Cities and Memory - remixing the world

Cities and Memory - remixing the world

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Cities and Memory - remixing the world episodes

  • 2745: For those of you alone in a world of sound
    Shinkansen train arrival reimagined by Audio Obscura.
    "The Sound of the shinkansen pulling into a station and railway station announcements gave me a sense of movement, a feeling of either starting or ending a journey.  
    "Therefore I wanted my piece to feel like it had motion, so I added rhythmic beats and synths which I felt had a sense of motion. A sense of journey can also suggest departure and being alone so I tried to have an underlying melancholy to the piece in the sound design. 
    "The piece to also tries to  capture the technological nature of Japanese cities and the shinkansen.  
    "I used the field recording more or less as it is, adding only a little effects on it in places and it is nearly constant throughout the track.  
    "I visited Japan in 2005 (before I ever made sound recordings or music) so part of this track also feels like me reminiscing about my own trips on the shinkansen and remembering my own time in various Japanese cities."
    Part of the Future Cities project - find out more at https://www.citiesandmemory.com/future-cities
    5 min
  • 2744: Here comes the bullet train!
    The Shinkansen bullet train arrives into Tokyo station - we can hear the throb of the stationary train's engines, plus announcements and the distinctive, specific melody that's used to signify the Shinkansen's arrival. 
    Recorded by Giulia Biasibetti. 
    Part of the Future Cities project - find out more at https://www.citiesandmemory.com/future-cities
    5 min
  • 2743: I jumped aboard the train and everything changed
    Sadovaya subway reimagined by Jodi Crisp. 
    "We will embark on strange journeys past the rising seas and the crowds and the robot seagulls, and will end up somewhere unexpected." 
    Part of the Future Cities project - find out more at https://www.citiesandmemory.com/future-cities
    5 min
  • 2742: Sadovaya subway, St. Petersburg
    "I made a recording at  Sadovaya Subway station January 17 around 6 pm, standing in the middle of the platform. Sounds of the trains and passersby in the closed space 71 m deep under the ground." Recorded by Masha Sha.
    Part of the Future Cities project - find out more at https://www.citiesandmemory.com/future-cities
    8 min
  • 2741: Bremen Hole revisited
    The strange "Bremen hole", which emits animal noises when coins are dropped into it, reimagined by Jukka-Pekka Piimies.
    "The piece invites us to reflect on our relationship with our fellow animals. 
    "It revisits "The Town Musicians of Bremen", a fairy tale retold by the Brothers Grimm, where a donkey, a dog, a cat and a rooster team up to ward off a band of robbers.
    "The composition consists of transformations, for musical purposes, of sounds of the four animals given off by the Bremen Hole donation box as well as some sounds of the visitors - whom the piece turns into robbers - on the market square in Bremen (Germany)."
    Part of the Future Cities project - find out more at https://www.citiesandmemory.com/future-cities
    2 min
  • 2739: The power station of art
    Recording in the Shanghai Power Station of Art by Simon James. 
    "I was lucky to get a tour when the space was closed to the public, which offered a unique recording opportunity. I sat in the midst of Christian Boltanski’s “Storage Memory” exhibition, recording the space. 
    "At first there is just the whine of power in the background, while occasional voices of staff come and go. 
    "Later, a mechanism on the ceiling starts up, slowly moving photographic portraits printed on thin cloth around the huge hall. 
    "The squeaks and rattles reverberate around the space beautifully and sounds from another installation drift through the corridors."
    Part of the Future Cities project - find out more at https://www.citiesandmemory.com/future-cities
    20 min
  • 2740: Uncertain progress
    Shanghai Power Station of Art reimagined by Ray Diode. 
    "This piece ruminates on the political position of China in the world. By drawing on the motif of 'power'  from the field recording of a Shanghai power station, I wrote a traditional sounding rhythm that occurs randomly with a variety of speeds. 
    "To me, this is reflective of the country's uncertainty in the current socio-political climate and the tug-of-war between tradition and 'progress'. 
    "Traditional scales and notes balance the technological hum of the electricity generators as the piece progresses. 
    "As with all my compositions on the modular synth, this was recorded in one take with no overdubs leaving the piece as a moment captured in time."
    Part of the Future Cities project - find out more at https://www.citiesandmemory.com/future-cities
    6 min
  • 2738: Blue bridge morning
    Blue Bridge in Victoria reimagined by Rich Bitting. 
    "The pervasive drone of traffic is a dominant feature in most any urban soundscape. 
    "After listening to this recording, the smoothness of the sound envelopes, the spacing of the traffic sounds, and the chord-like sonorities of the tires on the bridge deck reminded me of contemporary choral music. I especially liked that the background calls of the gulls help to give this recording perspective.
    "I used this field recording as a cantus firmus and freely composed a vocal texture to accompany the pitches and dynamic envelopes of the traffic on the field recording. The “boy choir” samples I chose, give this work a requiem-like feel."
    Part of the Future Cities project - find out more at https://www.citiesandmemory.com/future-cities
    9 min
  • 2737: On the Blue Bridge
    A rainy pre-dawn Sunday, on the former (now replaced) Johnson Street Bridge, Victoria, BC, Canada, 2012. 
    Traffic at varying sizes and speeds creates changing frequency hum, with intermittent footsteps, gulls and ambient city sounds. 
    Recorded by Tina Pearson.
    Part of the Future Cities project - find out more at https://www.citiesandmemory.com/future-cities
    9 min
  • 2736: The Nine Emperor Gods Festival
    Clattering, banging and total auditory chaos at a a nine-day Taoist celebration beginning on the eve of the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar. Recorded in Penang, Malaysia by Marcel Gnauk.
    Part of the Future Cities project - find out more at https://www.citiesandmemory.com/future-cities
    3 min

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Cities and Memory remixes the world, one sound at a time - a global collaboration between artists and sound recordists all over the world.