Cities And Memory

Azul means “hello” in Berber. Azul – Two Worlds is inspired by Akassar, a traditional Berber song recorded in 1961 as part of the Oxford University Expedition to the Atlas Mountains, now preserved in the Pitt Rivers Museum archive. When I first heard the field recording, its melodies and rhythms unexpectedly resonated with elements of traditional Korean music, evoking both familiarity and wonder. This connection inspired me to explore the cultural and historical context of the Berber people, whose long oral traditions and deep historical roots mirror the ancient musical heritage of Korea.Guided by a respect for the original material, I sought to preserve its melodic character, rhythmic vitality, and live, organic texture. I layered improvisational gayageum and a variety of Asian percussion instruments with the field recording, using minimal reverb only to enhance spatial cohesion while keeping the recording prominent. Subtle quotations of the Korean folk song Kwaejina Chingching and traditional kkwaenggwari

"Tu Paine": song for guitar performed by Robert and Paul.From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being from a large collection of reel-to-reel tape recordings of music and soundscapes made by ethnomusicologist Raymond Clausen mainly on the island of Malekula (Malampa Province) in Vanuatu between 1960 and 1979.Recorded by Raymond Ernst Clausen.Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford.———Part of the project A Century of Sounds, reimagining 100 sounds covering 100 years from the collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford. Explore the full project at citiesandmemory.com/century-sounds

From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being from a collection of reel-to-reel tape recordings of Berber (Ait Haddidu) music and soundscapes made by members of the Oxford University Expedition to the Atlas Mountains of Southern Morocco in 1961.Recorded by Audrey Butt, Michael R. Emerson or Ralph Hudson Johnson.Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford.———Part of the project A Century of Sounds, reimagining 100 sounds covering 100 years from the collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford. Explore the full project at citiesandmemory.com/century-sounds

The Colonisation of Language: A Phraseology in Five Parts explores, in a broad sense, aspects of oral storytelling and how the influence of colonisation can corrupt language and the sense of an origin story through multiple iterations over time. In much of my sound work, I’m drawn to the spoken word, and was immediately drawn to the characteristics within the vocal utterances contained in the 1962 original field recording by Raymond Clausen of a Navel-Miel performance accompanied by shaken rattles and seed pods from Malekula, Vanuatu. Selecting snippets of these utterances with some of the percussive elements, I created a speculative language to run alongside the opening paragraph of the Brothers Grimm tale, Rapunzel (1812). I assigned an utterance to each word in the story and developed a version of this story "spoken" in this speculative language. Distinct phrases contained within the original narration are repeated and ‘corrupted’ through unlikely juxtapositions of these set phrases over the length of the

When I listened to the recording, I went back to sit with my mother in nature in the village. The rhythm was beating her favourite song (Rewşenê) alongside '"Tu Paine", and it was reciting memories that will not be remembered unless passing through a genocide. It is inspiring how 14,000 kilometres of distance can vibrate the same feelings that I had in my childhood. It is interesting how a sound can describe nature, culture, the spiritual, and a divine power that music has and how it travels with the wind to gather with other communities and add their cultural sounds. The song Rewşen has been dug into my memory and it connects me to my land whenever I hear something similar. The song is a traditional song about love stories where lovers need to be married at the end. For this recording, I played the oldest instrument among Yazidi people called Tembûr. It is a collection of wood, strings, and animal veins alongside human ability to bring sound to it. Tembûr is used in every house among the Yazidi community an

I was attracted to the age and broken nature of this recording and wanted to use the noise as a feature. All the sounds featured originate from the original, however mangled they have become. One could could hear all the layers of noise to be the 100+ years that have past since the recording was captured - with the original sounds still trying to break through. Balangi (xylophone) duet reimagined by Alex Vald.———Part of the project A Century of Sounds, reimagining 100 sounds covering 100 years from the collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford. Explore the full project at citiesandmemory.com/century-sounds

From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being from a collection of cassette tape recordings of music and spoken language (principally Laarim) made by anthropologist Patti Langton in South Sudan during 1979 and 1980.Recorded by Patti Langton.Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford.———Part of the project A Century of Sounds, reimagining 100 sounds covering 100 years from the collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford. Explore the full project at citiesandmemory.com/century-sounds

I listened to this beautiful excerpt of Nadeng singing to her child and the sonic presence of children and a baby. I grew increasingly attached to their voices and carefully traced their audible responses to each other. I read about the context of this recording – mother to child, mother to children, singing in South Sudan. The wars that have afflicted this place. The civil war that had recently ended, and the war that would commence soon after Nadeng sang in this recording. The traditional instruments and songs of the area and the people. I chose to use the field recording unadorned, foregrounding Nadeng’s singing - so her voice, the children, the baby and the incidental sounds, all lead the new music composition and sound art here, as I recast the lullaby into a song cycle, and in which contemporary instruments respond to all the sonic elements within the archive field recording. The woodwinds are in a dialogue with the voices from the archive recording, the percussion and bass supporting each voice (instr

