Phonophani is Espen Sommer Eide, member of Alog (1,2), and maker of truly beautiful, often devastatingly sad music

Saltwater achieves both, although you have to wait for it. The first 4 minutes of the track comprise of a series of textures driven by only the slightest of melodies, and on their own they would perhaps be slightly disappointing, but in serving to build a platform on which the second part of the track can rest, they are indispensable. Equally, if the second part of the track were to arrive immediately without anything before it, some of its effect would be lost

The main difference between to two halves of the track are in the type of sounds used. Long sounds are used throughout, but in the second half they are far cleaner and more varied. From the increased variety comes a more discernable melody which ultimately is what makes this track

Most of the melodic section is made up from modem like bleeps, making the track seem like an ode to failed or forgotten technology, not too disimilar to the 8bit videogame and mobile ringtone sounds so prevalent in a lot of current music. While a lot of these types of music refer to forgotten technology, few manage to encapsulate the beauty of obsolescence quite so succinctly as Phonophani

The melody takes a turn for the melancholic when the dialing modem appears to hang, or the connection drops. This event unifies the sounds dynamically, as they all begin to drop. Finally, a heavily processed vocal sound is added that repeats in the background, its low quality perhaps referencing the low bitrate audio associated with a dial-up connection - its message unintelligible, a past voice trapped in an obsolete technology

Phonophani - Saltwater.mp3