Bring dein Brot
"I am an advocate of food sovereignty, and I believe that coming together around food preparation and consumption, in its most simplest forms, strengthens communities and relationships. "Combining this perspective, with the visual images the source sound provoked in my imagination, I chose to work with a field recording of a communal bread baking oven in Marrakesh, Morocco. "In the recording ...
3m Jun 09
3m
A captive curve
"The source material for my submission to this most recent Cities & Memory call is a field recording by Shaye Thiel, a New York artist whose medium is sound, hearing, perception, and the practice of attention. She is hard-of-hearing and these sounds were recorded with her hearing aids. "I chose to work with and reinterpret Thiel’s field recording because I really loved the description of her a...
3m Jun 09
3m
6th June, 2024
"As I began losing my hearing, the urgency of archiving memory through everyday sounds became more pressing. This raw audio was captured through my hearing aids while I walked across the Manhattan Bridge from Brooklyn, suspending the listener while people shift around them in the subway, in cars, cycling and on foot. This is an ongoing research project capturing the difference in my hearing los...
20m Jun 09
20m
Table tennis in Belleville
A game of table tennis recorded in the park high up in Belleville, looking over the rest of Paris on a Sunday morning. Recorded in Paris, France in February 2026 by Cities and Memory.
4m Jun 09
4m
Beneath the beam engine
Strange sounds of water and steam valves operating beneath a Victorian steam engine. Recorded in the maintenance access chamber beneath the Markfield Beam Engine, Tottenham, London by Paul Wheeler.
5m Jun 09
5m
Shanghai, Yongnian Road
Yongnian Road and Shunchang Road are packed with “72 tenants” style lilong buildings, teeming with residents who speak softly to avoid stares. Street-level homes, often shops or card rooms, hum a bit louder. On summer nights, Shanghai uncles (yeshu), shirtless, sit on bamboo chairs, sipping cold beer, eating, and ga sanhu (chatting). In the 80s and 90s, with rising incomes, this lively scene l...
4m Jun 09
4m
Hollow station
"Paul Wheeler's original recording of the Beam Engine evoked a haunting sound of the steam-powered mechanics in an abandoned subway or perhaps a disused tube station on the London underground. "Frozen in time, and haunted by the sounds and reflections of the past. Mechanical remains still try to function in a lost existence, where they are no longer seen or heard. "A theme which I find moving...
7m Jun 09
7m
Cauchemar coffee
"Initially I was interested in this field recording because of the joy and fun the competition and ping-pong sounds evoke and the idea of creating a piece to match that energy. As I was working with the recording (changing speed/octaves), I was struck by how easily these fun sounds could be transformed into nightmarish sounds. This led me to combine the nightmare quality, the way sounds can be ...
4m Jun 09
4m
Market day in Shanghai
"The recording of YongNian Rd. reminds me of living in China a number of years ago, and visiting Shanghai and walking down streets like this. What I love about this sample are its many layers - the traffic on the street, the bird chirping - likely in a bamboo cage -- but especially the lively sounds of people talking. Many streets are busy with folks enjoying each others' company - reflecting a...
11m Jun 09
11m
I on the land and you in the sea
"I dearly love Iceland - and on one of our many visits I was fortunate enough to go whale watching and see two magnificent humpback whales swimming right by our boat, their fins touching. It looked like a gesture of love, and I thought of all of our stories of selchies and other sea creatures - lost dreams of swimming with the sea mammals, and them choosing to walk with us. "We on the land, an...
7m Jun 08
7m
Guapa Whitechapel
"The piece is performed by Tara Milton (ex of 1990 famous bands 5.30 and The Nubiles) on Flamenco and acoustic guitar, and Giorgio Curcetrtri (played with Tara in The Nubiles and together they penned the classic ^Layabout^, indie Top Ten in 1994)) on Flamenco Guitar, Oud, Handclaps, Tambourine, Shakers, Bass and slide guitar. "The music has been written by Tara Milton and arranged by Tara Mikl...
11m Jun 08
11m
Give me your toes
"I am a runner, so the sounds of people cheering runners instantly makes me smile. I initially thought I would use the a capella singing more than the cheering, but it would up being quite difficult to integrate any of the complex harmonies of that singing with any coherent musical ideas that I might introduce, so I would up focusing on the cheering. "Once I found the samples I wanted to use, ...
