The Voice of Free Sahara
"The Voice of Free Sahara, 32 kbps mp3 ripped from a cassette recording. Received with a Sony 2010 and a 40 meter long wire from the France-Switzerland border  in 2002.  After the news bulletin in Spanish, there is a clear ID at 5”45." Recorded by Enrique Fernandez, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of ...
6m Jan 11, 2022
6m
Death of Pope Paul VI
Vatican Radio - announcement of Pope’s death 2210 GMT 6 Aug 1978 (i.e. 7 Aug 1978 Eastern Standard Time, Australia) 9615 KHZ Recorded by Ian Holder, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave
1m Jan 11, 2022
1m
Nelson Mandela arrives in Libya
Shortwave from Libya as recorded in Australia. "I recorded this shortwave broadcast from Libya in 1997. I have no knowledge of the source of the broadcast but it may be from the main Libyan radio service. I found this while twisting the dial. There was no general commentary, just the voice of South African President Nelson Mandela on his arrival in Libya followed by music". Recorded by Ian Ho...
3m Jan 11, 2022
3m
Forever Noël
Christmas music in a church in Vicenza reimagined by Cities and Memory. The natural reverb was the obvious starting point, wanting to create a hyperreal Christmas soundscape in which the church reverb slowly takes over the Christmas songs, finally ending in a somewhat-unrecognisable but still familiar drenched pulse of the original festive song. 
5m Jan 08, 2022
5m
Christmas in a church in Vicenza
Inside the Parrochia di San Michele detta dei Servi in central Vicenza, Italy, Christmas songs are piped through small speakers into the cavernous church space, marking the final day of the festive holiday in January. The natural reverb in the church gives the Christmas songs a nostalgic, melancholic haze. Recorded by Cities and Memory.
5m Jan 08, 2022
5m
Eldfjall
Geldingadalir volcano, Iceland reimagined by Richard Watts.  "I really like the original recording so have tried to enhance that by bringing up more bottom end and then adding a soundtrack. I wanted to get the feeling of the power of a volcano, its beauty and mystic nature. All the sounds are created by Alchemy in Logic Pro X."
4m Jan 07, 2022
4m
Geldingadalir volcano, Iceland
Geldingadalir volcano in Iceland, recorded from a safe distance by Mark Wilden, August 2021.
3m Jan 07, 2022
3m
Y2K
"The short wave recording used as source for this piece is a documentation of the turn of the millennium in London, as the world entered the year 2000. I wrote a noisy doom metal track emphasizing the angst of contemporary urban life and the unfulfilled promises of the future. The glitchy ending of the track references the dreaded Y2K millennium bug, which was a source of fear and anxiety for m...
6m Jan 05, 2022
6m
The fragility of détente
"The samples are from a shortwave radio recording of the UN Security Council broadcast in January 1980, one of the first responses to the Russian invasion of Afghanistan one month earlier. The invasion created a high level of political uncertainty, had destabilised the fragile détente (an easing of tensions) between the East and West, and had large ramifications for the future politics of the 1...
6m Jan 05, 2022
6m
1970 – Neue Jahr Null: Vom Himmel hoch
"25 years and one generation on from the end of WWII, 1970 is the New Year Zero / Neue Jahr Null. In SFO the hippies get heroin and Haight became hate. Janis and Jimi OD, RIP.  Israel, September 8: a month of plane hijacking begins, known as Black September. Three airliners are hijacked and blown up by Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.  This is one instance in a year of terror. ...
9m Jan 05, 2022
9m
The Afrikaans name for a bird, NYE 1977
"This is from a broadcast of South African radio station on NYE 1977. The polite chat and well wishes bring in the year when Steve Biko would be murdered by Afrikaner police. The bit I am captivated by is the explanation to foreign listeners what the Afrikaans name for a bird is.  I was two years old when this was broadcast. I remember Radio 2000 in the house, along with the world service. The...
2m Jan 05, 2022
2m
Passed messages
"Passed Messages was inspired by the shortwave radio broadcast recording of a news announcement about a Chinese nuclear bomb test on October 5th, 1969. The recording consists of two parts: The first part, which is the announcers voice (in English with a lot of radio static) and the second part, which is an instrumental song. The song in the second part does not fit with the news about an atomic...
