Fiction: The Wind Sweeps Over the Prairie

May 22, 2013

Pa said I could marry anybody, as long as I had permission first. Pa said I should pick a man who knows how to drive cattle but keep a gentle hand for his wife, a man who could crack the whip on stubborn rough hide but also deliver a colt with patience and tenderness. “A horse knows a man’s intentions,” Pa would say. A horse needs a gentle hand sometimes, or even whispered words. Some people think it’s superstitious to talk to animals because animals can’t understand. They think animals are stupid and can’t tell between cruelty and kindness. Some of the boys who used to work on our ranch were like that. They would knock around an animal and think it felt nothing. Pa fired a man who used to kick the turkey out of the way during feedings. The turkey would stand by the entrance all fluffed up, showing off shiny bronze tail feathers, and that man would give it a hard kick in its chest. He wanted to make it clear who was in charge.

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Album Review: Afraid of Heights

May 17, 2013

Modern surf rock’s darlings Wavves make a triumphant return to the record store with Afraid of Heights, their first full-length album since 2010’s King of the Beach. Released in March, these thirteen tracks are undeniably some of the band’s best. Their lo-fi, grungy sound, consistent with Wavves’ other releases, does not disappoint.

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Review: Kid Cudi – Indicud

May 16, 2013

After Kid Cudi stopped smoking weed and decided to make a rock album, critics and fans began to question whether his music would ever be as successful as his early releases. However, when he announced that he was working on his newest album, Indicud, which he stated would be his “version of [Dr. Dre’s] The Chronic 2001,” speculation began that he had parted ways with sobriety and would begin rapping again. The speculations were confirmed when the first single, “Just What I Am,” was released. Featuring Cudi’s signature hazy, stoner production, the track is primarily about smoking marijuana with the words, “I need smoke, I need to smoke,” repeated through the hook. It was obvious that the Cudi that fans had grown to love was back.

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