&&&&& | ||||
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Mixtape by | ||||
Released | July 23, 2013 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 25:34 | |||
Label |
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Producer | Arca | |||
Arca chronology | ||||
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Limited vinyl cover (2014) and new vinyl and streaming cover for reissue (2020) | ||||
Singles from &&&&& | ||||
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&&&&& is the debut mixtape by Venezuelan electronic producer Arca. It was released on 23 July 2013 through Hippos in Tanks on SoundCloud. [1] [2] Even though 14 tracks are listed,the entire mixtape is in sequence as a single track. [3] A vinyl release of the mixtape with an alternative album cover was released in January 2014 and was limited to 500 copies. [4] On 28 July 2020,Arca announced a re-release of &&&&& through PAN,making the mixtape available on mainstream streaming platforms for the first time on 18 September 2020.
&&&&& is an experimental electronic record with influences of dub,hip-hop,grime,ambient music,trap,and glitch. [5] [1] [6] Stereogum described the record as "even darker and denser" than Arca's two previous Stretch EPs. [7]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
No Ripcord | 8/10 [8] |
Pitchfork | 8.4/10 [5] |
Tiny Mix Tapes | [1] |
&&&&& received critical acclaim from music critics. [9] Tiny Mix Tapes says the mixtape "has the potential to conjure an emotional frenzy that’s alluring to the senses in a way that so much electronic artistry fails to even approach." [1] No Ripcord praised the mixtape for "its density,its intensity,its I'm-lost-in-a-big-city feel,its warm gust of beats blowing while the subway comes squeaking into the station,its darkness,its late-night ecstasy,its rawness,its rawness like raw milk,like drinking raw milk or eating sushi in an inexpensive restaurant somewhere on a street with trash and tweakers,its little motifs that twinkle like stars or Christmas lights,its muscular compactness." [8] In a review of the reissue, Pitchfork said that "there’s something a bit melancholy about listening to &&&&& now—the feeling that instead of freeing us from the past,technology has left us stuck in a loop,endlessly refreshing in search of a better world that never arrives,but that we can still dream of in our art." [10]
The album was eventually sent to Icelandic musician Björk's management,leading to the two artists collaborating on her eighth studio album Vulnicura . [11]
All tracks are written by Arca
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Knot" | 2:13 |
2. | "Harness" | 1:53 |
3. | "Fossil" | 1:50 |
4. | "Feminine" | 0:35 |
5. | "Anaesthetic" | 2:09 |
6. | "Coin" | 2:15 |
7. | "Century" | 1:15 |
8. | "Mother" | 1:15 |
9. | "Hallucinogen" | 2:06 |
10. | "Pinch" | 1:37 |
11. | "DM True" | 2:19 |
12. | "Waste" | 2:34 |
13. | "Pure Anna" | 0:47 |
14. | "Obelisk" | 2:47 |
Total length: | 25:34 |
Chart (2020) | Peak position |
---|---|
UK Independent Album Breakers (Official Charts Company) [12] | 19 |
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