Recess (album)

Recess
Studio album by
Skrillex
ReleasedMarch 14, 2014 (2014-03-14)
Recorded2013–2014
Genre
Length46:34
Label
Producer
Skrillex chronology
Leaving
(2013) 		Recess
(2014) 		Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack Ü
(2015)
Singles from Recess
  1. "Try It Out"
    Released: October 14, 2013
  2. "Recess"
    Released: July 7, 2014
  3. "Ragga Bomb"
    Released: November 24, 2014
  4. "Dirty Vibe"
    Released: December 15, 2014

Recess is the debut studio album by American record 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

[edit]

Promotion

[edit]

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

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"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

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"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

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic59/100[21]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[22]
Consequence of SoundC+[23]
Fact[24]
Los Angeles Times[25]
Now[26]
Pitchfork5.7/10[27]
PopMatters[1]
Resident Advisor[3]
Rolling Stone[28]
Spin7/10[29]

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

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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

[edit]
Recess track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."All Is Fair in Love and Brostep" (featuring Ragga Twins)
Skrillex4:08
2."Recess" (with Kill the Noise featuring Fatman Scoop and Michael Angelakos)
3:57
3."Stranger" (with KillaGraham featuring Sam Dew)
  • Skrillex
  • KillaGraham
4:49
4."Try It Out" (Neon Mix; with Alvin Risk)
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)
  • Moore
  • T. Destouche
  • D. Destouche
Skrillex4:18
8."Doompy Poomp"MooreSkrillex3:25
9."Fuck That"MooreSkrillex3:50
10."Ease My Mind" (featuring Niki & The Dove)
Skrillex5:02
11."Fire Away" (featuring Kid Harpoon)
Skrillex5:42
Total length:46:34

Notes

  • "Coast Is Clear" features additional vocals by Peter Cottontale and Donnie Trumpet.[4]

Sample credits

Charts

[edit]

Release history

[edit]
Release history and formats for Recess
Region Date Format Label Ref.
Australia March 14, 2014
[58]
Europe March 17, 2014
Various (Record Store Day exclusive) April 20, 2014 Cassette [59]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Skrillex". PopMatters. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  2. ^ All music (2016). "Recess". All music. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  3. ^ a b "RA Reviews: Skrillex - Recess on Big Beat (Album)". Resident Advisor. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c Skrillex, (2014). Recess. [Album Liner & Credits]. Big Beat Records/Owsla under license to Atlantic Records.
  5. ^ "iTunes - Music - Recess by Skrillex". itunes.apple.com. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  6. ^ "Skrillex streams new album on Dazed". Dazed. March 11, 2014.
  7. ^ "Skrillex". Billboard. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  8. ^ "George Michael denies Kylie Minogue this week's Number 1 album". Official Charts Company. March 23, 2014.
  9. ^ "Skrillex, 'Recess'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  10. ^ "Hi. My name is Skrillex. AMA". Reddit. March 7, 2014.
  11. ^ "Skrillex streams debut album, featuring Chance The Rapper, Diplo and Kid Harpoon". NME. March 11, 2014.
  12. ^ a b "How Skrillex Took Over the Globe". Rolling Stone. March 12, 2014.
  13. ^ "Skrillex Drops Surprise Album 'Recess'". Spin. March 11, 2014.
  14. ^ "Photo by shiftk3y". Instagram. March 19, 2014.
  15. ^ "Skrillex and Ragga Twins Solves Feuds With Light Sabers in 'Ragga Bomb' Video". Rolling Stone. April 1, 2014.
  16. ^ "Skrillex X МИШКА Cook Up Trouble". June 8, 2013.
  17. ^ "Stream the Divergent Soundtrack". Pitchfork Media. March 7, 2014.
  18. ^ "'Divergent' Soundtrack Features Ellie Goulding, M83, Tame Impala/Kendrick Lamar Collaboration". Billboard. February 24, 2014.
  19. ^ "Skrillex drops an incredible new must hear original "This Much Power (DJ Tool Untitled) (BBC Radio 1)". June 21, 2013.
  20. ^ "LISTEN :: SKRILLEX TROLLS ZOMBOY IN HIS LATEST SONG". March 14, 2014.
  21. ^ a b "Recess - Reviews - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  22. ^ Jeffries, David. "Recess - Skrillex". AllMusic. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  23. ^ Staples, Derek (March 25, 2014). "Album Review: Skrillex - Recess". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
  24. ^ Muggs, Joe (March 13, 2014). "Recess - FACT". Fact. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  25. ^ Los Angeles Times (March 24, 2014). "Review: Skrillex takes a welcome 'Recess'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  26. ^ Boles, Benjamin (March 2014). "Skrillex - Recess". Now. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  27. ^ Patrin, Nate (March 21, 2014). "Skrillex :Recess". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  28. ^ Weingarten, Christopher R. (March 20, 2014). "Skrillex". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  29. ^ Sherburne, Philip (March 18, 2014). "Skrillex Flirts With Top 40 On His Occasionally Brilliant 'Recess'". Spin. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  30. ^ "Skrillex - Chart history | Billboard". billboard.com. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  31. ^ 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.
  32. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Skrillex – Recess". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
  33. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Skrillex – Recess" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
  34. ^ "Ultratop.be – Skrillex – Recess" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
  35. ^ "Ultratop.be – Skrillex – Recess" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
  36. ^ "Skrillex Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  37. ^ "Danishcharts.dk – Skrillex – Recess". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
  38. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Skrillex – Recess" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
  39. ^ "Lescharts.com – Skrillex – Recess". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
  40. ^ "Skrillex: Recess" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 2014-04-13.
  41. ^ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
  42. ^ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 12, {{{year}}}". Chart-Track. IRMA.
  43. ^ "Artisti - Classifica settimanale WK 12 (dal 17-03-2014 al 23-03-2014)" (in Italian). FIMI. March 27, 2014. Archived from the original on March 27, 2014.
  44. ^ "Top of the Shops – アルバムの公式リストは、日本で数週間を販売しました" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  45. ^ "Charts.nz – Skrillex – Recess". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  46. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Skrillex – Recess". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
  47. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  48. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Skrillex – Recess". Hung Medien.
  49. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Skrillex – Recess". Hung Medien.
  50. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Skrillex – Recess". Hung Medien.
  51. ^ "Skrillex | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
  52. ^ "2014 Top 40 Dance Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. March 29, 2014.
  53. ^ "Skrillex Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  54. ^ "Skrillex Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  55. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2014". Billboard. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  56. ^ "Top Dance/Electronic Albums – Year-End 2014". Billboard. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  57. ^ "Top Dance/Electronic Albums – Year-End 2015". Billboard. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  58. ^ "Recess". iTunes AU. Apple Inc. March 14, 2014. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  59. ^ "20 Best Record Store Day 2014 Exclusive Releases". Red Bull. April 8, 2014.
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