Cities and Memory - remixing the sounds of the world

"The recording is of a tornado warning siren with howling wind and rain. Although we don't get tornadoes in my part of the world, I do enjoy stormy weather- from the comfort of my own cozy home. This is what I imagined when creating this piece: a warm cozy home where you can ignore the chaos going on around you.  "The title, "Placid island" is from a H. P. Lovecraft- Call of Cthulhu quote, "We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far"."  Fisherville tornado warning siren reimagined by Lynn Findlay.

There have been talks of a large storm moving in after many tornadoes had already touched down in the western part of the state earlier that day. Just before midnight, the rain calms down as the clouds lower, and the tornado sirens begin.  I sit outside recording the dissonant yet beautiful cacophony of the overlapping sirens while neighbours step outside to asses the situation before the storm picks up and everyone makes their way to take shelter as the tornado touches down nearby. Sheltering in the basement as the tornado touches down, your ears pop as if an airplane is taking off due to the rapid change in pressure.  The tornado passed by, leaving my childhood home unscathed, but others in the state were not so lucky. Days after these storms, the City of Louisville experienced one of the worst floods in its history.  Recorded by Andrew Ramsey.

"Irreversible Change is an ambient track built around a field recording captured at the Pryvoz Market. The natural bustle of the environment is anchored by a sparse, glitchy beat created withthe Air DrumSynth. The rest of the soundscape is shaped by a piano-like Sonic Charge Synplant 2 patch, which floats over the glitchy percussion and the chaotic market noise." Pryvoz market, Ukraine reimagined by Karhide.

This recording was made during a Kathakali performance — a traditional Indian theatre art form native to the Malayalam-speaking state of Kerala. It captures a 9-minute percussive piece performed by an ensemble featuring the Chenda and Maddalam, two prominent drums of the tradition, accompanied by the echoing tones of Chengila (gong) and Elathalam (cymbals). Recorded from the audience's perspective, the audio reflects not just the instruments themselves but also the layered soundscape projected through nearby speakers, with occasional murmurs that ground the recording in the real-life atmosphere of the performance. Recorded in Ettumanoor, India by Manu Krishnakumar.

Recording at Pryvoz Market in Odessa was a mix of emotions. The market buzzed with life, as vendors sold goods and people clung to everyday routines despite the ongoing conflict. There was a sense of resilience in the air, but beneath the bustle, a quiet sadness lingered.  It reflected the uncertainty of the war between Ukraine and Russia, casting a shadow over the moments of normalcy that still persisted. Recorded by Rafael Diogo.

"In reimagining this field recording, I drew upon the raw power of musique concrète by manipulating and deconstructing the layered sounds from the Kathakali performance. I used noise synths to push these textures into distorted, static-filled territories, creating a sense of immersion that moved away from the traditional and into the realm of sonic experimentation. "The distant murmurs and ambient noises from the audience were subtly amplified, weaving them into a dissonant tapestry that, though still grounded in the live experience, felt like a journey through a space where cultural tradition and experimental sound collide. By harnessing drone-like sustained tones, I sought to accentuate the timeless, ritualistic nature of the performance, while pushing its auditory limits, creating an environment where the familiar meets the unfamiliar." reimagined by 42.

The sound of religious singing in the Basilica di Santa Maria in Rome. A calm evening in February before the Basilica shuts its doors for the night, I wandered into the near-empty church to record the soothing sounds of religious hymns that seeped into the dimly lit streets of Rome.  Recorded by Andrew Ramsey.

"Upon first hearing the Santa Maria field recording, I felt a strong sense of place. It was as if I were right there in Rome. I cut a section of the field recording and used the priest's words and the loudest plainchant singing to compose a story song. To create a character and add atmosphere, I added a short recording of my own footsteps walking. The song unfolds: a curious traveler; what she discovers and what she takes with her.  "As far as instrumentation, I knew I wanted to use Mandy, my mandolin, to honor Italy. Guitars, percussion, a synth choir of "Ah-Ah", and a walking rhythm help define one night in Rome at closing time." Santa Maria basilica in Rome reimagined by Anna Tynsky. 

