Lancer Spirit Online

Vince Staples brings the past to life on ‘Summertime ’06’

Conor Battles, Editor-in-Chief, Arts & Entertainments Editor
September 2, 2015

'Summertime ’06' is the rare double LP that not only retains its quality through both discs, but manages to feel short.

Thundercat’s ‘The Beyond’ a short, funky trip

Conor Battles, Editor-in-Chief, Arts & Entertainments Editor
August 5, 2015

From the reserved, low-and-slow churn of "Song for the Dead" to the relentlessly upbeat, poppy "Them Changes," Thundercat lets the groove do the talking.

Classic Review 8/5/15: Godspeed You! Black Emperor – ‘Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven’

Evaluating a post-rock landmark

Conor Battles, Editor-in-Chief, Arts & Entertainments Editor
August 5, 2015

Godspeed You! Black Emperor is perhaps the foremost post-rock band in the roughly two decades the subgenre has existed.

‘Honeybear’ an irony-soaked Americana sampler

Father John Misty scores one of the strongest releases of 2015

Conor Battles, Editor-in-Chief, Arts & Entertainments Editor
August 5, 2015

Tillman builds on the bluesy indie rock trappings of his debut as Father John, 2012's Fear Fun, incorporating country, jazz and folk to make what is essentially a hipster's revisionist history of American popular music.

Classic Review 7/29/15: Sufjan Stevens – ‘Illinois’

Unraveling a nostalgic, beautiful indie opus

Conor Batttles, Editor in Chief
July 29, 2015

A quasi-conceptual album, Stevens weaves a series of unrelated tales centered in or concerning the state of Illinois, telling the story of the region in a way that is entirely unique and wholly refreshing even a decade on after its release.

Death Grips makes incendiary debut in Boston

Conor Battles, Editor-in-Chief, Arts & Entertainments Editor
July 27, 2015

Death Grips played one of the loudest, most visceral shows in the history of the Paradise.

Kamasi Washington takes jazz through time on The Epic

Conor Battles, Editor-in-Chief, Arts & Entertainments Editor
July 27, 2015

Over its indelible three hours, The Epic manages to live up to its name in both sheer scope and quality.

Mac Demarco keeps it simple with Another One

Conor Battles, Editor-in-Chief, Arts & Entertainments Editor
July 26, 2015

Mac Demarco's Another One is a satisfying followup to 2014's acclaimed Salad Days that helps to cement the 25-year old as indie rock's consummate court jester.

Press Play 3/29/15: Lords of the Game

A Death Grips 'postmortem'

Conor Battles, Editor-in-Chief, Arts & Entertainments Editor
March 29, 2015

From the start, Death Grips has been about much more than the music.

‘To Pimp a Butterfly’ an eclectic masterpiece

Conor Battles, Editor-in-Chief, Arts & Entertainments Editor
March 27, 2015

'good kid, m.A.A.d. city' was straight West Coast hip-hop; 'To Pimp a Butterfly' is 'Bitches Brew' by way of 'Maggot Brain' by way of 'All Eyez on Me.'

Press Play 12/22/15: The Beauty of ‘Benji’

Examining Sun Kil Moon's tragic opus

Conor Battles, Editor-in-Chief, Arts & Entertainments Editor
December 22, 2014

There is no individual moment that stands out on Benji. It is an album that must be taken in full to appreciate.

FlyLo’s ‘You’re Dead!’ a trippy voyage

Conor Battles, Editor-in-Chief, Arts & Entertainments Editor
October 27, 2014

'You’re Dead!' explores death of all kinds, delving primarily into what follows over the long, strange trip of the afterlife.