Cities and Memory - remixing the world

Cities and Memory - remixing the world

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Cities and Memory - remixing the world episodes

  • 1657: The Silence Spoke (Istanbul)
    Turkish protest reimagined by Jeff Dungfelder.
    "I chose to use the field recording of Turkish women in Istanbul protesting at home because the sounds have a texture of urgency. The sound is a background rhythm and texture that seems to be everywhere theses days, especially in New York City where I live. It's not the words themselves, but the sound waves that carry meaning for me. It feels like we are living in a dystopian future right now, very reminiscent of “1984”. I reimagined the sounds in layers, altered and distorted, to reflect how protest is expressed in the layers of the individual: what we think, do, act, witness, hear and see. I chose to base my sound submission on a protest poem by Jane Hirshfield called “On the Fifth Day”, and the title (The Silence Spoke) comes from that poem.
    ‘On the Fifth Day’ by Jane Hirshfield
    On the fifth day
    the scientists who studied the rivers
    were forbidden to speak
    or to study the rivers.
    The scientists who studied the air
    were told not to speak of the air,
    and the ones who worked for the farmers
    were silenced,
    and the ones who worked for the bees.
    Someone, from deep in the Badlands,
    began posting facts.
    The facts were told not to speak
    and were taken away.
    The facts, surprised to be taken, were silent.
    Now it was only the rivers
    that spoke of the rivers,
    and only the wind that spoke of its bees,
    while the unpausing factual buds of the fruit trees
    continued to move toward their fruit.
    The silence spoke loudly of silence,
    and the rivers kept speaking,
    of rivers, of boulders and air.
    In gravity, earless and tongueless,
    the untested rivers kept speaking.
    Bus drivers, shelf stockers,
    code writers, machinists, accountants,
    lab techs, cellists kept speaking.
    They spoke, the fifth day,
    of silence.
    Part of the Protest and Politics project - find out more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/protest
    7 min
  • 1656: Protest Drift (Lima, Peru)
    Lima protest reimagined by Yol.
    "researching the square where the original recordings were made i got the impression that protests had been held there for a very long time, in one form or another, and would probably keep happening long into the future. this got me thinking about protest here, and my own experiences from the poll tax riots onwards, and how nothing seems to get resolved completely, and how there is always something to protest about…
    so i tried to make the track reflect that. there is no resolution to it, bits of it repeat, it doesn't necessarily make sense and it isn't that pleasant.
    the audio was cut up and mangled in the samplr app in real time as i made the vocal noise over it."
    Part of the Protest and Politics project - find out more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/protest
    5 min
  • 1654: Anti-austerity protest, Athens, Greece
    Recorded by George Pazarologlou.
    "This recording was made on the 17th of March 2017 in Athens while a big demonstration against the 4rth Memorandum application which incorporates harsh financial measures for the lower social classes and the workers, was taking place in the center of the city.
    Greece is generally known of the big resistance movements against EU’s financial and social policies after the country’s subjection to the International Monetary Fund. Demonstrations and general strikes have not actually ever stopped, not even after the election of the new social leftist government. On the contrary, things got polarized and rather a general disappointment and mistrust in politics state of mind emerged.
    Most of the sound extracts were recorded on Syntagma Square, in front of the Greek Parliament, capturing mostly the leftist and anarchic blocks, as well as, riots against riot police and attacks on big corporations’ branches."
    Part of the Protest and Politics project - find out more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/protest
    4 min
  • 1653: Protest - A News Report
    Gulf War protest reimagined by Simon Woods.
    "The basic concept for the piece is the protest and the news reporting of the protest.
    The protest sounds make up the basic rhythm of the whole piece. The orchestra represents the news reporting. It takes the rhythm of the protest but tries to drown out the voices so they cannot be heard except on the news’ terms.
    The protest voices do go away, but return later as protests do.
    The heroic trumpet represents the military who use emotion to quell protest – the patriotism argument.
    The drum machine rhythm is a nod to Paul Hardcastle’s anti-war “19” – although the rhythm is quite different. It is the only electronic instrument in the piece.
    The pounding drums represent the war which is going on.
    I find it fascinating that a drum rhythm and voices / sounds playing in a protest in 1991 in Washington, USA can influence a piece of music composed in 2017 in the UK."
    Part of the Protest and Politics project - find out more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/protest
    5 min
  • 1652: Gulf War protest, 1991, Washington DC
    Recorded by Tom Miller.
    "Date: 1-19-1991 Place: Washington, DC between the Capitol and the White House Event: March on Washington - protest against the first Gulf War, two days after the commencement of the U.S. led air war against Iraq."
    Part of the Protest and Politics project - find out more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/protest
    9 min
  • 1651: Terminal E Arrivals
    Houston protest reimagined by Andy Billington.
    "The sample was perfect and the message powerful and immediate.
    What was apparent was the sense of unity and energy as people came together.
    The track started life as an improvised out and out drone track, then moved through various versions and BPM's before it manifested itself as "Terminal E Arrivals".
    Some of the sub bass is from earlier mixes. Samples were reversed and pitched down to build layers. There are 3 or 4 drum tracks and multiple layers of versions woven throughout.
    Towards the end of the track the message ghosts back in....
    The whole process felt like redaction end to end and even though the people may have dispersed from "Houston Texas Terminal E International Arrivals" the message remains the same..."
    Part of the Protest and Politics project - find out more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/protest
    4 min
  • 1650: Against Trump's executive order
    Recorded by Walker Wooding.
    " President Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 27, 2017 "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States." Thousands around the U.S. protested at airports following the executive order. Many have argued that the order was a Muslim ban. Others contended that it was for the safety and security of the United States. The field recording was captured Jan. 29 during one of those protests in the International Arrivals section of Terminal E at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas."
    Part of the Protest and Politics project - find out more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/protest
    1 min
  • 1647: Bolivian miners' protest
    Recorded by Mark Wilden - Field recording of a miners' protest march including the sound of fireworks set off by the miners themselves taken on Calle Ayacucho in Potosí, Bolivia.
    Part of the Protest and Politics project - find out more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/protest
    2 min
  • 1649: System Collapse (Iceland)
    Reykjavik protest reimagined by Stephanie Merchak.
    "I chose to re-imagine this precise sound because it caught my attention as soon as I heard it. I found incredible how quiet, disciplined and ordered it sounded. You can barely hear anyone speaking. It's very different from other protests around the world where you hear people shouting most of the time. It sounds more like a musical performance.
    I wanted to build around this recording an electronic track that sounded agressive. I chopped parts from the original field recording that were suitable to be looped. I also used time stretching on the original recording to create a dark background ambience. Then I built beats, bass and synth patterns with Ableton Live devices and structured the track in a way that the listener would feel a constant flow, a constant pressure."
    Part of the Protest and Politics project - find out more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/protest
    6 min
  • 1648: Protest against the banking collapse in Iceland
    Recorded by Stuart Bowditch.
    "Recorded on the same trip as my previous submission for Sacred Spaces, I stumbled upon this protest about the banking collapse outside the Icelandic Government Building on Kirkjustræti. There were many people continually banging pots, pans and a huge assortment of metallic objects hanging from ropes strung between the lamp posts."
    Part of the Protest and Politics project - find out more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/protest
    3 min

About Cities and Memory - remixing the world

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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.