&&&&& 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.
| &&&&& | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Mixtape by | ||||
| Released | July 23, 2013 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 25:34 | |||
| Label |
| |||
| Producer | Arca | |||
| Arca chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Limited vinyl cover (2014) and new vinyl and streaming cover for reissue (2020) | ||||
 | ||||
| Singles from &&&&& | ||||
| ||||
Composition
edit&&&&& 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]
Critical reception
edit| 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]
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by Arca
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | |
Personnel
edit- Arca – production
- Jesse Kanda – artwork
Charts
edit| Chart (2020) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Independent Album Breakers (Official Charts Company)[12] | 19 |
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Arca – &&&&&". Tiny Mix Tapes.
- ^ "&&&&& on SoundCloud". Retrieved April 12, 2017.
- ^ "Download Arca's "&&&&&"". Complex. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
- ^ "Arca (4) – &&&&&". Discogs. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
- ^ a b Friedlander, Emilie (September 21, 2020). "Arca: &&&&&". Pitchfork.
- ^ Cliff, Aimee. "Arca – &&&&& [mixtape]". www.dummymag.com. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
- ^ "Download Arca &&&&&". Stereogum. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
- ^ a b Iovino, Michael (September 2, 2016). "Arca: &&&&& – Music Review – No Ripcord". No Ripcord.
- ^ Dazed (2014-03-18). "Arca and Jesse Kanda release nightmarish new video". Dazed. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
- ^ "Arca: &&&&&". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2020-09-21.
- ^ "Arca". Pitchfork. 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2023-09-09.
- ^ "Official Independent Album Breakers Chart Top 20 – 25 September 2020". Official Charts. Retrieved 22 February 2022.