4m Jan 05, 2022
4m
The Russian invasion of Afghanistan
U.N.Radio-Security Council (Jan7, 1980) United Nations Radio - Security Council. 15410 khz. 2030 GMT (0630 Jan 8, 1980 East Australian Time) Recorded by Ian Holder, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave
40m Jan 05, 2022
40m
Palastinian hijackings in Jordan
Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) (8 Sept.1970) Recorded by Ian Holder, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave
6m Jan 05, 2022
6m
The millennium
"New Year's Eve has always been a good night to stay home and play radio. This recording is one I won't ever have the chance to hear live again. Here are the last four minutes and forty seconds of the GMT year 1999 and the first 25 minutes twenty seconds of the year 2000. As a tradition I would always welcome the GMT New Year by tuning in to the BBC to hear the chimes from Big Ben (which I beli...
30m Jan 05, 2022
30m
Radio South Africa (RSA) New Year's Eve broadcast
"During the late 1970s, Radio South Africa (RSA) would broadcast a New Years call-in show. This recording is from 1/1/1978 (12/31/1977 in the US). At two minutes into the recording, you can hear the interval signal for RAI (Italy) in the background. I have scoped (edited) the music. Unsure how long RSA carried on this tradition, but heard a similar call-in broadcast the following year on 1/1/19...
23m Jan 05, 2022
23m
20th anniversary of the nuclear bomb
Radio Peking - statement on nuclear explosion to mark the 20th anniversary celebrations of the Communist Party of China. Broadcast 7.40pm (East Australian Time) Sunday, October 5, 1969. Radio Peking recorded off air in Brisbane, Australia. Recorded by Ian Holder, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of sh...
6m Jan 05, 2022
6m
This is Radio Beijing
"I approached the piece with the idea of creating multiple songs to weave into the original recording of the events in Tiananmen Square in 1989. This would be a sort of sonic tryptic as if dialling through imaginary radio waves backwards and forwards in time.  The first part is a simple refrain with organ like tones interspersed with "turn of the dial" like static and half heard voices. Snatch...
7m Jan 04, 2022
7m
Voyager 2021
"It's all about the feeling of awe.  A few minutes in space could be few years on Earth. This hypothesis isn't new but it's still mindblowing. As much as a sheer vastness of space and it's incomprehensible scales. How infinitesimally small we are in comparison! But I believe we all feel just how deep the inner spaces of our minds can be. That's what I was thinking when I heard the original re...
7m Jan 04, 2022
7m
What has to happen
"The radio announcer discourses on the necessity of improvisation for dealing with uncommon occurrences such as disasters. This became my watchword.  This piece is an improvisation. Organized in a generally haphazard fashion, but an improvisation nonetheless." Composition by Paul Collins. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - ...
5m Jan 04, 2022
5m
Outer space
"The original file was a recorded transmission between earth base station and the crew in a spaceship.   Outer space is the expanse that exists beyond Earth and between celestial bodies. I have composed an ambient cinematic soundscape, where the listener will find a plethora of layers, orbiting sounds, moving stereo meteorites , floating pads , a soundtrack for outer space.  The vastness of s...
11m Jan 04, 2022
11m
Other ghosts
"I'm Irish but live in Bulgaria. Like most countries in Eastern Europe there are remnants of Communism everywhere. Although the sample I worked with related to the Communist downfall in Romania, it got me thinking about all the transmissions that must have occurred at the time across this part of the continent. My track is a reflection, or interpretation, of the voices that might never have bee...
4m Jan 04, 2022
4m
Romanian revolution
"To mark the 30th anniversary of the Romanian Revolution, a recording of "Austrian Shortwave Panorama", Radio Austria International's weekly DX programme presented by David Hermges.  This was a special edition broadcast a few days after Romania's 1989 revolution originally broadcast on 31st December 1989 (although this recording is of a repeat from sometime in 1990).  Contains off-air recording...
24m Jan 04, 2022
24m
Radio Beijing (Tiananmen protests)
"During the Tiananmen Protests in 1989, a courageous announcer at Radio Beijing went on the air with the following announcement: “This is Radio Beijing. Please remember June 3, 1989. The most tragic event happened in the Chinese capital, Beijing. Thousands of people, most of them innocent civilians, were killed by fully armed soldiers when they forced their way into the city. Among the killed ...
5m Jan 04, 2022
5m
Voyager Experimental Aircraft Flight Communications
"Rutan Model 76 Voyager Experimental Aircraft was the first aircraft to fly around the world without stopping or refueling. It was piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager. The flight took off from Edwards Air Force Base's runway in the Mojave Desert on December 14, 1986, and ended 9 days later on December 23, setting a flight endurance record. This shortwave recording is a sample of some of the ...
15m Jan 04, 2022
15m
Radio Australia: Cyclone Tracy
"Announcement explaining the reason for a reduced signal strength. Cyclone Tracy put the Darwin transmitter site off air. News bulletin plus other selected items that were broadcast relating to the evacuation of Darwin.  Because the local 8DR MW transmitter was damaged a microwave link was set up between Darwin and Shepparton with the programme transmitted back to Darwin on shortwave. Date of ...