5m Jun 08
5m
Hull
"I was really struck by Ander Vinjar’s Heyr project, and the way he captures the sounds of the everyday and the ordinary at sites of historical trauma and violence. This piece works with one of the recordings from the café at Utøya. I treated it as a meditation on the café visitor’s questioning recognition of the bullet-holes still visible in the walls (Er det hull? - er det kulehull?"). "I'm ...
3m Jun 08
3m
Humpback whales song off Westman Islands
Humpback whales song off Westman Islands, South Iceland. A 15 minute recording of a singing humpback whale made using a bottom-moored hydrophone in the Westman Islands (Vestmannaeyjar) archipelago in February or May. Recorded by Paul Wensveen.
15m Jun 08
15m
Don't stop me now!
As a long-distance run, with the participants being over 95% women, takes part through the centre of Oslo, a group of female a cappella singers stands by the roadside, singing songs in English ("Don't Stop Me Now") and Norwegian to spur on the runners, and calling out individual runners' names and cheering. A joyous afternoon sound recording that's sure to raise a smile. Recorded in September ...
7m Jun 08
7m
Utoya, Hegnen
Soundscape inside Hegnen, at the Café-building at Utøya, near Oslo. 13 young people hid here, and was shot by Anders Behring Breivik on 22nd July 2011. The bullet-holes and destroyed furniture is left as it was. The Ambisonics recording captures close sounds from the wood, and very subtle whispering from a visitor asking "bulletholes, are these actual bulletholes?" This soundscape-composition...
10m Jun 08
10m
Santarcangelo festival performance
 A street performance as part of the annual Santarcangelo festival, followed by applause and cheering. Recorded by Alexandra Genzini.
4m Jun 08
4m
Dirt bike derby in DC
This is a binaural recording made in the evening as young people on motorbikes revved through a quiet neighbourhood. This clip includes their approach and driving away, including some peeling out. Recorded by Casey Danielson.
2m Jun 08
2m
When tourism takes over
A recording of the main viewpoint above the iconic Old Man of Storr, one of the most famous sights on Skye. From this point, you might expect wind, or silence, or birdsong, but there are so many tourists that all we can hear is drones, selfies and conversation instead of a moment of quiet contemplation of such a majestic view. And this recording is from April, before the tourism season has real...
2m Jun 08
2m
Sunday mass bells, Berlin
Sunday mass bells ring out at 11,30am at St. Marienkirche in Berlin city centre. Recorded in September 2025 in Berlin, Germany by Cities and Memory.
4m Jun 08
4m
Acoustic political environment in Trabzon Square Park
This audio recording was made in Meydan Park, Trabzon, on a rainy day during the March 31, 2024 Turkish local elections rally. It captures an acoustic political environment filled with enthusiastic crowd voices, a speaker with a microphone, and political music, including interpretations of Black Sea melodies. Background sounds of people walking and traffic are also present. Recorded in Trabzon...
8m Jun 08
8m
The great escape march
""The Great Escape" reimagines a Turkish political protest soundfield as a sonic plea for global justice. Every protest is a symptom of a fractured world, a desperate run from oppression toward dignity. But true freedom shouldn't require an escape. We must build an equitable world where human rights are guaranteed, not fought for. When governments serve the people rather than crushing their voi...
2m Jun 08
2m
Tide's comin' in
"I've added my own field recordings from Scalpsie Bay on the Isle of Bute and Plas Bodfa on Ynys Môn and a sample from Rob MacNeacail performing Gaelic Psalms singing on Radio 4. "While working on the piece I was thinking about the contrast between empty wild spaces and busy tourist locations and how the landscape persists despite human interference. Also the fun of being on holiday represente...
5m Jun 08
5m
Sunday massive
"I love the cacophony of the church bells in this field recording, but I wanted to better hear the pattern of—and space between—the individual notes, so I slowed down the audio and processed it through my modular synthesizer to turn it into something akin to a celestial choir. I think it has a mantra-like quality that makes a decent backdrop for meditation or reflection." Berlin mass bells rei...
20m Jun 08
20m
Rain in Texas
"A meditative and groovy track made by two old friends who've had the rare pleasure of spending a few days together to focus on music, and nothing else. The constant chilly rain in early spring in Austin inspired the somewhat somber mood, as the sounds of dirt bikes conjure up feelings of wanderlust and transience." Dirt bikes in Washington DC reimagined by Mr. Roy and The *Cough Coughs*.
4m Jun 08
4m
Dusk falls
The recording begins after rainfall, while water is still moving through the canopy. Drips arrive from multiple heights, creating irregular but continuous patterns. Each impact carries a different texture depending on the surface, leaf, soil, understory. Bird calls are present but partially absorbed by the density of the environment. Nothing travels cleanly. Everything is filtered, diffused. ...