Sunset in Cairo, by the Nile River, during evening call to prayers. Recorded by Helen Copnall.

 |The recording is made in the night, we hear a chorus of morning birds with some unique vocalisations, the perspective is typical for Hong Kong which is defined by skyscraper architecture, this recording was made from an apartment on the 18th floor through the window, which gives an indirect impression - an observation in sound of city going quiet in the night, creating space for non-human expressions. The birds are enveloped by the noise and hiss of the city at dawn. Recorded by Robin Koek.

"The original soundscape contains the call of the Asian Koel, a bird whose song is highly characteristic of Hong Kong, my hometown. This distinctive, rising 'ko-el' call, heard at dawn during the springtime, carries a strong personal resonance; it often signalled the arrival of the sun as I worked into the early hours.  "For this composition, I drew from my personal sound library to layer several recordings of the Koel's call. The resulting, multiplied chorus creates a dense, exaggerated dawn soundscape—a sonic event that stands apart from reality, as I've never heard more than two Asian Koels calling at the same time." About Asian Koel : https://digital.lib.hkbu.edu.hk/hkwildtracks/animal_detail.php?ids=HWT-000034&fbclid=IwAR28f0hih30zMutRepAv7-srLE1GBTN_xumUWOO-UjKjIzxfHUyVD7VRCBA  Hong Kong dawn chorus reimagined by Wong Chun Hoi.

"The original soundtrack I used from Cities & Memory's archive was recorded on a street in Cairo at sunset, outside the Marriott Hotel and Omar Khayyam casino, on Saray El Gezira Street. The famous Gezirah Palace was completed in 1869 by Khedive Ismail, to host dignitaries for the opening of the Suez Canal that year. When I first listened to this piece I heard, among the sounds of car horns and the evening prayer call, the sound of footsteps running down the street and away, and a sharp gasp of breath. The whipping wind in the microphone sounded like a jinn or an Afreet, plural Afareet. It reminded me of my favourite song El Shawarea Hawadeet (the streets are tales) by El Masreyeen from 1977. Lonely streets echoing with memories, stories and Afareet.  "In the final piece, you can hear layers of sounds from different eras. The song Al Bulbul Gani (the nightingale came to me) recorded in Cairo in 1906, written by Abd al-hayy Hilmi; the sounds of drumming used in the Cairo Zar women's ritual by the group Mazaher – a ritual to try to find accommodation with demons that have taken over a woman's body. You can hear too, strange sounds of a furious female jinn screaming, shouting and banging at each outrageous sentence from British prime minister Anthony Eden, in his public address in 1956 during the Suez Crisis, where he attempts to justify Britain's bombing of Egypt. Oil is the justification for everything.  "As this Cairo tale unfolds, the Arabian riff, or “Melodia Arabe”, sinuously weaves between the Zar drumming. Composed in the 1800's, the Arabian riff, also known as The Streets of Cairo, was a little Orientalist ditty that supposedly evoked the exotic Arab. The quote I am reading is from the 1899 gothic novel, Pharos The Egyptian, by Guy Boothby. It was one of many gothic horror stories of revenge by an angry Egyptian mummy or demon, a fear that haunted the Victorians during this era." Credits:  The fragments of the Arabian riff in different versions are from here, with a Creative Commons licence:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arabian_melody.ogg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arabian_song.ogg |  Cairo street sounds reimagined by Salma Ahmad Caller.

