Cities And Memory

"The voices of the people in the market were so richly expressive and full of life, so I wanted to keep the emphasis on them and utilize their unique intonations and dialogues as the basis for a fun sample-heavy beat. Looping different snippets of voices and overlapping them brought about some interesting textures and tones.  "All the while, it's driven by a steady beat (courtesy of a Moby drum sample via his mobygratis platform) which echoes the liveliness of the market and its patrons. At the end, I had some fun with the voices of children and old men who contrasted nicely with one another." Market in Mtskheta reimagined by Melted Form.

"I found out that Imfolozi means “zigzag” in isiZulu, so this was my inspiration to try and make a piece that never sits still, twists and turns. I wanted to reflect the sheer exuberance of the singing in the original piece where the clapping rhythm shifts and returns." Imfolozi Park, South Africa reimagined by Dermot Fitzsimons.

The extremely loud business of tree and log disposal in Greenwich Park. Trees are trimmed, and the branches and logs are thrown into the back of the wood chipping truck, creating a violently loud industrial sound as they are turned into sawdust in an instant.  Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

"A drone of "stimvocals" and fountains below mechanical concrete."  Gilbert Bridge soundwalk at the Barbican Centre, London reimagined by Dee Fry.

Traditional silk weaving on a countermarch floor loom, as it has been done for thousands of years. Thanks to Skye Silks for letting us record them at work and taking the time to talk us through their practice.  Recorded in April 2025 on the Isle of Skye, Scotland by Cities and Memory. 

"This piece reimagines a field recording of everyday people calling out, treating their voices not just as source material, but as the foundation. Approached with deep intention, it aimed to honour the original rhythms and harmonies of the callers without overpowering them.  "The composition moves between ambient stillness and percussive energy, layering textures like tracked flute and analogue synth around the calls to reflect a natural, evolving dialogue. At its core, the work is about preservation through transformation, responding to what already resonates with care, space, and trust." Instrumental credits: André Solomon - Flute Hellcat Sneer - Moog Sub37, BOSS RC-505 Loop Station, and Nord Drum3p Percussion Synthesizer Arranged, mixed, and mastered by Hellcat Sneer | Hellcat Sneer and André Solomon Alor Setar bus station reimagined by Hellcat Sneer and André Solomon. IMAGE: Marufish from Alor Setar, Malaysia, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

What began as a simple request for a song became an unforgettable moment. Deep in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, at Gomoti Plains Camp, I asked the staff if they could sing for a recording. Instead of just one song, they formed a choir and gifted me a spontaneous concert of sheer energy in their native language. Recorded by Christina Antoniadou. 

As I began losing my hearing, the urgency of archiving memory through everyday sounds became more pressing. This work invites viewers to gain a deeper understanding of hearing loss and relate to my personal experience of losing the ability to appreciate the mundane.  The audio was captured through my hearing aids in my hometown of Tucson, Arizona, USA in 2023. The audio highlights the fragility of sound at night in the desert, my father playing piano, conversations with my sister on the back of her truck looking up at the stars and my childhood friend singing about Tucson.  Tucson is a place that invites you to reset, reconnect and listen to the environment around you.  Recorded by Shaye Thiel. 

"I wanted to take the dreamy, on the road vibe of the sample and put it in a totally different aural world." Hearing aid recording in Tucson, USA reimagined by Coxidelic [Tracy Cox].

"The sound of wood whistles and singing stretched to form a sonic memory of a moment embracing regional songs. Regional music that has been passed down and remembered, likely evolving subtly over time.  "The time spent on the Greek terrace, sipping tsipouro and sharing music, is not immune to the same change. It will soon be an impression, the songs a distant echo, the melodies muddled. This augmentation of the original recording represents fading moments left to reminiscence." Music in Mikro Papingo reimagined by Andrew Ramsey.