6m Jun 08
6m
Another broken dream (about birds)
𓂃 ོ☼𓂃 另一个破碎的梦(关于鸟)𓂃 ོ𓂃 or "Another Broken Dream (About Birds)" in English "The original recording already possessed a magical and evocative quality. Drawn to its atmosphere, I began transforming the material through various forms of audio processing, allowing it to unfold into new sonic environments and fictional landscapes. As the piece evolved, it started to evoke the dark and mysterious ima...
10m Jun 08
10m
Music under the Moroccan rain
It's January, and it's raining in Marrakesh for the first time in many months - that doesn't dampen the enthusiasm of the evening musicians, gathered together in circles to sit under umbrellas, sing, clap and play music into the small hours. It was only 8.00pm when this recording was made, but it already felt like an all-night party. Recorded in Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2026 by Cities and M...
5m Jun 08
5m
Alwan echoes
"Alwan Echoes takes its name from the Arabic word Alwan, meaning “all the colours.” "In this piece I used marranzanu (the Sicilian jaw harp, also known as scaccia pensieri) and flute, creating a bridge between Southern Italy and Morocco: from echoes of Sicilian tarantella rhythms to a melody inspired by Moroccan musical traditions. The field recording from the square of Marrakech, with its per...
5m Jun 08
5m
The rhythm section's moment to shine
Live jazz from one of Paris' top night spots, Le Duc des Lombards - the excellent quartet The Hookup (Geraldine Laurent, Noé Huchard, François and Louis Moutin) play a piece with just the rhythm section, before the whole group joins for a mellow track. Recorded in Paris, France in February 2026 by Cities and Memory.
9m Jun 08
9m
Someone to watch
"The piece begins with my daughter singing the title followed by isolated segments from the original field recording deconstructed and treated via tape and modular FX." Live jazz at Le Duc des Lombards, Paris reimagined by Scott Lawrence Whitman.
2m Jun 08
2m
Roaming hurdaci
In Turkish culture, a "hurdacı" refers to a person who collects and sells scrap materials, particularly metals. These individuals typically roam neighborhoods in search of discarded items that can be recycled or resold. They often call out their services as they go door-to-door, announcing their presence with phrases like "Hurdacı!" to alert residents that they're available to collect unwanted ...
2m Jun 08
2m
Le songe de Hezarfen
"To create this sound piece, I first used the provided recording, which I processed with reverb. I then added other field recordings that I was fortunate enough to make during a trip to Turkey a few years ago, also heavily transformed and processed. Finally, I incorporated a loop played on the bağlama, a traditional Turkish string instrument. "Together, these elements form an oneiric soundscap...
3m Jun 08
3m
Traditional loom weaving in Juncalillo
The sound of warping and weaving on a traditional Canarian loom, alongside the voice of Herminia Pimentel Tejera and the weaving of Jennyfer Cabrera Guerra. A living testimony of the linen cultivation and textile traditions of Gran Canaria, preserved by the Asociación Amigos del Linolillo. Part of the participatory sound mapping project "Voices and Sounds of the Sacred Mountains", by the Union ...
2m Jun 08
2m
San Marino dream
Closing my eyes and listening to the original sound transported me to another place in my mind... a sunny, warm area with a family enjoying a day out. So in this composition, I tried to transport the listener to another dimension - one that felt dreamy with a hint of uncertainty. Created in Bitwig Studio. San Marino cable car reimagined by Tracy Cox.
4m Jun 08
4m
The hustle and bustle of Koh Samui's fisherman village market
Koh Samui's fisherman village comes to life at night when the market opens. Here one can buy many trinkets, and enjoy tasty food. Recorded in Thailand by Jake Edwards.
14m Jun 08
14m
Market reflections, part 1
"My approach to the piece involved a lot of processing. A number of times. And then, at some point, recording a couple of sessions, improvising with the pieces made up to then. This piece is half of the slightly edited and pruned output of those two sessions. "Part of my process involved finding some videos on YouTube of the market where the recording was made, and then running a couple of pie...
20m Jun 08
20m
Spanish - New Zealand woven air
"Using Audacity I added some effects to the recordinf to make it sound more organic so the swishing now could be a moving branch. I was making the effects as if from the natural world here in particular, where I am in rural New Zealand, as if to give an 'air' to the mechanical sounds of the loom." Traditional loom weaving in Juncalillo reimagined by Sonja von Kerkhoff.
