November 15, 2012 A & E 11

John &Con: Reviews by

John Richardson and Connor CollinsSports Assistant Editor and Sports Writer

RED by Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift has rightfully earned her worshipped status as the poet of young girls. When she speaks, they listen intently, with no breaks in concentration. Swift wields power and magic over them, simply by relating to them.

Swift has an album at the top of the charts once again, joining past albums Taylor Swift, Fearless and Speak Now. Red was released October 22, and it did not take long to jump to number one on the iTunes top album list. Red is advertised as a country album like all of Swift’s other collections, but it could also be heard as a sort of pop/alternative style, too. In Red, the 22-year-old songwriter tries on many masks. She shocks with dub-step drops, and with help from pop mastermind Max Martin, channels Ke$ha

and takes on the dance floor.Taylor strays more toward

mainstream music in this new album and away from her country roots. Many people complain that all Swift sings about are boys. Breaking up with boys, waiting for boys, hating boys, loving boys; will Taylor ever realize that maybe she is just a bad girlfriend or will she keep singing about all these “tragic” love tales?

The songs are good, yes. The beats are okay too. The lyrics make sense. But maybe Taylor should just stop dating for a little while.

Albums to look for:

The Trilogy- The Weekend

LongLiveASAP- A$AP Rocky

Poms make their solo debut

What radio station do you listen to?Emma Hunt

A&E Assistant Editor

Ashley PudilA&E Writer

“I like 96.5 because they play a lot of country music, and 107.1 is better than 102.9.”-Ashlyn Manternach (‘13)

“I like Z102.9 because they don’t play a lot of country music. All of my friends listen to it, too.”-Anna Petri (‘16)

“I listen to Christian rock and rap a lot. It is nice to hear music other than ‘Jesus loves you’, and each song has a different message to it.”-Jeff Frieden (‘15)

Retraction:From the All-State Selection section of Choirs perform in concert in the previous issue, Meredith Diebold was also accepted as a Soprano into the All-State chorus that will be performing on November 17 at Iowa State University.

KZIA andZ102.9

Pop, rock, rap, and Top 40 Hits

Christian Rock

96.5 Kiss Country and i107.1

96.5: Country107.1: All genres of

music

Radio stations: 89.1 and 101.9

On Saturday, October 27, the Xavier Poms competed in the Stack the Stands competition at Prairie High School. Overall, the team’s points gave them second runner-up, but they accepted first place in both the Pom and Jazz categories. The Poms also earned the Showmanship Award, which was given to the team for showing the most stage presence and enthusiasm. “I’m proud that all the hard work we’ve done has paid off,” junior Charlie Dean said. “We have a great team this year that I am proud to be a part of.”

This was the first solo competition for the Poms this year. Six out of the 15 girls in Poms competed with their solos the morning before the team competition. Out of these six, senior Taylor Parker placed first, sophomore Madison Recker received fourth, and freshman Erin Foley tied for eighth place.

On November 3, the Poms also competed at the ISDTA State Solo Competition in Newton. All six soloists earned a division one rating. Out of those six, Recker

placed second, Parker accepted fourth, and Foley received eighth.

The Poms compete again at the State Competition on November 30 in Des Moines. With a good score, the team has potential to make it to Nationals in February. “I’m super excited for State,” Dean said. “We need all of our supporters there to cheer us on!”

The Xavier Poms placed third at Stack the Stands and are in preparation for their next competition in Des Moines on November 30. Meghan Gerke photo

Pudil photos