1hr 5m Jan 04, 2022
1hr 5m
Voyager 1 (90 Deg Bank Angle): Dec 20, 1986
"Recently I came across QSLs that I received from the Voyager crew from their historic 1986 circumnavigation of the earth. After continued searching I also came across the cassette recordings I made of some of their communications between Dec 20 - 22, 1986. The first hour provides the most compelling listening, as I started the tape just before Voyage unexpectedly ran into severe weather issues...
23m Jan 04, 2022
23m
Moon station, lonely bus
Puerto Montt bus station reimagined by Philippe Neau. "The dreamy spirit, listening to the sounds of the bus station in Chile, I took the road to the moon to find a dreamy atmosphere where voices, metallic noises, birdsong, the ocean meet, mingle and intertwine endlessly..." Image credit (https://www.flickr.com/photos/33037982@N04/3401610123) .
5m Jan 03, 2022
5m
Puerto Montt bus station
Recording from inside the bus station at Puerto Montt, Chile, by Mark Wilden. Image credit (https://www.flickr.com/photos/33037982@N04/3401610123) .
2m Jan 03, 2022
2m
14,704 hours, 882,285 minutes and 52,937,103 seconds
"It has been 14,704 hours, 882,285 minutes and 52,937,103 seconds since the afternoon of March 11, 2020, when the WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. The world changed in an instant! Inspired by the title and date of this shortwave transmission, I wanted to write a reminder that 22 months later in November 2021 we are still in a global pandemic, a "medical emergency" for COVID-19, to take ...
14m Jan 03, 2022
14m
Three planes crashed (9/11)
"A sound collage in memory of the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks as they unfolded through the eyes and words of a few of those who experienced it first hand plus additional commentary to augment the Kol Israel Radio news report provided to me for inspiration." Composition by Scott Lawrence Whitman. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave r...
4m Jan 03, 2022
4m
Act of terror, act of remembrance
"What you hear is my third attempt at making something that reflects the confusion of 9-11 twenty years on. Once I'd finished processing the BBC radio transmission I found the repetition of short segments throughout gave it a Chicago bass/footwork feel, so that's where this Act of Terror, Act of Remembrance has gone." Composition by Michael Lilley. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project,...
10m Jan 03, 2022
10m
Volcano Radio: All good things must come to an end
"Volcano Radio. Ascension Island. The exotic names drew my attention, and Ascension Island especially captured my imagination, as I’d never heard of any such place. I learned that it’s an isolated volcanic island located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, about halfway between Brazil and Angola. The British used it as a staging ground during the Falklands War; now it hosts a Royal Air Force s...
3m Jan 03, 2022
3m
Fratelli Tutti (All Brothers)
"Composition inspired by the work and words of American musician and soundscape ecologist Bernard L. Krause. Dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi. Francis calls for a love 'that transcends the barriers of geography and distance'.  November 1981, as a 16 year old, I bought a Grundig Satellit 1400 professional World receiver. Long-distance radio transmissions very much became the soundtrack - 't...
6m Jan 03, 2022
6m
Vatican Radio (Portuguese Language Service): August 17, 2021
"Carlos Latuff shares the following recording of Vatican Radio made on August 17, 2021, on 13,380 kHz at 18:00 UTC.  Note that Carlos Latuff, is not only a devoted radio enthusiast, but also a prominent political cartoonist in Brazil and throughout the world. Carlos has kindly included his listening report with his original artwork." Recorded by Carlos Latuff, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio A...
10m Jan 03, 2022
10m
BBC World Service: September 12, 2001
"BBC World Service (16:49), September 12, 2001 at 0000 UTC on 5975 kHz. Receiver used was a Japan Radio Co. NRD-545 (Sync on and 10 kHz bandwidth). One can hear minor DSP artefacts (burps) mixed in the background, of course a common trait for the NRD-545." Recorded by Dave Zantow, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining...
17m Jan 03, 2022
17m
Kol Israel: September 12, 2001
"Receiver used was a Japan Radio Co. NRD-545 (Sync on and 10 kHz bandwidth). One can hear minor DSP artefacts (burps) mixed in the background, of course a common trait for the NRD-545." Recorded by Dave Zantow, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole projec...
15m Jan 03, 2022
15m
ZD8VR Volcano Radio: May 5, 1979
"ZD8VR Volcano Radio 1602 AM Closedown 5 May 1979/AFRTS Accession Island signoff. It has end of jazz show, sign off announcement, station ID and incomplete GSTQ by local gender neutral band. Receiver and antenna: 1950's Sierra domestic valve receiver and 20 metre longwire antenna." Recorded by Sarah Boucher, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project,...
