Recess (album)
Recess | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by Skrillex | ||||
Released | March 14, 2014 | |||
Recorded | 2013–14 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 46:34 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer |
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Skrillex chronology | ||||
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Singles from Recess | ||||
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Recess is the debut studio album by American Music Producer Skrillex, released on March 14, 2014 by OWSLA, Big Beat Records, and Atlantic Records.[5][6] It was recorded between 2013 and 2014 whilst Skrillex was touring around the world.[7]
Recess received mixed reviews from music critics. It charted in multiple countries worldwide and became his highest charting release in the United States and the United Kingdom.[8] Rolling Stone later ranked it at number 22 on their 50 Best Albums of 2014 list.[9]
Marketing
Promotion
On March 7, 2014, Skrillex took part in an "ask me anything" online Reddit post.[10] To coincide with this question-and-answer session, his website was changed to redirect to a page featuring a talking alien face, based on the Apple emoji. The face played short samples from album tracks when you clicked it. He released a mobile app, Alien Ride, on the same day which features an arcade-style objective where the spaceship has to destroy asteroids. The app displayed a countdown.[11][12]
When the countdown reached zero, the first song from the album was available to stream through the app. This continued in regular 30 minute intervals until the entire album was streamable for a limited time via the app.[12][13]
Singles
"All Is Fair in Love and Brostep"
A 30-second sample of "All is Fair in Love and Brostep" featuring the Ragga Twins. The first track from the album, it has charted in various countries. | |
Problems playing this file? See media help. |
"Try It Out (Neon Mix)" with Alvin Risk was released as the album's lead single on October 14, 2013 alongside two more mixes of the song. It charted in France at number 185. The title track, "Recess", was added to BBC Radio 1's C-List on March 19, 2014 and entered several countries' iTunes charts including the United States and United Kingdom.[14] The song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 57 upon album release, and was released as a single alongside remixes on July 7, 2014. "Ease My Mind", "All Is Fair in Love and Brostep" and "Dirty Vibe" also entered the iTunes charts in various countries.
The music video for "Ragga Bomb" was released on April 1, 2014[15] and the song entered the Flanders Ultratip 100 at number 75. A remix EP entitled Ease My Mind v Ragga Bomb Remixes was released on November 24, 2014, with both songs doubling up as the single. "Dirty Vibe" was released as the album's fourth single in the form of another remix EP on December 15, 2014.
Other songs
"Doompy Poomp" was released on June 8, 2013 in collaboration with graphic designer Mishka for free download through his website.[16] "Stranger" features on the Divergent soundtrack, released shortly before the album.[17][18] The first song, "All Is Fair in Love and Brostep" debuted as a demo on his BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix.[19] The song "Terror Squad" by electronic music producer Zomboy was inspired by the demo version known officially as "untitled DJ tool" or unofficially as "This Much Power". As a result, Skrillex used a sample from "Terror Squad" that says "It's fucking Zomboy", covering up the "Zomboy" with a distorted and pitched down laugh.[20]
Critical reception
Professional ratings | |
---|---|
Aggregate scores | |
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 59/100[21] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [22] |
Consequence of Sound | C+[23] |
Fact | [24] |
Los Angeles Times | [25] |
NOW | [26] |
Pitchfork | 5.7/10[27] |
PopMatters | [1] |
Spin | 7/10[28] |
Resident Advisor | [3] |
Rolling Stone | [29] |
After winning two consecutive best/dance electronic album Grammy's, Skrillex has released his first album. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 59 based on 15 reviews indicating "Mixed or average reviews".[21]
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first week sales of 48,000 copies in the United States.[30] As of January 2015, it has sold 150,000 copies.[31]
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "All Is Fair in Love and Brostep" (featuring Ragga Twins) | Skrillex | 4:08 | |
2. | "Recess" (with Kill the Noise featuring Fatman Scoop and Michael Angelakos) |
| 3:57 | |
3. | "Stranger" (with KillaGraham featuring Sam Dew) |
|
| 4:49 |
4. | "Try It Out" (with Alvin Risk) (Neon Mix) |
|
| 3:49 |
5. | "Coast Is Clear" (featuring Chance the Rapper and The Social Experiment) |
|
| 4:03 |
6. | "Dirty Vibe" (with Diplo featuring G-Dragon and CL) |
|
| 3:26 |
7. | "Ragga Bomb" (featuring Ragga Twins) |
| Skrillex | 4:18 |
8. | "Doompy Poomp" | Moore | Skrillex | 3:25 |
9. | "Fuck That" | Moore | Skrillex | 3:50 |
10. | "Ease My Mind" (featuring Niki and the Dove) |
| Skrillex | 5:02 |
11. | "Fire Away" (featuring Kid Harpoon) |
| Skrillex | 5:42 |
Total length: | 46:34 |
- Notes
- "Coast Is Clear" features additional vocals by Peter Cottontale and Donnie Trumpet.[4]
- Sample credits
- "Coast Is Clear" contains interpolations of "Big Poppa", written and performed by The Notorious B.I.G..[4]
- "Ease My Mind" contains samples of "DJ, Ease My Mind", written and performed by Niki and the Dove.