The field recording upon which this piece is based doesn't sound like much, but it represents a huge moment for the Cities and Memory project, and a personal moment for me. The first ever overseas recording submitted to the project back in 2015 was from Sofienbergparken in Oslo, and it felt incredible that the project had managed to reach anyone outside of the UK and inspire them to submit a sound. From tiny acorns, mighty oaks grow, and ten years later we're close to 8,000 sounds submitted to the project. I was invited to return to Oslo to perform Cities and Memory live shows and deliver a presentation, and so visiting Sofienbergparken was a kind of pilgrimage to me - a place I'd imagined through sound but never seen. It was a glorious September late afternoon, with warm golden sunshine, and I recorded a walkthrough of the park, with lots of different groups all enjoying the space, from children in the playground to groups listening to music and smoking, groups playing table tennis, groups sitting around enjoying a Saturday evening beer, dog walkers, exercisers and so on - all of Oslo was here to enjoy the park, it seemed.  This piece tries to sum up in sound some of what I felt in that golden sunshine, experiencing a moment of warmth and peace ten years on from that first sound. Synths layer on the warmth of emotion, while snippets from the field recording of enjoyment - children playing, table tennis matches in action - rise up into the mix. A layered bed of the field recording sits underneath, and pans from left to right as the piece progresses, so you join me on a walk across the park - the final sounds are the crunch of gravel underfoot as I finally take my leave, satisfied.   Sofienbergparken reimagined by Cities and Memory. 

A special recording for me - the very first recording from outside the UK submitted to Cities and Memory in 2015 was from Sofienbergparken in Oslo. It seemed like a dream that not only had the project somehow managed to cross borders, but had also made a connection of some kind, so to me even this humble city park held a kind of magic.  To go there ten years later and record it for myself felt like a special moment, so this recording holds power for me. Within it, you'll hear an evening walkthrough in golden sunlight, with groups chatting and playing music, children playing, people playing ping pong and generally hanging out on a Saturday evening.  Recorded by Cities and Memory, September 2025.  

"Having enjoyed family holidays on Skye in the past I was immediately drawn to this recording as Quiraing is one of those places that makes you really appreciate what an amazing thing this planet is.  "Catch a good sunrise/sunset and it's genuinely breathtaking. I wanted to try and capture just a little bit of that feeling in my piece." Quiraing, Isle of Skye water sounds reimagined by Exit Chamber.

"The spacious, off-tempo, off-tune malaise of the Wakimachi field recording creates an in-between space that mirrors Japanese Canadian performance artist Nobuo Kubota's reflections on childhood memories and the threshold between cultures and languages." Nighttime soundscape in Wakimachi reimagined by Emiko Morita.

"The original field recording had a mesmerising quality that pulled me toward Bamiyan's complex and fascinating history. I wanted my remix to encapsulate the emotions I experienced along the way. The piece is a very minimal, improvised song, centred on one instrument supported by a time-stretched slice of the field recording."   Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Gholghata reimagined by Anni Elea.

Soundscape at Shahr-e-Gholghola - Dari: شهر غلغله - City of Screams, City of Woe, City of Sorrows - in Bamyan, Afghanistan. Completely destroyed and population massacred by Genghis Khan in 1221. In the recording you can hear the wind, the dust, the sorrow, possibly some screams. This soundscape-composition is part of the HEYR project, presenting 3-dimensional soundscapes from special locations, connected to special events. Find out more by visiting https://www.heyr.no Recorded by Anders Vinjar.

Captured deep within Kichua tribal territory in the Ecuadorian Amazon, this nocturnal soundscape reveals a hidden world that awakens after dusk. Above, bats flicker through the darkness, their wings slicing the air in delicate beats. Insects surge into a symphony of pulses and hums — sharp, electric, as though the forest itself were alive with circuitry.  A solitary monkey stirs unseen branches, its movements dissolving into the whispers of leaves. From afar, a howl drifts through the trees — haunting, fragile, a fleeting brush with the unseen. Beneath it all, a stream murmurs softly, threading its rhythm through the night's weave.  This recording is more than sound. It is a portal into the rainforest's secret hours — where every ripple, chirp, and rustle speaks of survival, connection, and fragile wonder.  Each voice is part of a living chorus, intricate and unrepeatable. To listen is to witness: the raw nocturnal poetry of the Amazon, and the urgency of protecting both its vanishing song and the ancestral lands that shelter it. Recorded by Rafael Diogo.

