Cities And Memory

Reimagined composition based on tannoy announcement at Boston Logan Airport. Contains excerpts of Susan Howe reading Barbara Guest's Seeking Air, recorded at the Ear Inn, January 25, 1986. [https://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Howe.php] Reimagined by Thomas Martin Nutt.

"For this short audio piece, I drew inspiration from the rooftop bar ambiance and live music, recreating a social atmosphere where you'd want to get up and dance. The music, with its seductive rhythm and and sense of push and pull, felt like the perfect backdrop for a crush story.  "Here, it serves both as background and as a metaphor for the dance-like nature of a girl-meets-boy scenario. Combining personal experiences and fictional elements, the story reflects on how flirting is like a universal language where each gesture (or step) speaks volumes—or at least you hope it does."  Peckham rooftop bar band reimagined by Eloïse Bertil.

 "This piece was inspired by the wonderful musicality of the home appliance collectors voice. He has wonderful sense of phrasing and rhythm that must have come from much practice. Pretty well most of the instrumental parts are directly based on the man's call for appliances. Later in the composition, one hears the actual voice of the collector and the singing birds.  Home appliances salesman in Suzhou reimagined by David Leith.

Taken at Pat Busch, a reserve situated high up in the mountains about two hours outside of Cape Town, this recording captures something of the dramatic beauty and expansiveness of the mountainous areas of South Africa.  One can hear the reserve’s rich bird life, which includes fish eagles, nightjars, sugarbirds, cuckoos, coucals and hundreds more species; a late winter breeze; and weaver birds building their nests in the reeds alongside a dam, while in the background teenagers run and jump off the dam's wooden deck into the freezing cold water. Recorded by Catherine Boulle.

 Announcement piped over the PA system in Terminal E at Boston Logan Airport, as mayor Michelle Wu proudly extols the virtues of "the city of champions and the birthplace of revolutionary ideals.. where people come to do good in the world". Her speech is cut short by the clatter of suitcases, trolleys and arriving travellers.  Recorded by Cities and Memory in Boston, USA. 

A Latin jazz and funk band plays a rooftop bar in the multicultural district of Peckham, South London on a lazy Saturday afternoon.  Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

A home appliances collector advertising in Xinqi village, Suzhou, China. Recorded by Tõnis Kimmel.

"Newly-hatched frogs in the dozens croaking intensely to one another in an area of special scientific interest in an urban centre in Oxford. There are housing estates on all sides, with a small strip in the centre with a fen habitat that allows for all kinds of rare plant and animal species to thrive - the delicate protection of nature in a city space." Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

Mid-autumn festival weekend buzz at Hoan Kiem, Vietnam, which is full with people celebrating, chatting, playing, eating together.  Recorded by Kit Wilmans Fegradoe.

"Festivals bring people together: they gather, they chatter, they group up and disperse. The sound recording caught a relatively peaceful moment in a Vietnamese Festival. We captured our own sound recordings of traditional folk music and generic beats, gathered from discos and clubs.  "We then recorded the beat of a traditional bell stick. Weaving these together, we created a piece that blends the murmurings of a gathering with the beat of an individual.  "This pulse suggests there is an outsider in the midst of this tranquil moment. That outsider is trying to find their own beat in the world." Festival sounds in Hanoi, Vietnam reimagined by Caroline Grimshaw and Stephen Mugford.

 "I’m a citizen scientist for FrogWatch USA, so I was naturally drawn to the Oxford frogs field recording. The first thing I noticed was the contrast between human created sounds and environmental/wildlife sounds. A distant siren stood out as a metaphor for human time.  "I added traffic rushing past to emphasize the feeling of this concept. Digitally generated water plops, inspired by the original sounds in the field recording, lead a shift towards the frogs’ perspective.  "The ending presents the full color and intensity of the untouched field recording, representing the experience that frogs might have with time." Frogs in Oxford reimagined by Alexandra Pierschalla.