3m Jan 03, 2022
3m
HF Aviation Traffic (Spirit Airlines 558)
"Air to ground communications between Spirit 558 and New York.  A phone patch was established to allow the aircraft to talk to a doctor on the ground about a person who had a seizure while on board the flight. Date of recording: 5/11/2021 Frequency: 8.933 Reciever location: Hugo, MN" Recorded by Matt Todd, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, ...
4m Jan 03, 2022
4m
Desert Radio Kuwait
 "My inspiration for the piece was imaging the fragmented sounds of snippets of radio chatter and music crossing the Kuwaiti desert carried by the desert winds. The voices and music fragments forming ghostly echoes as if the listener is acting as a radio tuning in and out to hundreds of unknown transmissions. "I used the original recording in a number of ways, firstly to create a number of lay...
11m Jan 02, 2022
11m
The Happy Station Pre Christmas Message (version)
"A naive re-interpretation completed on an octatrack, which acquired on the day of this submission. All sounds are from the original source material." Composition by John Spartacus. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave
5m Jan 02, 2022
5m
Wendego in Space
"While listening to this broadcast by Apollo 8 of the first views of the moon in 1968, I was thematically conflicted with a duality of perspectives tied to space exploration. On one hand, this venture offers new opportunities for human expansion and knowledge we have yet to discover about our universe; yet, it also signifies processes of colonization that transcend earths atmosphere to a cosmic...
3m Jan 02, 2022
3m
Voice of America (Apollo 8): December 24, 1968
"A broadcast by Apollo 8 of the first views of the moon in 1968. The broadcast was transmitted by the Voice of America, and received in Melbourne, Australia on an AWA CR6A communications receiver. The transmission frequency and exact time are unknown." Recorded by Stephen Spicer, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining ...
13m Jan 02, 2022
13m
Happy Christmas from the Netherlands
"Radio Netherlands, Happy Station Christmas Broadcast (Studio Recording): December 12, 1956." Recorded by Walter Santner, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave
35m Jan 02, 2022
35m
Radio Kuwait (start of Iraqi invasion): August 2, 1990
"Recording of Radio Kuwait during the start of the invasion by Iraq. My understanding is that the broadcast originated from the Radio Kuwait transmitter site, which had not yet been occupied by Iraqi forces. Transmission consisted of music and announcements in Arabic." Recorded by Tom Gavaras, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting an...
29m Jan 02, 2022
29m
Afghanistan calling Europe
 "I love the randomness of shortwave, the way voices drift in and out of reception, the weird static elements. There is something so mournful about the isolated “Afghanistan calling Europe” that it seemed after a while to be a cry for help - so I included in the background static the morse code for SOS and then sampled and distorted a Taliban interview I found on YouTube to reflect what is happ...
3m Jan 02, 2022
3m
Did I hear me?
"This is a story of my youth listening to SW radio and playing instruments. The static is the empty space in my mind, the radio is the noise needed to fill the vacuum. The sounds are interrupted and distorted, repeated and flavoured as I try to block out the noise of the world around me. Pulses represent the nagging idea that I should be doing something else, eventually drowned out by the pleas...
13m Jan 02, 2022
13m
Radio Peking
"I was so struck by the way the symphonic intro and outro music was distorted and processed through the shortwave radio medium that I had to use it as source material for a piece. My hope is to retain the strident nature of the original material of the orchestra while creating a hypnotic and open sound environment for sonic exploration on the part of the listener." Composition by Matt Zook. P...
4m Jan 02, 2022
4m
Radio Afghanistan station ID
"This second [Radio Afghanistan] recording was made at the end of the 1970s during the soviet occupation of Afghanistan when RA programmes were rebroadcasted via Soviet transmitters. In this case it is the english service beamed to several parts of Asia. The recording was made one some day at 0900 GMT on 15435 kHz. It was a relay via Soviet transmitter." Recorded by Manfred Reiff, courtesy of...
2m Jan 02, 2022
2m
Radio Tawantinsuyo (Peru): 1970s
"Rising early in the morning was a regular activity of DXers who wanted to hear the more difficult stations from Latin America that used to fill the shortwave bands.  One of those was Radio Tawantinsuyo, located in Cuzco, Peru.   The station was on 6,175khz in the 49 meter band but was more often heard on variable frequencies as low as 6,173 khz.   This recording of the station sign on brings b...
4m Jan 02, 2022
4m