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''4×4=12'' (pronounced "four times four equals twelve") is the fifth
studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
by Canadian electronic music producer
Deadmau5 Joel Thomas Zimmerman (born January 5, 1981), known professionally as deadmau5 (pronounced "dead-mouse"), is a Canadian electronic music producer and disc jockey, DJ. His musical style mostly includes progressive house and electro house music, ...
, released on December 7, 2010, by
Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...
,
Ultra Records Ultra Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, which is a subsidiary of Sony Music Group. Company history Established in 1995 in New York City by Patrick Moxey, a former executive of PolyGram and Virgin Records ...
and
Mau5trap Mau5trap (stylized as mau5trap; pronounced "mousetrap") is a Canadian independent record label founded in 2007 by electronic music producer Deadmau5. The label was formerly a vanity label, hosting releases through labels such as Ultra Music, V ...
. The album's title refers to a miscalculation made by Deadmau5 on his
Ustream IBM Watson Media (formerly Ustream and IBM Cloud Video) is an American virtual events platform company which is a division of IBM. Prior to the IBM acquisition, it had more than 180 employees across San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Budapest office ...
channel, where he mistakenly said that his live setup of four banks of four "equals 12" instead of 16. The album received a nomination at the
54th Grammy Awards The 54th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 12, 2012, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles being broadcast on CBS honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011. LL Cool J hosted t ...
for Best Dance/Electronica Album.


Promotion

Deadmau5 was the house DJ at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards show hosted by
Chelsea Handler Chelsea Joy Handler (born February 25, 1975) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, writer, television host, and producer. She hosted the late-night talk show '' Chelsea Lately'' on the E! network from 2007 to 2014 and released a documenta ...
in Los Angeles, California on September 12. He opened the event with " Some Chords", then as the night progressed, he played " Sofi Needs a Ladder", "Cthulhu Sleeps", and "Animal Rights". Deadmau5 also performed at the 54th Grammy Awards in 2012. First, he performed with
Foo Fighters The Foo Fighters are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Initially founded as a one-man project by former Nirvana (band), Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, the band comprises vocalist/guitarist Grohl, bassist Nate Mendel, gu ...
"
Rope A rope is a group of yarns, Plying, plies, fibres, or strands that are plying, twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have high tensile strength and can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger ...
" (Deadmau5 Remix), and then played " Raise Your Weapon". During the performance, Zimmerman wore a second more advanced and safer (but still heavy) variation of his iconic LED mau5head.


Release

''4×4=12'' was released internationally on December 6, 2010 by
Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...
, and released in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
through
Ultra Records Ultra Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, which is a subsidiary of Sony Music Group. Company history Established in 1995 in New York City by Patrick Moxey, a former executive of PolyGram and Virgin Records ...
and Deadmau5's record label
Mau5trap Mau5trap (stylized as mau5trap; pronounced "mousetrap") is a Canadian independent record label founded in 2007 by electronic music producer Deadmau5. The label was formerly a vanity label, hosting releases through labels such as Ultra Music, V ...
; on December 7, 2010. On 23 February 2011, Ultra Records released the Japanese version of the album, which was renamed simply to ''Deadmau5''. The self-titled release was bundled with his earlier singles " Ghosts 'n' Stuff" and " I Remember". On iTunes, the international mixed CD version of the album has the track names "A City In Florida" as "City In Florida", "Cthulhu Sleeps" as "Cthulhu Steps" and "Raise Your Weapon" as "Raise Your Weapons". This has not been confirmed as intentional or unintentional.


Singles

" Some Chords" was released as the first official single from the album on May 3, 2010 exclusively on
Beatport Beatport is an American electronic music-oriented online music store owned by LiveStyle. The company is based in Denver, Los Angeles, and Berlin. Beatport is oriented primarily towards disk jockey, DJs, selling full songs as well as resources that ...
, later released on
iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
, on November 7, 2010. "
Animal Rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...
", a collaboration with American DJ
Wolfgang Gartner Joseph Thomas Youngman (born March 17, 1982), better known by his stage name Wolfgang Gartner, is an Americans, American DJ and music producer. Much of his music prior to 2010 was released through his own record label, Kindergarten, but he signe ...
, was the second single from the album, released exclusively on Beatport on September 6, 2010 and followed by release on other digital download stores on September 17, 2010. The third single was " Sofi Needs a Ladder", released on October 31, 2010. It features vocals from
Sofi SoFi Technologies, Inc. (abbreviated as SoFi) is an American personal finance and financial technology company. Founded in 2011 at Stanford University, it operates as a direct bank and provides its technology platform to other financial institu ...
and is the highest-charting single in the UK, reaching number 68. On November 14, the fourth single "Right This Second" was released peaking at number 79 on US charts and 100 on UK charts. Later the same month, the fifth single "Bad Selection" was released charting at 137 on the UK charts. The sixth and final single was " Raise Your Weapon", a song featuring vocals from Greta Svabo Bech and was co-produced by Cydney Sheffield and
Skrillex Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ, record producer, musician, singer. Raised in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he began his career in 2004 as the lead vocalist of the ...
, released on May 23, 2011, became a hit on the charts. It became his first song to chart on the
US Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), on ...
, as well as reaching 117 on the UK charts.


Critical reception

The album was generally well received among music critics.
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
assigned it an average score of 66 out of 100, based on 13 reviews. Will Hermes of ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' touted the album writing, "''4×4=12'' is audacious, mixing generic house grooves with electric fare." Many reviewers praised the album for its universal appeal to a diverse audience.
Annie Zaleski Annie Zaleski is a ''New York Times'' best-selling author and music historian. Career Zaleski is a regular writer for mainstream media outlets such as The Guardian and NPR Music, and a columnist at ''Salon''. She is based in Cleveland, Ohio w ...
of ''
Alternative Press Alternative press may refer to: Individual publications * ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine Alternative journalism * Alternative media ** Alternative media (U.S. political left) ** Alternative media (U.S. political r ...
'' 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". However, some critics were less enthusiastic. Allison Stewart of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' stated, "''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." Dave Simpson of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' shared in 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."


Commercial performance

''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 50 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 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...
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 20, missing the Top 40 altogether.


Track listing


Double LP version


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Release history


Notes


References


External links


''4×4=12''
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Deadmau5 – 4×4=12
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Deadmau5 – 4x4=12
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iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

Deadmau5 – 4x4=12
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{{DEFAULTSORT:4by4 equals 12 2010 albums Deadmau5 albums Ultra Records albums Virgin Records albums Mau5trap albums