Albums to watch

Xen

Arca

Xen

Having worked with FKA Twigs and on Yeezus, London-based Venezuelan producer Alejandro Ghersi releases his debut long player

ADM rating[?]

7.8

Label
Mute
UK Release date
03/11/2014
US Release date
04/11/2014
  1. 9.1 |   Earbuddy

    Another brilliant exercise in experimental hip-hop that shows Ghersi’s dualistic nature in a greater magnification than ever before
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  2. 9.1 |   Consequence Of Sound

    A focused, inspiring Ghersi promises a more rewarding pop landscape for 2015
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  3. 9.0 |   Exclaim

    One of the most satisfying listens of the year
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  4. 9.0 |   The Quietus

    Gorgeous and ghastly
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  5. 8.5 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    Abyssal electronica with a tormented bent and visions of nowt but pitch black pits of despair
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  6. 8.5 |   Beardfood

    Mythical and fluid, Xen is art
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  7. 8.4 |   Pitchfork

    An album about unstable unities, things that cannot easily hold together, wholes breaking to pieces and being put back together again in new and unfamiliar shapes
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  8. 8.0 |   The Skinny

    Often beyond the imaginations of his contemporaries
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  9. 8.0 |   DIY

    Tones shift dramatically from one track to the next, but it all feels like part of the same journey. Wobbly piano chords, unsettling bass and submerged synths all come together to form the crooked path that is ‘Xen’
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  10. 8.0 |   Clash

    A captivating, at times unexplainable reaching of pained highs and battered lows
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  11. 8.0 |   The Observer

    Elegantly restates the appeal of digital music, expressing hues and states of being that fall outside the analogue spectrum
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  12. 8.0 |   Q

    A record of mood-altering substance. Print edition only

  13. 8.0 |   PopMatters

    This is uncompromising stuff, with little holding back, and the end effect is one that wears not just its heart, but its soul, on its sleeve
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  14. 8.0 |   The Irish Times

    The sound of an imaginative alchemist at work
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  15. 8.0 |   Uncut

    Bleak and unique. Print edition only

  16. 7.0 |   Tiny Mix Tapes

    We come up against a tender vulnerability, here allowed to shine through brighter than ever in all its perfection and awkwardness
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  17. 6.0 |   Rolling Stone

    Arca has built a robotic, alien world strengthened by its beating heart
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  18. 6.0 |   Mojo

    Uneasy listening with little in the way of recognisable groove or plotting. Print edition only

  19. 6.0 |   Fact

    Alejandro Ghersi plays with ambiguity and intricacy on his remarkable – but ultimately insubstantial – debut full-length
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Arca: Xen

  • Download full album for just £6.49
  • 1. Now You Know £0.99
  • 2. Held Apart £0.99
  • 3. Xen £0.99
  • 4. Sad Bitch £0.99
  • 5. Sisters £0.99
  • 6. Slit Thru £0.99
  • 7. Failed £0.99
  • 8. Family Violence £0.99
  • 9. Thievery £0.99
  • 10. Lonely Thugg £0.99
  • 11. Fish £0.99
  • 12. Wound £0.99
  • 13. Bullet Chained £0.99
  • 14. Tongue £0.99
  • 15. Promise £0.99
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