4×4=12

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4×4=12
Deadmau5 4x4=12.jpg
Studio album by deadmau5
Released 6 December 2010
Recorded 2007–10
Genre Progressive house
Length 1:16:01
Label
Producer Joel Zimmerman
deadmau5 chronology
For Lack of a Better Name (2009)String Module Error: Match not foundString Module Error: Match not found 4×4=12
(2010)		 Album Title Goes Here (2012)String Module Error: Match not foundString Module Error: Match not found
Singles from 4×4=12
  1. "Some Chords"
    Released: 3 May 2010
  2. "Animal Rights"
    Released: 6 September 2010
  3. "Sofi Needs a Ladder"
    Released: 1 November 2010
  4. "Raise Your Weapon"
    Released: 23 May 2011

4×4=12 (pronounced as Four Times Four Equals Twelve) is the fifth studio album by Canadian electronic dance music producer deadmau5, as well as his third major label release overall. It was released outside the United States on 6 December 2010 by Virgin Records and a day later in the United States by Ultra Records. The album's name refers to an incident on deadmau5's Ustream channel, where he mistakenly said that his live setup of four banks of four "equals twelve".[1] The album received a nomination at the 54th Grammy Awards for Best Dance/Electronica Album.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 66/100 [2]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 3.5/5 stars[3]
AltSounds 7.9/10[4]
Rolling Stone 3/5 stars[5]
Slant Magazine 2.5/5 stars[6]
Spin 5/10 stars[7]
thinkofmusic 7/10 stars[8]

The album was generally well received among music critics. Metacritic assigned it an average score of 66 out of 100, based on 13 reviews.[2] Will Hermes of Rolling Stone touted the album writing, "4×4=12 is audacious, mixing generic house grooves with electric fare."[9] Many reviewers praised the album for its universal appeal to a diverse audience. Annie Zaleski of Alternative Press wrote, "The collection is mostly instrumental tracks, ranging in style from insistent progressive house to watery techno…Without vocals to provide structure, 4×4=12's variety stems from deadmau5's sense of dynamics and pacing, as well as his diverse sonic influences".[10] However, some critics seem to be wanting more from the artist whose man-behind-the-mask intrigue may be upstaging his albums. Allison Stewart of The Washington Post states, ""4×4" is a breakthrough album that doesn't feel like a breakthrough album. Not accessible or crowd-pleasing enough to court non-electronic music fans, not adventurous enough to satisfy die-hards, it pleases, but it rarely dazzles."[11] Dave Simpson of The Guardian shared in Ms. Stewart's sentiments by noting, "Undoubtedly, the deadmau5 appeal hinges on the astonishing live show in which Zimmerman performs in a giant, illuminated mouse's head, but it wouldn't work without his tracks. His third production compilation again shows that he is a master at doing simple electro house music very well: humongous beats and basslines blend with straightforward chord progressions and, when interest may start to lag, sonic diversions."[12]

Commercial reception

4×4=12 proved to become a breakthrough commercial success for deadmau5 when it became his first studio album to chart on the Billboard Top 200. It eventually peaked within the top fifty of the Billboard Top 200 and has spent over 100 weeks on the chart. It also narrowly missed the top spot of the Billboard Electronic albums, reaching number two. Internationally, the album was received warmly as well. It managed to chart within the top forty of various European nations, replicating and in many cases eclipsing the chart success of his previous efforts. In the United Kingdom, however, the album achieved a lower peak compared to his previous albums which all entered the top twenty, missing the top forty altogether.

Track listing

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Some Chords"   Joel Zimmerman 7:24
2. "Sofi Needs a Ladder" (featuring SOFI)
  • Zimmerman
  • Sofia Toufa
 6:43
3. "A City in Florida"   Zimmerman 5:40
4. "Bad Selection"  
  • Zimmerman
  • Chester "DJ Aero" Deitz
 5:32
5. "Animal Rights" (with Wolfgang Gartner) Zimmerman; Joey Youngman 6:15
6. "I Said (Michael Woods Remix)" (with Chris Lake)
  • Zimmerman
  • Christopher Lake
 7:06
7. "Cthulhu Sleeps"   Zimmerman 10:34
8. "Right This Second"   Zimmerman 7:50
9. "Raise Your Weapon" (featuring Greta Svabo Bech)
8:22
10. "One Trick Pony" (featuring SOFI)
  • Zimmerman
  • Toufa
 3:59
11. "Everything Before"   Zimmerman 6:36

International CD edition (mixed)

International iTunes LP edition

U.S. and Canada iTunes edition

Double-vinyl album

Note: If you get the international mixed CD version of the album and get the track names on iTunes,
it states "A City In Florida" as "City In Florida", "Cthulhu Sleeps" as "Cthulhu Steps" and "Raise Your Weapon" as "Raise Your Weapons".