Charts
Chart (2014) | Peak position | |
---|---|---|
scope="row" | Australian Albums (ARIA)[32] | 4 |
scope="row" | Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[33] | 14 |
scope="row" | Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[34] | 28 |
scope="row" | Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[35] | 38 |
scope="row" | Canadian Albums (Billboard)[36] | 3 |
scope="row" | Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[37] | 28 |
scope="row" | Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[38] | 42 |
scope="row" | French Albums (SNEP)[39] | 57 |
scope="row" | Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[40] | 20 |
scope="row" | German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[41] | 28 |
scope="row" | Irish Albums (IRMA)[42] | 78 |
Italian Albums (FIMI)[43] | 30 | |
scope="row" | New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[44] | 6 |
scope="row" | Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[45] | 22 |
scope="row" | Scottish Albums (OCC)[46] | 15 |
scope="row" | Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[47] | 45 |
scope="row" | Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[48] | 21 |
scope="row" | Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[49] | 11 |
scope="row" | UK Albums (OCC)[50] | 13 |
UK Dance Albums (OCC)[51] | 1 | |
US Billboard 200[52] | 4 | |
US Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums[53] | 1 | |
Release history
Region | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Australia | March 14, 2014 | [54] | ||
Europe | March 17, 2014 | |||
North America | March 18, 2014 | [12][13] | ||
Worldwide (Record Store Day exclusive) | April 20, 2014 | Cassette | [55] |
References
- 1 2 "Skrillex". PopMatters. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
- ↑ name=All music>All music (2016). "Recess". All music. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
- 1 2 "RA Reviews: Skrillex - Recess on Big Beat (Album)". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
- 1 2 3 Skrillex, (2014). Recess. [Album Liner & Credits]. Big Beat Records/OWSLA under license to Atlantic Records.
- ↑ "iTunes - Music - Recess by Skrillex". itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 2014-03-11.
- ↑ "Skrillex streams new album on Dazed". Dazed. 2014-03-11.
- ↑ "Skrillex". Billboard. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
- ↑ "George Michael denies Kylie Minogue this week's Number 1 album". Official Charts Company. 2014-03-23.
- ↑ "Skrillex, 'Recess'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
- ↑ "Hi. My name is Skrillex. AMA.". Reddit. 2014-03-07.
- ↑ "Skrillex streams debut album, featuring Chance The Rapper, Diplo and Kid Harpoon". NME. 2014-03-11.
- 1 2 3 "How Skrillex Took Over the Globe". Rolling Stone. 2014-03-12.
- 1 2 "Skrillex Drops Surprise Album 'Recess'". Spin. 2014-03-11.
- ↑ "Photo by shiftk3y". Instagram. 2014-03-19.
- ↑ "Skrillex and Ragga Twins Solves Feuds With Light Sabers in 'Ragga Bomb' Video". 2014-04-01.
- ↑ "Skrillex X МИШКА Cook Up Trouble". 2013-06-08.
- ↑ "Stream the Divergent Soundtrack". Pitchfork Media. 2014-03-07.
- ↑ "'Divergent' Soundtrack Features Ellie Goulding, M83, Tame Impala/Kendrick Lamar Collaboration". Billboard. 2014-02-24.
- ↑ "Skrillex drops an incredible new must hear original "This Much Power (DJ Tool Untitled) (BBC Radio 1)". 2013-06-21.
- ↑ "LISTEN :: SKRILLEX TROLLS ZOMBOY IN HIS LATEST SONG". 2014-03-14.
- 1 2 "Recess - Reviews - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
- ↑ Jeffries, David. "Recess - Skrillex". Allmusic. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
- ↑ Staples, Derek. "Album Review: Skrillex - Recess". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
- ↑ Muggs, Joe (13 Mar 2014). "Recess - FACT". Fact. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
- ↑ Los Angeles Times (24 March 2014). "Review: Skrillex takes a welcome 'Recess'". latimes.com. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
- ↑ Boles, Benjamin (March 2014). "Skrillex - Recess". Now. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
- ↑ Patrin, Nate (March 21, 2014). "Skrillex :Recess". Pitchfork. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
- ↑ Sherburne, Philip (March 18, 2014). "Skrillex Flirts With Top 40 On His Occasionally Brilliant 'Recess'". Spin. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
- ↑ Weingarten, Christopher R. (March 20, 2014). "Skrillex". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
- ↑ "Skrillex - Chart history | Billboard". billboard.com. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
- ↑ Christman, Ed (January 9, 2015). "Music in 2014: Taylor Takes the Year, Republic Records on Top, Streaming to the Rescue". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
- ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Skrillex – Recess". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
- ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Skrillex – Recess" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
- ↑ "Ultratop.be – Skrillex – Recess" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
- ↑ "Ultratop.be – Skrillex – Recess" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
- ↑ "Skrillex – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Skrillex. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
- ↑ "Danishcharts.com – Skrillex – Recess". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
- ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Skrillex – Recess" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
- ↑ "Lescharts.com – Skrillex – Recess". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
- ↑ "Skrillex: Recess" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 2014-04-13.
- ↑ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
- ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 12, {{{year}}}". Chart-Track. IRMA.
- ↑ "Artisti - Classifica settimanale WK 12 (dal 17-03-2014 al 23-03-2014)" (in Italian). FIMI. 27 March 2014.
- ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Skrillex – Recess". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
- ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Skrillex – Recess". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
- ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
- ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Skrillex – Recess". Hung Medien.
- ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Skrillex – Recess". Hung Medien.
- ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Skrillex – Recess". Hung Medien.
- ↑ "Skrillex | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart
- ↑ "2014 Top 40 Dance Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. 2014-03-29.
- ↑ "Skrillex". billboard.com. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
- ↑ "Skrillex". billboard.com. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
- ↑ "Recess". iTunes AU. Apple Inc. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
- ↑ "20 Best Record Store Day 2014 Exclusive Releases". Red Bull. 8 April 2014.