Violin practice drifts down from a window over an otherwise silent canal in Venice, Italy - a moment of rare peace off the beaten track in the centre of the city. Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

"The original recording has two distinct sections; the first features a violinist practicing whilst the second has more emphasis on people walking and talking. "I took a short section of the violin from the first part and slowed it down a little. I repeated this phrase whilst adding in other instruments as it repeats. The second half of the original recording is played over the music at roughly the half way point of the piece. In the same way that the instruments are introduced they fade slowly (at different speeds) through the second part of the piece leaving the solo violinist to continue their practice alone at the end. Because of the way the process works no two repeats are identical. "The title is a reference to Gavin Bryars (whom I studied composition with) both in the way that this piece shares a similar process with "Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet" and to an early piece of his called "My First Homage"." Ponte Raspi, Venice reimagined by Simon Belshaw.

"The Gellert bath complex was built between 1912 and 1918 in the (Secession) Art Nouveau style. It was damaged during World War II but then rebuilt. References to healing waters in this location are found from as early as the 13th century. A hospital was located on this site during the Middle Ages. During the reign of the Ottoman Empire, baths were also built on this particular site. The "magical healing spring" was used by the Turkish during the 16th and 17th centuries.  "The bath was called Sárosfürdő ("muddy" bath) because the mineral mud settled at the bottom of pools. This is a recording from inside the large, ornate swimming pool room." Recorded by Cities and Memory in Budapest, Hungary. 

"The Gellért Bath complex in Budapest was built between 1912 and 1918 in the Successionist style, a movement seeking to break down historical traditions of 19th century architecture and art. During the same period Lajos Kassák a Hungarian Dada/Contructivist artist wrote and published the poem Mesteremberek (Craftsmen), a poem of the collective identity of skilled or artisanal labour. "This piece is inspired by elements of the history of the Bath, Kassák's poem and an era of change in art and architecture. The reimagined piece brings together the historical presence of the Gellért Bath with Kassák's poem by utilising a sound recording from the Bath and a recital of Kassák's work. The field recording is used to provide both ambient backing and a glimpse of the original recording as a backdrop for the recital." Gellert baths ornate swimming pool room reimagined by Paul Dunham.

An incredible scene captured in the centre of Paris one December evening. As we were walking back from dinner, we began to hear the roar first of several motorbikes, then of several dozen, then of hundreds all at once. More than 1,000 motorcyclists had gathered for a motorcycle parade through the centre of the city - and they were all dressed as Santa Claus. The event is the Carabalade, a charity bike ride begun in 2002 to raise money for orphans of firefighters which is now an annual fixture for the city's motorcyclists the Thursday before Christmas.  Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

"In this soundscape in a neighbourhood in suburban Ghana, you can hear active singing birds on a midday, subtle human activity, crowing roosters and clicking frogs." "Recorded in binaural. Please wear headphones." Recorded in Koforidua, Trom, Ghana by Samuel Kudjodzi.

"Brussels Airport, gate 43. Early in the morning (05:05AM local time) - Waiting to embark on the plane for a short vacation to Gran Canaria." Recorded by Tony Van Dorst.

"The airport recording offered a wealth of interesting abstract noises to play around with. I liked the mixture of natural and synthetic sounds - the hum of private conversations, the public announcements, the sounds of children contrasted with the pings and beeps of various devices against background noise. I'm fascinated by the way sound can be transformed through isolation and repetition.  "I took small slices of the field sample and used them to make beats, melodic motifs and phrases of spoken word. "I used a Moog Mother 32 to add some fizzy momentum and some extra rhythm to add drive." Brussels airport reimagined by Claire Pearson.

"Hearing the field recording of 1000 motorcyclists dressed as Santa Claus driving through Paris caught my attention right away. On its own, a near perfect composition.  "I embellished it a little by processing the original sound and using a recording of me whistling, then feeding it through my Lyra-8. It became more of a soundscape than a song, but the theme is still “Jingle Bells”. Now, just picture it!" Santa Claus motorbike parade in Paris reimagined by Eva Q Månsson.