{"title":"The Speaking Clock","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"sodium-yellow-night","title":"Sodium Yellow Night","description":"\u003cp\u003eBy January 2027, the UK’s analogue phone network is set to fully shut down, with the few remaining traditional cables finally disconnected and replaced by digital VoIP technology. For a particular type of enthusiast, this will be a sad day; the network has been faithfully connecting people 1:1 on their own direct feed, via a mind-boggling system of machinery and thousands of miles of copper wire, since 1878.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe old phone network was like a hulking central nervous system — countless electromechanical components, interlinked with untold lengths of cable, that stirred as one every time a number was dialled. It enabled intimate, long-distance conversations for the first time, and these interactions were lent a particular quality and texture. Dial tones, pips and clicks peppered connections, as a myriad of switches, gears and magnets physically clunked into position for each call. These unique physical pathways also gave the human voice a very specific tone, which is now mostly lost.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs this epoch of analogue communication draws to a close, we are treated to an unexpected message from the Speaking Clock as it emerges from the exchange like a near-death montage of extinguished memories, conversations in the dark, well wishes sung down the copper wire. It is the sound of a sprawling mechanical consciousness making one final connection, before being decommissioned in real time.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kit Records","offers":[{"title":"Tape","offer_id":57390325891403,"sku":"R0829-4115","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/cover.ki-5_bd6824b6-45e0-413d-b589-b9e53bcac040.jpg?v=1779294745"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/collections\/the-speaking-clock.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}