Games – That We Can Play EP

New week = new music! We’ve got some killer records and singles lined up for you guys this week. Let’s start it off with the Brooklyn electronic duo GAMES who have recently been causing quite a stir in the music blogosphere.

Made up of just two lifelong friends who go by Daniel Lopatin and Joel Ford (who originally come from Oneohtrix Point Never and Tigercity, respectively), this is their most recent effort that was put out by the Hippos in Tanks imprint. They released a 7″ earlier this year, which is currently sold out in the Hippos in Tanks store, but you can still snag it at Insound if you’ve been looking (1000 pressed!).

So let’s get to the point here. The sounds and voices heard in these tracks are awfully reminiscent of the 80’s, ranging from familiar voices like Haddaway in the song “Shadows in Bloom” (it’s not Haddaway…it just sounds similar) to not-so-80’s things like the intro sound from the original PlayStation start up screen (heard in the Gatekeeper Remix of “Strawberry Skies”). There are plenty of great things you can say about this record, but after awhile pointing out the positives might get old. Which, in this case, it’s much more fun to point out the negatives. The only catch there is you need to find some first.

The only flaw I encountered was the fact that this album ends too damn fast (six songs under 20 minutes). I think the only way you can get away with not digging this stuff is if you totally shun the genre of electronic – which is a standpoint I can easily understand considering I’m not always into this sort of thing. Often times electronic music has a tendency to come off corny, unthoughtful, and not entirely serious. That is no where near the case for this futuristic record and the six songs included.

This is one of those records that never seems like a bad choice to put on in a room full of people. It would definitely get people energized and ready to move, and everybody around would be asking each other “Yo what is this jam?”. Which brings me to say this stuff is highly accessible by just about everybody. In other words – if you put this stuff on in the right place, there isn’t going to be a single soul who isn’t pleased. Most of the time somebody has a certain niche when it comes to finding music and they know exactly what they want to hear, so if new wave electronics is your bag, then you don’t need to look much further. This should fulfill your needs, at least for now, because remember how short it is.

To sum it all up: You don’t have to be well seasoned in the electronic music game by any means to know that this stuff is spot-on. Find out for yourself with these three cuts from the record below. Enjoy and come back tomorrow!

Strawberry Skies –

Planet Party –

Shadows in Bloom –

My Rating: 8/10
Genre/ Tags: Electronic, New Wave, Dance
That We Can Play: Tracklist:
1.) Strawberry Skies
2.) Midi Drift
3.) Planet Party
4.) Shadows in Bloom
5.) It Was Never Meant to Be This Way (Games Remix)
6.) Strawberry Skies (Gatekeeper Remix)

Games on Myspace
Games on Tumblr
BUY the EP directly from Insound
BUY their otherwise SOLD OUT 7″ “Everything is Working” from Insound