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Premiere: Sweet Crude Reaches Their "Ultimatum"

The bilingual pop group's latest single is an examination of self-worth

Sweet Crude

via YouTube.com

The bilingual pop sextet of Sweet Crude gracefully balances their complex pop melodies with a cacophonous whirl of drums and electro synths.

It's nearly impossible to box the band's labyrinthine sound into a single genre; perhaps that's why the band was chosen to soundtrack an episode of American Horror Story back in its third season. Their sound is all-consuming and inextricably authentic to them. Sweet Crude presents themselves as they are, and doesn't try to conform to anything other than what suits them. That actualization is also the theme of the ensembles sophomore effort, Officiel//Artificiel.

"The whole record is about trying to find your authentic self," vocalist Alexis Marceaux said in a statement. "Stripping yourself down and realizing what other people and society tell you to be, and what you actually are. And each song tells that story in its own little way."

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CULTURE

2011 Time Capsule: The Year of the Pop Diva and the Queer Anthem

2011 saw the release of an extraordinary number of legendary pop songs.

Photo by: Aron Visuals / Unsplash

2011 was a turbulent year, a year of the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street, of murdered dictators and earthquakes.

In terms of American pop culture, it was a time of great exuberance and energy. Female pop stars dominated the airwaves, as did the British Royal Wedding, as political unrest tangled with the public's desire for flashy distraction. Here are the pop culture highlights of 2011.

Music: Fridays and Queer Anthems

2011 was the year of the pop diva, and an almost unfathomable number of iconic hits by women hit the airwaves that year. Katy Perry and Adele dominated the charts, Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" became a queer anthem, Britney Spears' "Hold It Against Me" played perpetually, and Rihanna dropped her scandalous "S&M," the absolutely legendary "Man Down," and another song about Friday, "Cheers (Drink to That)".

Lady Gaga - Born This Waywww.youtube.com

Rihanna - Man Downwww.youtube.com

Avril Lavigne had us bopping along to "What the Hell" and Nicki Minaj had everyone learning the words to "Super Bass." Beyonce released "Love On Top" and "Who Run the World? (Girls)" and Jessie J. put out "Domino." Carly Rae, of course, dropped "Call Me Maybe."

Nicki Minaj - Super Basswww.youtube.com

Beyoncé - Run the World (Girls) (Video - Main Version)www.youtube.com

There were some sad bangers in the midst of all the girl power; Demi Lovato put out "Skyscraper" and Lana Del Rey dropped her mysterious amalgamation of found footage for "Video Games."

Lana Del Rey - Video Games (Official Music Video)www.youtube.com

And last but not least, Rebecca Black's "Friday" went super-viral and lodged itself in everyone's brains for eternity.

Rebecca Black - Fridaywww.youtube.com

Folky boys Conor Oberst, Wilco, and Jeff Magnum of Neutral Milk Hotel all had big years—the first two dropped great albums and the third reemerged from obscurity with a flood of unreleased gems. The ukulele also grew in popularity, taking center stage on the hit album w h o k i l l by tUnE-yArDs.

That year, we also tragically lost Amy Winehouse, who passed away at 27.

Movies: Franchises Come to a Close

2011's greatest hit was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, which smashed box office records. It was also a good year for the Twilight franchise; in Breaking Dawn, Part I, Jacob the werewolf imprinted (or fell eternally, irrevocably in love) with his former love interest's, Bella's, baby daughter.

Twilight 4 Breaking Dawn Part 1 Jacob imprints on Renesmee, the Cullens and the werewolves fight Ywww.youtube.com

Overall, it was a strange year for film. The Artist had everyone falling in love with an adorable dog; Drive polarized audiences, and so did The Descendants; and the heart-wrenching Like Crazy had everyone sobbing.

Las mejores escenas de Uggie ''The artist''www.youtube.com

TV: Escaping to Sweeter Times

Like the movies, television favored escapism, with shows like The Great British Bake-Off and Downton Abbey transporting viewers to other, sweeter times. Game of Thrones promised that "winter is coming," and South Park gave us "tween wave."

Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, Fringe, and other dramas gained continued success.

Entertainment: Kate and Pippa Middleton Make History

2011's biggest entertainment event may have been the Royal Wedding, which dominated America's hearts. Kate Middleton's dress went down in history.