Singles

"Some Chords" was the first official single from the album and was released on 3 May 2010 exclusively on Beatport. It was featured as a track in the game The Sims 3 as well as on an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, where deadmau5 played himself in the episode. "Animal Rights" was the second single and was a collaboration with Wolfgang Gartner. It was released exclusively on Beatport on 6 September 2010 and followed by general release on 17 September 2010. The third single was "Sofi Needs a Ladder", which became available on 31 October 2010. It features vocals from SOFI and is the highest charting UK single from the album, reaching #68. "Sofi Needs a Ladder" is also featured on the soundtrack of The Hangover Part II. The song is played in the club scene of the flashback. The track also features in the game Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.

Other references

Deadmau5 was the house DJ at the 2010 MTV Video Music Award show hosted by Chelsea Handler in Los Angeles, California on 12 September. He opened the event with "Some Chords", then as the night progressed, he played "Sofi Needs a Ladder", "Cthulhu Sleeps", and "Animal Rights".[13]

"A City in Florida" was featured in the 2011 video game Saints Row: The Third, appearing on the in-game radio station "97.6 K12 FM", primarily associated with the cyberpunk "Deckers" gang.

Deadmau5 also performed on the Grammy Awards 2012; first he performed with Foo Fighters ("Rope" deadmau5 Remix) and then played "Raise Your Weapon". On the same day he revealed two new Mau5heads.

A new DVD, Meowingtons Hax 2k11 TORONTO, was released in February 2012, which includes live tracks from his performance in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, during his Meowingtons Hax Tour.

Promotion

iTunes exclusively released 5 promotional singles from the album which were released each week preceding the release of 4×4=12. They were the tracks as follows:

  • "Sofi Needs a Ladder"[14] (October 31, 2010),
  • "Some Chords"[15] (November 7, 2010),
  • "Right This Second"[16] (November 14, 2010),
  • "Bad Selection"[17] (November 21, 2010), and
  • "Raise Your Weapon"[18] (November 28, 2010).

In October 2014, the original release of 4X4 was offered as a free download on Google Play.[19]

Chart performance

Chart (2010–12) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[20] 53
Australian Dance Albums Chart[21] 6
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[22] 69
Canadian Albums Chart[23] 7
Dutch Albums Chart[24] 82
Irish Albums Chart[25] 34
Swiss Albums Chart[26] 56
UK Albums Chart 48
US Billboard 200[27] 47
US Dance/Electronic Albums[27] 2

Certifications

Country Provider Sales Certification
Canada[28] Music Canada 80,000+ Platinum
United Kingdom[29] BPI 60,000+ Silver

Release history

Region Date Format Label
Worldwide (except U.S. and Canada) 6 December 2010
  • CD
  • LP
  • digital download
  • Virgin/EMI
  • mau5trap
U.S. and Canada 7 December 2010 Ultra Records

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 4×4=12 at Metacritic Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/sofi-needs-ladder-original/id399837442
  15. ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/some-chords-single/id401090036
  16. ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/right-this-second-single/id402589102
  17. ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/bad-selection-single/id402753985
  18. ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/raise-your-weapon-single/id402757163
  19. ↑ "Deadmau5 Offers Up ‘4X4=12′ Album as Free Download." October 23, 2014. http://radio.com/2014/10/23/deadmau5-free-download-4x4-12-album-google-play/
  20. ↑ ARIA Report Issue 1111. Aria. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  21. ↑ ARIA Report Issue 1085. Aria. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  22. ↑ ultratop.be - Deadmau5 - 4x4=12 (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 February 2914.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ dutchcharts.nl - Deadmau5 - 4x4=12 (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 February 2914.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ swisscharts.com - Deadmau5 - 4x4=12 (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 February 2914.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 billboard.com, Billboard magazine, chart history
  28. ↑ http://musiccanada.com/GPSearchResult.aspx?st=&ica=False&sa=&sl=&smt=0&sat=-1&ssd=11/1/2011&sed=12/1/2011&ssb=Artist
  29. ↑ http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/Search.aspx

External links

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