Author: Bill Bentley

Greg Antista and the Lonely Streets, Shake, Stomp, and Stumble. Down Orange County, California way, punk music has always held a special spot in the hearts of the locals. Maybe it’s because the ultra-conservative John Birch Society had such sway there, and the punks needed to make as much mess as possible to pull their...

Luther Dickinson and Sisters of the Strawberry Moon, Solstice. In the land of Mississippi musician Luther Dickinson, there are moons of every persuasion. Those people that live on the land there find a strong rapport with things which glow in the sky, and Dickinson has made a life of using that inspiration in making his...

Gary Clark Jr., This Land. Those moments when a musician explodes into a whole other galaxy are ones to cherish forever. There is usually a sign in the artist’s previous work which predicts what the possibilities for true greatness might be, but still there is no sure-fire way to know it will happen. Gary Clark...

JD Allen, Love Stone. The tenor saxophone has always sounded like the closest instrument to the human voice. There is something about the range and the tone of the tenor that captures the inner soul of what a gifted singer can express. The long line of America’s saxophonists beautifully encapsulates the entire history of jazz...

This year once again showed the ultimate test of longevity: great music never stops. It keeps coming like the wind and the waves. So here is this year’s list of favorite albums, starting with the first half of 2018 posted in July’s Bentley’s Bandstand: Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Downey to Lubbock; Niki Bluhm,...

The Beatles. Always known as “The White Album,” The Beatles 1968 double-disc set stopped a lot of listeners in their tracks when it was first released. It was different, partly because it was twice as long as their other releases, but more because they’d cut loose from the confines of their previous constructs on how...

Sarah Borges & the Broken Singles, Love’s Middle Name. The only way to enter the rock & roll fray, no matter what age you start, is to know that nothing is going to go as planned. That can be a huge bonus or it can be a bone-crushing killer. In the end, it’s all about...

The Band, Music from Big Pink: 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition. The first spine-tingling notes on this collection feel, 50 years later, like time has stopped and the earth is shifting on its axis. Rarely before has an album changed the musical world’s momentum so assuredly. Before The Band released their debut album in 1968,...

Joseph Arthur & Peter Buck, Arthur Buck. Rock and roll needs rebels like Saturn needs rings. It’s how things are supposed to be, even though it often feels like those willing to risk it all in music are a withering breed. Not Joseph Arthur and Peter Buck. Arthur has made an undeniable catalog of stellar...

Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Downey to Lubbock. Album of the year? Could very well be, because for those who love true blue rootsified music, Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore have combined for a wild-eyed run at greatness. There is such a vivacious joy to these songs—fast or slow, happy or sad—that it...