Kate and William offer a wave from the balcony to the masses gathered at Buckingham Palace. Not visible: a handful of revelers who decided to splash around in a nearby fountain Britain Royal Wedding PicturesPhoto by Matt Dunham/AP/Shutterstock

In terms of viral trends, honey badgers and planking were huge. The year's top Twitter trends were:

It wasn't a great year for Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan, whose hard-partying habits (and lawsuits) made headlines constantly. Lady Gaga arrived to the Grammys in a giant egg. Kim K. and Kris Humphries married and got divorced. Beyonce announced she was pregnant. Justin Bieber debuted his relationship with Selena Gomez–and was also slammed with a paternity suit. Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher broke up. Anne Hathaway and James Franco hosted what was called "the worst Oscars ever."

That was 2011... A year of divas and distraction, chaos and comedy, and of course, the only 11/11/11 any of us will be alive for.

From Your Site Articles

Beabadoobee's New Music Video is Absurdly Delightful

The 18-year-old singer-songwriter's new music video proves that apathy can still be fun.

Photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash

Beabadoobee's latest video for "If You Want To" perfectly compliments the grunge-tinged pop song.

Her voice is infectiously smooth and her melodies roll in with comely delight, but Beabadoobee's new single is no bubblegum pop affair. There's an edginess to it that asserts itself in distorted, palm-muted power chords and a music video that could be straight out of the early '90s.

As the video opens, Beabadoobee sits in bed. A hand-wringing mother leads a no-nonsense doctor into Beabadoobee's overwhelmingly pink bedroom. "She hasn't slept in weeks," the mother figure informs the doctor. The song starts just as the doctor begins his examination. Beabadoobee sings with a face of pure apathy as the doctor performs his equally detached checkup. The absurdity and alienation of this exchange – alongside dramatic cuts to the first-person point of view, sudden jolts of animation, and surrealistically cartoonish sets – make the video feel almost like an obscure 20th-century French film at times. At others, like when we see Beabadoobee performing alongside a band of grungy guys whose hair perpetually obscures their faces, the video pokes fun at the disposition of ironic indifference characteristic of the 1990's (and often associated with hipsters today). The overall result is a fun and layered music video for a shy but confident love song.

If you like what you hear, you can look forward to Beabadoobee's upcoming EP, Loveworm, out on April 26th.

beabadoobee - If You Want Towww.youtube.com

Dustin DiPaulo is a writer and musician from Rochester, New York. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from Florida Atlantic University and can most likely be found at a local concert, dive bar, or comedy club (if he's not getting lost somewhere in the woods).

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How I Went From Skeptic To Subscriber With This Language App

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There are more than 6 billion people in the world speaking roughly 6,909 different languages. The ability to express ourselves using language is inherently what makes us human. We communicate to each other over the phone, text, email & yes, sometimes even in person. In today's globalized society it's almost imperative that we learn to speak several languages. For many, like me, it's been a challenge to travel and communicate with people for work or pleasure. I've missed out on business opportunities due to language barriers. Other times I've gotten lost and taken the wrong train due to misunderstanding someone. Learning a new language however, can be extremely difficult, full of boring textbook memorization and not to mention, can be extremely time consuming.

So, when I was talking to some of my buddies about presenting a case study in Spanish for an upcoming business trip, I was surprised to learn about Babbel. One of my friends promised that Babbel would help me learn and speak conversational Spanish in just a few weeks, but I was pretty skeptical. He explained how their revolutionary technology makes language learning simple and fun. With nowhere else to turn and not a lot of time, I decided to check them out.

Babbel is a language learning site that offers simple instruction across multiple languages - from beginner to advanced. This platform was developed by a team of over a 100 language experts from more than 40 nations around the world. A research study by City University of New York (CUNY) found that with Babbel, students could learn a semester's worth of Spanish in just three weeks. My trip was a few weeks away so I was hoping I'd be able to pick up some Spanish by then. I definitely had my work cut out for me, but I was up for the challenge.

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For many people, trying to learn a new language can be a daunting task, but it doesn't have to be. To my surprise, Babbel helped me learn conversational Spanish in just a few weeks, something I wasn't able to do through 4 years of Spanish in high school and college. I even closed a business deal on my trip, which I don't think I could have done without Babbel- that alone was well worth the $7 a month. Babbelhas helped me connect with new people that I wouldn't have been able to speak to otherwise. I even made a few new Spanish-speaking friends along the way!

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