1m Jun 08
1m
Snake charmers, drummers and chaos
By day, the famous Jemaa el-Fnaa is a tourist trap, filled with food stalls, trinket stands but most unfortunately there are all kinds of mistreated animals. Snake charmers' trumpets and movements keep the serpents in a high state of distress, there are miserable looking monkeys posing for photos in football shirts, chained birds of prey and so on. No question it's a fascinating soundscape, but...
4m Jun 07
4m
Utoya Ved berget
Soundscape composition created from 3D Ambisonics recording at this site. 5 youths were murdered here, shot at close range by Anders Behring Breivik 22nd July 2011. The sound of the waves towards the shore are the same today as when they tried to hide in 2011. This soundscape-composition is part of the HEYR project, presenting 3-dimensional soundscapes from special locations, connected to spec...
10m Jun 07
10m
Tick, tick, tick, siren, tram
Ticking pedestrian crossings at a four-way junction in Oslo, with the sound getting louder and quieter as we approach and move away from them, and a passing fire engine siren and tram. Recorded in September 2025 by Cities and Memory.
3m Jun 07
3m
Lost in the Nordic Pixel Forest
Exploring the Nordic Pixel Forest, an attraction in the Ekebergparken sculpture park, in which many ropes of lights hang from the trees, creating a grove of lights, and a sound installation blends birdsong and gentle ambient music, which mixes in with the sounds of actual birdsong from the real trees surrounding the grove. Recorded in Oslo, September 2025 by Cities and Memory.
6m Jun 07
6m
A moment of calm, Hovedoya
On a quiet beach in the Oslo fjord on Hovedoya island, with very gentle lapping waves, a distant boat passing, the occasional couple walking past. A calm, relaxing soundscape from one of the islands in Oslo's fjord. Recorded in September 2025 by Cities and Memory.
7m Jun 07
7m
A soundwalk through the kasbah of Rabat
Wandering from the main gate through to the terrace overlooking the sea, through the Café des Oudayas and into the Andalusian garden. Recorded by Rachel Beckles Willson with students of the Ecole Nationale d'Architecture, Rabat.
9m Jun 07
9m
Jardin Majorelle soundscape
The most famous tourist attraction in Marrakesh, perhaps, is Yves Saint-Laurent's Jardin Majorelle, a one-hectare botanical garden and artist's landscape garden in Marrakesh, Morocco. It was created by the French Orientalist artist Jacques Majorelle over almost forty years, starting in 1923, and features a Cubist villa designed by French architect Paul Sinoir in the 1930s. Here we tune into bir...
3m Jun 07
3m
The cafe in the waterfall
Walking out of the mountain village of Imlil in the Atlas Mountains, we come across a powerful waterfall next to a cave - except the cave has an improvised Moroccan cafe built into it - resulting in this soundscape of powerful torrents of water next to tourists taking selfies and ordering coffee. Recorded in Imlil, Morocco, January 2026 by Cities and Memory.
3m Jun 07
3m
Liquid Ayatu
"This piece consist of recording of water. Seemingly peaceful, it contains echos of a dark event. "I tried to treat it that way, shifting quickly away from the ripples of the water, without entering a too obvious aggression or rage, more like turbulence. "I tried however to maintain also the soothing emotions of water and move towards an integrated stillness." Utoya soundscape reimagined by ...
7m Jun 07
7m
Reimagining Oslo
"For this piece I used techniques such as chopping up the original field recording and applying more effect such as reverb, reversing, filtering, and modulating etc. I also decided to add in some of my own synthesis using a Moog Sub Phatty and Grandmother to add more layers and depth to my soundscape piece." Nordic Pixel Forest, Oslo reimagined by Jake Edwards.
7m Jun 07
7m
Oslo oscillation
"The first thing I noticed about the recording was the rhythm of the traffic light noise so I tempo matched that to 150bpm and began experimenting with different arpeggios to find a melody and a direction, I had the name Oslo Oscillation pretty early on so looked to incorporate some oscillating themes into the piece, the traffic light noise itself is oscillating in pitch, I put low pass filter ...
2m Jun 07
2m
Oslo drift
"Inspired by the descriptive title of the recording which ends with the word “calm”, I evoke that feeling with a gentle piano line like waves or a gently rocking boat, supported by strings and brass sounds. "The pulsing engine sound of a passing boat in the recording led me to imagine embarking on a boat tour of the bay with some traveling music, beats and that engine rhythm propelling us alon...
7m Jun 07
7m