by any means necessary.  However, his life is dominated by casual sex, cocaine and heavy drinking. His addictions eventually get the better of him and he starts to have a mental breakdown. McAvoy is the best thing about the…