This is Angelos, one of the permanent residents of the village of Mikro Papingo, which is one of the 46 stone villages in this mountainous region of northwest Greece called the Zagorochoria.  Angelos is one of our neighbours; he is retired now but continues to contribute to the musical heritage of this region. He makes his own wooden whistles which he plays, keeping alive regional tunes and songs. He is also one of the cantors for the village Greek Orthodox church.  From time to time, when we are playing music in our garden Angelos will pop over to listen and sometimes join in.  On this recording we have joined him on his aloni (terrace) one early-summer morning to look at his whistles and to record him playing and singing some of these regional songs and tunes.  Sipping locally distilled tsipouro we explore some of these sounds together with a sense of companionship and relaxation.  The music of Zagori and wider Epirus is not well known in the wider musical world, but it remains one of the most importan

"I created several samples from the original field recording and used 2 that dictated the direction of the rest of the composition. Silk weaving is traditionally quite repetitive work so I wanted to convey this in my piece, aiming to subtly change the tone of the track throughout. I rushed to finish this track as I kept putting it off, like addressing my many unread emails and messages.  "In typical fashion, the piece was started hours before the submission deadline. I need to address my time management, but at the same time, I really like being under pressure and had so much fun." Weaving on the Isle of Skye reimagined by Sean Reilly.

"The Okavango Delta is a UNESCO World Heritage site and home to several indigenous communities, including the Batswana and San people, who have lived in the area for centuries. This piece is comprised of audio fragments of a Botswana chant field recording combined with percussion." Okavango Delta songs reimagined by Scott Lawrence Whitman.

Huge 12 noon Sunday bells peal out over a sustained period from the Marktkirche Lutheran church in Hannover, preceded by a walk along a street with several cafes lined with Hannover 96 fans about to head to the match.  Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

"I love bells, and this is a beautiful recording. I feel like Bells have a really unearthly sound. I just let the Bells lead me along as bells do. I also felt a context of bells warning, and the falling apart of things around us, but they also were leading a way out." Bells from Gloucester Cathedral reimagined by Lostworldsounds - Michelle Breslin.

It was a Saturday afternoon and I was browsing antiques at the Gloucester Antiques Centre when I heard the muffled sound of bells. I moved to the back of the shop to a barred door that led to the backyard and set my recorder.  Through the cracks in the door came the sound of Gloucester Cathedral’s bells ringing a few hundred meters away. They had been peeling intermittently across the city all afternoon. I listened a few moments until they fell silent and the sounds in the shop reasserted themselves. Recorded by Paul Stephens-Wood.

A nighttime recording from the Ecuadorian Amazon reveals the hidden world that awakens after dark. Bats flutter overhead, insects create an otherworldly symphony, and distant howls echo through the trees. A gentle stream murmurs beneath it all, weaving a tapestry of life, survival, and mystery. Recorded by Rafael Diogo.

As dawn stretches gently over the bay, the village stirs to life. The soft clatter of fishermen preparing their lines mingles with the playful clinks of children spinning an old bicycle wheel with a bamboo stick — a game as timeless as the tide. Nearby, the metallic hum of the village well echoes through the dusty sand alley, as barefoot kids dash beneath the waking sun. Roosters, curiously late, call out as if surprised by a world already in motion. This is the soundscape of a quiet coastal village in the Philippines — a delicate braid of labour, laughter, and nature — where time unfolds not in hours, but in tides and tradition. Recorded by Rafael Diogo. 

Takeshita Street, located in Harajuku, Tokyo, is a bustling pedestrian-only street known for its fashion boutiques, cafés, and restaurants. In the recording, made in late October 2024, you can hear the sounds of footsteps, lively conversations, and a mix of languages.  This constant flow of people and linguistic diversity reveals the dynamic nature of the street, where the coexistence of so many languages in one place evokes the idea of a contemporary Tower of Babel — a place where different cultures intersect and connect. Recorded by Gus - On Collector.

"When listening to the field recording I kept imagining movement all around me. Then I began going to a darker place where I felt large unseen creatures moving toward me and the feelings of slight panic one might experience in that situation, despite the beauty of natures surroundings. My attempt here was to capture the mood and ambience these thoughts brought forth." Night in the Ecuadorian Amazon reimagined by Gerald Fratzl.