“Games have rules,” they, or more likely, the curmudgeon trying to ruin the game being played with a lax appreciation for rules would say. I’m thinking of the hypothetical recess monitor who righteously tries to explain how the rules of freeze tag literally require the complete cessation of movement, even the kind that occurs unconsciously as a result of the body’s normal subsistence. Just what kind of image are Vatican Shadow and Function trying to convey here?! Shall we imagine them in fluorescent vests, just waiting for a chance to blow their whistles marking the end of fun and (temporarily) marking the end of our sense of hearing? Such cruelty… I don’t believe they’re capable of it!
Let’s assume a more ironic perspective. “Games have rules” indeed, but here they are with a collaborative release, melding their respective electronic styles into something “free-flowing,” yet “stripped back” from their typical output, according to a press release. “Ambient in the most traditional sense” is the phrase actually used here, which isn’t too surprising when you consider Function’s rather atmospheric debut LP on Ostgut Ton, but with Vatican Shadow also in mind? It’s difficult to go from Middle East conflict as conceptual underpinning to… the enveloping sounds of NYC’s daybreak spirit. Equal parts rhythmic, though. But unspoken musical guidelines require a commitment to one style! I thought??
Games Have Rules is out mere days from now, on September 22. Live dates featuring the duo are scheduled for this Friday at Output in New York, this Saturday in L.A., and November 22 at Fabric in London.
Games Have Rules tracklisting:
01. Things Known
02. Things Unknown
03. The Nemesis Flower
04. A Year Has Passed
05. A Year Has Gone By
06. Red Opium
07. Bejeweled Body
• Hospital Productions: http://hospitalproductions.net