"For reasons I can't fathom when I heard this sound file I instantly thought of Moondog. So this is my attempt at a Moondog type composition - almost mathematical in approach. The title is a quote from the 1959 film 'Hiroshima Mon Amour' which explores themes of memory, love, and the lasting trauma of war." Lecture in Hiroshima City reimagined by Adam Leonard.

Cicadas at the Portal Lookout in the Blue Mountains, Australia. Recorded by Richard Watts. 

This is a recorded audio of a presentation by a fourth-year female university student in Japan. I became interested in the audio aspects of her powerful and rhythmic delivery, which reflected her confidence in her research. In the contradiction between her confidence and anxiety about her first presentation, I found an intriguing aspect of universities as educational institutions. Recorded by Mahorobi Yumeo. 

Atop the famous Quiraing, after a climb of hundreds of metres, we reach the summit, with incredible views on all sides. Here we record the sound of a small stream, which are frequent across the surface of the plateau at the top of the Quiraing, and contribute to the sometimes-boggy going underfoot.  Recorded on the Isle of Skye, Scotland by Cities and Memory, April 2025.  

A summer morning walking in Udatsu, Wakimachi, Japan. A piano lesson resonating in the empty street under the heat, wind chimes spell some fresh air. I bought an indigo fūrin for my mother. Recorded by Guillaume Piccarreta.

"Recorded deep inside Kichwa territory in the Ecuadorian Amazon, this nocturnal soundscape draws the listener into the forest's hidden hours - where every sound carries the presence of something living, alert, and unseen. "When darkness settles over the canopy, the rainforest begins its slow transformation. Bats cut swift paths through the night, their wings beating in soft, fleeting pulses. Insects rise all around, casting an electric shimmer into the air, layers of rhythm that flicker, pulse and drift across the forest's vast acoustic space. "Beneath the leaves, an unseen monkey shifts its weight, each movement swallowed by the murmuring undergrowth - haunting yet delicate, a brief opening into the forest's deeper mysteries. Under it all, the rainforest breathes to its own pulse through the darkness, grounding the night's shifting textures. "Within Kichwa Nights is an immersion into the rainforest's nocturnal life - a living composition shaped by instinct, interdependence, and fragile continuity. These voices arise from a specific moment in an ancestral landscape where every creature's call forms part of a larger, breathing tapestry, enduring the vitality of the land and the guardians who protect it."  Kichwa territory forest soundscape reimagined by Nikki Sheth.

"The field recording I started with was the Blue Mountains Portal Lookout in Australia. What I found inspiring about this recording is the pointillist long tones created by the insects. Specifically, the contrast between the theoretically relaxing sounds of nature and the reality of how intense the sounds become.  "I played the original sound, layered with a slowed down and pitch shifted version and a version with a band pass filter. I then added a simple synth loop and a couple of sequenced virtual Buchla tracks. I mixed this base with a binaural recording I made of a protest in October 2025 in Bogota Colombia.  "Monserrate is the mountain that contains the mesa where Bogota is located. I then added a couple of electric piano tracks for contrast." Blue Mountains lookout, Australia reimagined by dssPow.

Inside the Bücherbogen bookshop in Savignyplatz, a fantastic bookshop of art, design and architecture books built under a set of railway arches. A unique soundscape of the quiet of a bookshop, with the flicking of pages, with the deep rumble overhead of periodic passing trains.  Recorded in Berlin, September 2025 by Cities and Memory. 