"Fiat Lux". From the living breath of Genesis to the Kikuyu’s sacred seed, from the Greek cosmic egg to the Sulawesi tale of the earth-shaking boar scratching its itch — across countless traditions, humankind has always sought to explain the origins of the cosmos. Perhaps fewer people are aware that humanity has also tried to explain the origins of technological life, with ‘technology’ here meaning the discovery of activities that enabled progress: agriculture, the construction of more complex structures, brewing, and the domestication of animals. The myths, or stories, that describe how humankind, often with the help of divine or supernatural beings, came to acquire such knowledge are known as "civilisation myths".Western scholars (ethnographers, anthropologists, linguists, and archaeologists alike) were often fascinated by the collection of such stories from remote or so-called ‘exotic’ places. These narratives were variously published in richly illustrated children’s books or in dense and rather austere a

As a student during the early 00s I lived close to Hammersmith Bridge and would often spend time there along the river. The architecture of the bridge and particularly the sound of crossing traffic was always fascinating to me; during a visit to London in 2018 I made field recordings, and soon after made this composition with it. Hammersmith Bridge, London reimagined by Toby Kaufmann-Buhler.

This was recorded in June 2018 on the Lower Mall path under Hammersmith Bridge, London, during a busy time for pedestrian traffic; this was less than a year before the bridge completely closed for extensive repairs. Recorded by Toby Kaufmann-Buhler.

An interesting spot in central Berlin at Gontardstrasse - an intersection with passing trams and buses from two sides, while trains pass overhead to our right. As an added bonus, we stand between two pedestrian crossing boxes, with a stereo effect as they exchange pulses on either side of us. Recorded by Cities and Memory, September 2025.

I was especially inspired by the rhythmic, stereo qualities of the traffic sounds. Their sound texture gave me new inspiration every time I listened to them.The reimagined piece is nostalgic and dreamy. I was really focused on the storytelling aspect, in a kind of post-cinematographic way. The composition is built partly from « tape music » using the original recording, then layered with two modular parts and a drum kit for the “heavy” section.The clicks of the pedestrian crossing are rhythmically inspiring, and the sounds of the tram doors feel like classical instruments, almost like violins. It was a real joy to play over them.My modular noise part is played with a strong focus on improvisation and co-creation with the instrument. I had a lot of joy working on this piece.Berlin transportation soundscape reimagined by Yimèr.

"This recording felt introspective, reflective and meditative and the Indonesian chant took me back to Bali, where I had just been in April 2025. I used some recordings I took in Bali such as a dawn chorus and placed birds and rustles in the wider stereo field. I recorded myself playing the flute, basing the melody on the chant, which is woven throughout the piece." reimagined by Sarah McRuvie.

There are various insects and birds in Rumah Tangga while the space is filled with gardens. During the morning time, there used to be a 'sholawat' (a praise to God from a nearby mosque) until noon. Because of the vast lands, the megaphone sound from the mosque sprawls nicely throughout the area. The sound of the inhabitants gives a calm and soothing feeling. I love to wake up early in the morning to feel grateful for the aural sensation and warmth of the sunshine. I was sitting on my bed, behind my recorder, and enjoying the moment. Recorded in Leuwinanggung, Depok City, Indonesia by Mira Rizki Kurnia.

"I found inspiration for this piece within the first few seconds of listening to the recording, it quite literally leapt out at me (Pardon the pun), a very distinctive rhythm, I quickly wrote a riff that followed the rhythm and made it the focal point of this piece with it reappearing throughout, some very chaotic sections (similar to the hopping of a frog). I used guitar amps on a lot of the frog sounds that I'd chopped out of the originally recording to try and make them a little palatable but also still resemble a frog, made some cool effects using chopped up frog sound, lots of fun with this one!"Frogs in Varka, Greece reimagined by Gary Pitt.

"One night the frogs of Varka village were improvising!"Recorded in Varka, Greece by Agapi Zarda.

The original sample was resampled, with a lot of treatments. Guitar samples were added, as well as synth and keyboards sounds. The idea was to end up with an ambient piece in which you would still hear the original atmosphere. The piece was mastered by Fabric Decay, an electronic / experimental artist from Kyiv, Ukraine.Kelvingrove museum, Scotland reimagined by Abstrakt Lake.IMAGE: 瑞丽江的河水, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

The atmosphere of the Kelvingrove art museum in Glasgow. People walking, talking, children playing. The amazing reverberation of the building makes steps sound a bit like treated percussion, at times. Minimum editing (fade in/out and EQ).Recorded by Balthazar Klimt.IMAGE: 瑞丽江的河水, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

The most striking feature of the original field recording is dozens of motorbikes and scooters zooming past and dodging their way through the pedestrians. Throughout the day when it's busier they can only pass very slowly, but with sparser crowds at night they rip past us on both sides.This composition brings to life some of the energy of the city of Marrakesh by night, with the instrumentation highlighting the buzz and busyness on all sides. It's about absorbing the city and feeling energised by it, rather than drained. The motorbike recordings punctuate each turn of phrase, and no motorbike sound is used twice - there are 20 separate bike passes from the recording isolated and used as part of the flow of the composition.Bab Doukkala streetscape reimagined by Cities and Memory.