By the time the Ramones got around to crafting their fourth album, they must have been feeling a little nervous. Several of their contemporaries on the punk/new wave scene— including Blondie, Elvis Costello, and Talking Heads—had begun to break through commercially. They had not. Their first two albums had flopped; and while their third, Rocket to Russia, had done a bit...
Bentley’s Bandstand: October 2018
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 faith and fortitude. Sarah Borges...
Available Now on Blu-ray: Strike Back: The Complete Fifth Season
Following what was billed as a “Final Season,” the ten-episode Legacy (as it was called in the U.K.), British Sky One has kept Strike Back going with this all-new season. In keeping with the tradition of Strike Back having one of the more confusing roll-outs of any contemporary show, the ten-episodes serve as the sixth season in the U.K. under...
Bentley’s Bandstand: September 2018
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, things were melting towards an...
Album & Book Reviews: Steve Forbert – Big City Cat (book) & The Magic Tree (CD) + Music by Vanessa Peters, Anthony Geraci, Chris Darrow & Max Buda
Particularly if you’ve been listening to Steve Forbert’s music for many years, you’re bound to have some fun with his new memoir, Big City Cat: My Life in Folk-Rock. The book—which lifts its title from that of a track on Alive on Arrival, his 1978 debut LP—offers lots of commentary on the inspiration for Forbert’s songs and the making of...
Music Review: Paul McCartney – Egypt Station
Much of the most interesting work of Paul McCartney’s career has been issued over the course of the last 20 years or so. Albums such as Flaming Pie (1997), Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (2005), Memory Almost Full (2007), and New (2013) have contained some of the more varied, introspective, and downright creative songs he’s ever released. His collaborations...
Blu-ray Review: Avengers: Infinity War
Epic. Engrossing. Thrilling. Funny. Tragic. What else do you want from a blockbuster spectacle? Avengers: Infinity War is all these things, ably proving that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is far from exhausted. In fact, however improbable it might be, it just seems to keep getting better. The 19th film in the now-20-strong franchise, Infinity War juggles a LOT of characters—almost...
Blu-ray Review: Rampage – (2018)
Maybe ten years ago Rampage, the new Dwayne Johnson-starring action film, would’ve been a must-see blockbuster. But honestly how many times are studios planning to serve up the same mega-budget, CG-dominated creature features? Though it probably made enough overseas to qualify as a solid recouper, domestic audiences did not flock to Rampage during its spring 2018 theatrical release. Warner Bros....
Bentley’s Bandstand: July 2018
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 albums, while Buck, besides fueling...
Blu-ray Review: Spinning Man
When it comes to direct-to-video movies these days, it’s really a roll of the dice. Even with the presence of major name stars, there’s usually the perception that most of these movies are outcasts for one reason (or many). A different scale of expectations, rightfully or wrongfully, is usually applied to a title falling under the “Never heard of it,...