"In Latin, 'Pontis' not only refers to a physical bridge, but also a metaphorical crossing - a psychological parallel between lived reality and its parallel, hyper-real counterpart. My work explores the threshold of human imagination, and the subtle ways our perceived reality changes when consuming art. When reading or listening to material, our psychic perception of reality changes: the environment doesn't disappear, but transforms.  "The piece ends in a rhythmic layered flurry of page-flicks coupled with solo pre-recorded harp material (at Trinity Laban, London), turning the field recording depicting a human action of flicking through a book, into something mechanical, experimental and post-human.  "The Bucherbogen bookstore recording is the perfect vehicle to deliver this auditory palimpsest. The mumbled low rumbling of trains acts as a bridge - a 'pontis' - between the outer reality, and the parallel reality that is being formed inside the bookstore. Berlin is the perfect place for such a sonic crossover: everyday life with electro-acoustic touches. "I increased the presence of these distant rumbles through fragmentation and layering, then reinforced them with low-pitched pre-recorded electronic drones. This serves to merge the documentary-like quality of the field recording with a new sonic layer. The moments of chopped repeated singular sounds in the field recording (steps, book dropping), are complemented by pres-de-la-table harp singular sounds and added reverberation. This serves to de-contextualise the listener and introduce a new sonic reality.  "Chopped sections of recording involving voice are also repeated intentionally: This is then fused with speech from the recording studio at Trinity Laban, when recording the harp material. Speech, especially in the contrast of male (Bucherbogen recording) vs female (trinity harp recording) also adds another layer of duality here.  "The listener is trapped inside these two parallel realities: the Inner reality inside the bookstore (represented by the harp material and pre-recorded electronics), versus the outer, factual reality (represented by the field recording itself, with low rumbling of trains, dialogue, walking). The harp was the chosen acoustic presence because of longstanding musical associations with fantasy, mystery, and wonder, exactly the atmosphere I intended to evoke." Buecherbogen bookstore, Berlin reimagined by David Balica.

"When I listened to this beautiful recording of the Pharo bells of Marseille, I immediately felt transported to the south of France, which I recently visited and adore. The memories of those places surfaced together with the splendid sound of the different bells ringing over the sea, forming a simple and delicate melody.  "This piece grows from that melody and from the sea itself, symbolising how certain moments in our past come flooding back through the tides of memory." Bells in Le Pharo, Marseille reimagined by Demiurgo.

This recording displays the sounds of a local celebration stumbled upon in the city of Chiang Mai. People of all ages gathered together to play music and dance, at a buddhist temple called Wat Ku Tao. Recorded in Chiang Mai, Thailand by Jake Edwards.

By day, high atop one of the tallest trees in the Waorani tribal territory of the Ecuadorian Amazon, the forest opens into a vast cathedral of sound. From this canopy — a sacred perch where countless birds pass by — the air vibrates with a living symphony. Wings beat the open sky, calls echo and overlap, and melodies shimmer in constant motion. Each branch becomes a resonant chamber, amplifying the chorus as if the whole canopy were singing.  From this height, the perspective shifts — the forest is no longer an enclosing labyrinth but an endless horizon of green, alive with voices and breath. It is the rainforest breathing in daylight, radiant and unbroken, a reminder that in these heights, life is not only seen but ceaselessly sung. Recorded in the Waorani Indigenous territory, Yasuní biosphere reserve, Ecuador by Rafael Diogo.

"Right from the first listen, I was struck by the sheer variety and strangeness of the natural sounds of the Ecuadorian forest. Some of them already seemed like electronic sounds in their own right. " I therefore approached my processing by keeping the original recording unaltered and superimposing layers of electronic material that respectfully sought to integrate and blend in as much as possible with the original soundscape. "In short, they were minimal, liminal, and camouflaged contributions, disguised as natural sounds." Yasuni biosphere reserve, Ecuador reimagined by David Rossato.

