Imagine yourself coming home after a long, exhausting day from work.
You place your phone and keys on the table and put on some music; maybe it’s a vaporwave mix, or perhaps an Aphex Twin album to lure you to sleep. Shortly after placing your head on your pillow, you begin to slowly daze off into sleep falling deep, deep into a lucid dream. You open your eyes and everything is different. You find yourself teleported into the future where neon dreams have become a reality, bitcoin has completely replaced cash and Japanese is the international language. You stare out the window and are greeted by purple neon lights reflected on your face and the sound of rain hitting the glass. Welcome to the year 2 8 1 4.
新しい日の誕生 is an album by the vaporwave artist 2 8 1 4 who falls under the Dream Catalogue record label (who are responsible for a variety of fantastic vaporwave releases). The album sounds exactly like the dystopian album cover and its musical landscape is alien yet welcoming as if it were released in the year the artists are named after. This is not your typical, 80’s one-hit wonder, chopped and screwed vaporwave album à la macintosh plus, nor is it similar to Black Banshees vaportrap style. Instead, 新しい日の誕生 (which roughly translates to “Birth of a New Day”) sounds more like Vangelis soundtrack for Blade Runner mixed in with Brian Enos ambient albums (specifically reminiscent of Eno’s albums heavy with field recordings.) And the field recordings on this thing is exactly what makes it so magical and teleports you to another world.
The opening track 恢复, lures you into a hazy, mystical, retro-futuristic aesthetic soundscape with Japanese whispers and a reverby kaleidoscope riff piano spinning in the background. The dreamy, echoey sound effects scattered throughout completely transports you to the world 2 8 1 4 has created. Out of all the vaporwave albums out there, 2 8 1 4 ‘s vapor ambient musical collage hits you like a lullaby, perfect for reading, self-reflection or calming down after a long day.
新しい日の誕生 is the perfect contradiction. It makes you feel on edge yet at ease, sad yet hopeful, and nostalgic for a life you’ve never lived.
Hit play and disappear into the world of tomorrow…
Listen to 新しい日の誕生 on Spotify // Bandcamp // Youtube
Looking for more music?
Of course you are. Go check out:
- Our favorite vaporwave tracks in our spotify playlist: ｂｏｕｔｉｑｕｅ ｂｕｍｐｓ ＶＯＬ． １
- Follow us on mixcloud to discover our favorite DJ mixes (not just limited to vaporwave)
- Follow Dream Catalogue on Facebook // SoundCloud // Twitter
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