Lana Del Rey -- Video Games (Digital EP)

8/10

Twitter is a strange beast I barely understand, and rarely visit. In October of 2011, I visited Josh Scogin's twitter and noticed he was giving a lot of props to some person named Lana Del Rey, for her new song, "Video Games." I checked out the song, and it is great. 2011 was a great year for me and for my family, and a string-dominated, sentimental-yet-honest song like "Video Games" was a lovely way to begin the end of it. The song sounds huge and ancient, Del Rey's alternatingly silky and husky voice fresh, and yet a ghost from the past. "Blue Jeans" is the perfect way to follow up such a song, as it is more upbeat and forward-thinking, giving an impression that a ball has begun rolling. That's it. Two songs. Two songs perfectly joined. I can't grant a two song EP higher than an "8," unless those two songs are both longer than eight minutes. Of course, there are the requisite remixes that play when the party is over, but I'm not counting those here. Still, this Del Rey kid has a future.

2011 Stranger/Polydor/Interscope

1. Video Games 4:46
2. Blue Jeans 3:34
3. Video Games (Mr Fingers Remix) 9:00
4. Video Games (Omid 16B Remix) 5:14