"To create this sound piece, I sampled the rhythms from the field recording and turned them into a loop. I detuned it slightly. I isolated a fragment of the voice from the recording and altered it as well. With these two elements, I added synthesizers with heavy reverb and distortion. The whole piece sits on the edge of the industrial genre; the traditional drums become almost like hammers or hydraulic presses. "Baudelaire writes in Autumn Song: Rocked by this monotonous pounding, I seem to hear Nails driven hurriedly into a coffin somewhere. For whom?—Only yesterday it was summer; now it is autumn! This mysterious sound echoes like a departure."  Wat Ku Tao celebration, Chiang Mai reimagined by Laville.

Recording starting just before 10:00. At 10, the bells of different churches start ringing. Binaural recording with OKM II and Zoom H2n. Recorded in Marseille, France by Patrick Petrossians.

"As I was browsing the Cities and Memory sound library, I had an LFO patch quietly looping in the background. When the field recording Lonely Beach surfaced, it fell into place with the glitchy texture I was shaping, just like the sound of ropes creaking on a sailing boat at night!  "From that accidental pairing, the track began to write itself. I took those two elements and let them drift together, along with scattered sounds of the twinkly stars, eventually becoming this warm, sleepy piece." Lonely Beach, Cambodia reimagined by Trees Can Talk.

"Whenever anyone speaks of Auschwitz, I always picture the iconic Arbeit Macht Frei Gate; an image linked to the atrocities associated with the holocaust. I have never been to Auschwitz, but when I heard the field recording I was instantly transported there. I found the sounds so evocative and tried to imagine how it must have felt for those individuals who were taken there in the 1940's, although this is ultimately impossible. What thoughts must have been going through their minds as they approached the gate? These were ordinary human beings, and I often wonder how another person could possibly dehumanise in such a brutal way as the Nazis did. "I wanted “The Bird' to consider these themes and think about the feelings of the people and whether they felt abandoned or simply resigned to their fate as they saw others being beaten or even killed. What must they have thought of the guards who treated them that way? I also wanted to try and represent the futility of such events by using the image of a bird flying, overlooking the camp, seeing the death and cruelty. What would the bird say of such sights if it could talk? I imagine they would be utterly bewildered by the pointlessness of it all.  "The sounds of the field recording are included throughout the whole of the song to ensure the focus is never lost, aiding the narrative and emphasising the importance of the lyric." Arbeit Macht Frei gate at Auschwitz reimagined by Simon Holmes.

At Lonely Beach on Koh Rong, the waves reach the shore in soft, unhurried patterns. Each swell rises and falls with calm consistency, a natural rhythm that soothes the mind. The beach is quiet and open, with only the sea's gentle presence filling the air. It is a place of quiet retreat, where the sound of the ocean encourages rest and relaxation. Recorded by Jake Edwards.

Ambisonics recordings of the sound at the infamous "Arbeit Macht Frei" gate to Auschwitz-I.  This soundscape-composition is part of the HEYR project, presenting 3-dimensional soundscapes from special locations, connected to special events.  Find out more by visiting https://www.heyr.no Recorded by Anders Vinjar. 

Trains passing overhead on a overpass at Savignyplatz on a Sunday morning in Berlin, with light rain clearly audible too. Recorded in September 2025 by Cities and Memory. 

"The trains, from the field recording run, whilst the music represents thoughts of waiting for the next train and run between the train sounds. Some mangles train sounds appear amonst the music." Trains on an overpass at Savignyplatz, Berlin reimagined by Simon Woods.

"In the field recording, there was a conversation that felt like reminiscing. I say it felt that way because I do not speak the language. I loved the contrast between that dialogue and a shouting voice at the start and end that sounded desperate for someone's attention. "The shout itself could have been anything, a chant, a protest, or even a stall holder drumming up business, and it truly captured my imagination. "I wanted to create two opposing parts: the past, represented by a granular, ghostly memory, before moving into the 'now' and beyond, recognising that the present will one day become a memory itself. "I used the chant to move between these two states. I wanted it to represent resistance, protest, excitement, and the march of progress all at once, because change can be simultaneously exciting, scary, and sad. "Beyond the voices, I used other sounds from the recording to create granular rhythms and textures, as well as some more percussive sounds for a beat and finally, I worked on including additional synths and some drums."   Guqiting Street, Yangzhou reimagined by Craig Burton.

