2814 (stylized in

fullwidth In CJK (Chinese, Japanese, and Korean) computing, graphic characters are traditionally classed into fullwidth and halfwidth characters. Unlike monospaced fonts, a halfwidth character occupies half the width of a fullwidth character, hence the na ...

characters as ) is a British-American collaborative

ambient Ambient or ambiance or ambience may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ambiancé'', an unreleased experimental film * ''Ambient'' (novel), a novel by Jack Womack Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgr ...

and

vaporwave Vaporwave is a microgenre of electronic music, a visual art style, and an Internet meme that emerged in the early 2010s and became well-known in 2015. It is defined partly by its slowed-down, chopped and screwed samples of smooth jazz, 1970 ...

project of the

electronic musician Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

s Luke Laurila, also known as

Telepath Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...

(stylized as ""), and David Russo, also known as HKE (an abbreviation of the earlier moniker Hong Kong Express), respectively. The duo is best known for its second album, ''

Birth of a New Day ''Birth of a New Day'' () is the second studio album by English-American electronic music duo of dreampunk producers David Russo (also known as HKE) and Luke Laurila or Telepath (musician), Telepath (stylized as テレパシー能力者), both ...

'' (新しい日の誕生)'','' described by ''

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 ...

'' as "a late night cruise through the cyber-future dream highway".

History

2814 debuted in 2014 with a self-titled release on the Internet music label Ailanthus Recordings. The album was followed up in early 2015 by ''

'', released digitally and in a limited run of CDs on HKE's own label, Dream Catalogue. An

Indiegogo Indiegogo is an American crowdfunding website founded in 2008 by Danae Ringelmann, Slava Rubin, and Eric Schell. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, California. The site is one of the first sites to offer crowd funding. Indiegogo allows peo ...

campaign later in 2015 to press a double

LP record The LP (from long playing or long play) is an Analog recording, analog sound storage medium, specifically a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of revolutions per minute, rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use ...

version of the album ended with £6,432 at 161% of its goal. The project released its third album, ''

Rain Temple ''Rain Temple'' is the third studio album by English-American electronic music duo of dreampunk musicians Hong Kong Express (also known as HKE) and Telepath (stylized as t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者), both collaborating under the al ...

'', in 2016. In 2019, the duo released a compilation album, ''Lost Fragments'', which contained the duo's previous works found on other compilations, as well as new releases.

Influence

The project has described its own work as a focus on the surreal qualities of

rather than a 1980s or 1990s aesthetic. In the group's interview with Rolling Stone, HKE said when describing ''Birth of a New Day'', "We wanted to show how the whole vaporwave vibe could be made as original music rather than just relying on the same

muzak Muzak is an American brand of background music played in retail stores and other public establishments owned by Mood Media. The name ''Muzak'', a blend of music and the popular camera brand name Kodak, has been in use since 1934 and has been ...

and kitsch-pop samples everyone else had been using for years..." Not Not Fun Records boss Brit Brown called the album "amazing cyberfuture ambient vaporwave", while Vice called the duo "vaporwave superstars". The group's later album, ''

'', was described by HKE as "intense, dramatic and cinematic", and as containing elements of

spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...

Reception

As of 2015, its albums were often staples of the

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

charts. The group's LP ''Birth of a New Day'' managed to gain much praise from critics, while maintaining a cult following from internet users.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation

Extended plays

References

External links

* {{authority control Vaporwave musicians British electronic musicians American electronic musicians Electronic music groups from London Musical groups from Ohio Musical groups established in 2014 2014 establishments in England 2014 establishments in the United States