This intriguingly named street runs along a small river, perhaps now demolished and rebuilt. Once likely a standard six-step-wide street, it's now a maze of residents' makeshift additions, typical of old districts but still clean and tidy. At the junction of narrow alleys, elderly voices drift from homes, chatting over lunch in refined Yangzhou dialect, even more elegant than Suzhou's.  Residents shuffle by in slippers, while a peddler's calm calls echo faintly. Without the Yangzhou accent, this soundscape would likely mirror the daily life most people heard in the past. Recorded in Yangzhou, China by Digimonk.

"The original field recording is sparse, with snippets of conversation, people walking, cycling and the occasional jogger passing by. I wondered how this would all sound if it were continually layered over in a continuous loop in the style of Frippertronics.  "I used an experimental dual looper to capture and over-dub the original sounds, with each channel using a different length of audio loop. I then used a modular synth to create some slowly evolving drones and pads, all driven by extremely slow modulation." Sofienbergparken bench soundscape reimagined by Barry Cooper.

Ten minutes sitting on a bench in Sofienbergparken in Oslo, just listening to whatever happens and letting the world pass by.  Recorded in September 2025 by Cities and Memory. 

The busy building and streetscape sounds are granulated and diffused into the pulsing patterns of the Moog Subharmonicon, blurring human activity into a kind of civic harmony. These are the sounds of a society assembling itself.  Construction noise in New York reimagined by Alan Cook.

Lower East Side, Manhattan, NYC. A lively construction site with screaming saws, various impacts and machinery echoing off down the side streets near Essex Market in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City. Recorded with an X-Y stereo pair. Recorded by Casey Danielson.

This recording is taken with an Open Wave-Receiver, a custom made foxhole radio modded from a Shortwave Collective design. The aerial was strung up to the barbed wire fence around Yanchep Substation; the electromagnetic pulse capturing an invisible soundscape, this community's lifeline to the power grid. Recorded in Perth, Australia by Aliesha King.

"I heard the electronic hum of the substation and the chat from people near it. I supported the recording with a warm drone and proceeded to extract the harmonics and frequencies from the hum and chatter with the MakeNoise Tape and Microsound Music Machine. The improvisations were then edited. A copy was treated with postproduction effects, and both were then mixed together using my Agricultural Terrains strategy." Yanchep substation reimagined by Alan Cook.

A service at Sensō-ji, Buddhist temple in Tokyo, praying to Avalokiteshvara is a highly revered bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism, known as the embodiment of compassion.  The congregation are business men. Tourists pour money into the offering box drawing an omikuji. The sound of the money clinking is juxtaposed with the Buddhist priests chanting and ends with a discussion of the tourists visting and trying to understand the meaning of the sermon.  Recorded by Helen Copnall.

"I chose this recording because I've always been interested in reimagining folk music, and I've previously created an album that incorporates elements of Chinese folk traditions. The sample of Japanese Buddhist chanting particularly intrigued me. I noticed that while the chanting itself has a strong rhythmic quality, the background voices and environmental noise were quite messy.  "I therefore sliced the recording, altered its speed and pitch, and transformed it into a hardcore-style piece." Senso-ji temple soundscape reimagined by Sanki (Qianhui Sun).

"Inspired by the description of the experience by the collector of these sounds, Andrea Lynn, I explored this recording of a cold, mysterious place inhospitable to humans, yet home to arctic aquatic creatures who rely on the ice above.  "The original soundscape is highlighted throughout with frequency filtering only, and I created sparse added textures of echoing single lines of piano and nebulous vocals: alone, yet not alone."  North Pole ice recording reimagined by Heather Spence.