Cities And Memory

For this piece, multiple layers of synths, strings and other instruments layer on top of one another, performing variations of the same melody, to mimic both the repetition and individual variations within the the frog choruses. Each instrument becomes a voice joining in with the frogs’ calls, creating a melodic bed that reflects on the majestic beauty of nature’s large-scale gatherings of animals. Night time frog chorus in Goa reimagined by Cities and Memory.

"Reimagination of Hastings Boat Launch with a blues shuffle feel to it."Hastings boat launch reimagined by Gareth Eckley.

|Trees and birds have always been considered the lungs of a neighbourhood. Yet, even though we recognise their value, the policy of too many (Belgian) cities is to trade vibrant greenery for dull, grey concrete. This is a call to action: we must do more to protect our scarce green spaces."Bos forest, Amsterdam reimagined by Jade Yorks.

This was recorded near a field after the rain around midnight where frogs were having a huge discussion about meeting their future partners.Recorded in Goa, India by Anantha Krishnan.

his recording, made in January 2025, is of one of the fishing boats being launched from the beach in Hastings. This sustainable fishing fleet has a history spanning over 200 years and faces many challenges, such as the gradual decline of fish stocks, damage to the marine environment from pollution and climate change, over regulation and unfair competition and encroachment from the european industrial fishing fleets. Beach launched fishing boats are part of the cultural identity of our island, with its own deeply embedded heritage, culture and traditions that are disappearing with the decline of fishing communities. The recording was made as part of a 15 year project by myself working with Hastings Fishermens Protection Society to capture the oral history, and soundscapes of the fleet to create an archive for now and the future.Recorded by Mary Hooper.

Amsterdamse bos is a 100-year-old forest surrounded by a 750-year-old city. This artificial forest is both a forest and park-like. It provides a significant habitat for non-human creatures within the city. Meanwhile, behind the voices of birds, you can hear the constant sound of airplanes passing overhead on their way to Schiphol Airport, which was built on reclaimed land just like the forest. I recorded this on my way home from work on a day when spring rain had just begun to fall.Recorded by Yuto Miyazono.

Ambisonics recordings at Checkpoint Charlie, the famous crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War.Recorded by Anders Vinjar.

"I wanted to keep the original recording as intact as possible. I had some chord progressions I was already working on, and they seemed to fit the theme, so I orchestrated from there. Wanting something that reflected both the past, present and future of the location, the Berlin School influenced was obvious, but then it needed to break down a bit, before coming back to the reality of the present with the person doing the recording, sort of breaking the third wall once removed."Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin reimagined by Cole Dano.

"My first ever Cities and Memory track was a response to a very similar recording; that one, too, featured chimes. For that first track I re-sequenced the ringing and built my response on that 'quantised' structure.  "Some five years on I have changed very little to this original recording, leaving most of the irregularity in the ringing in place and working with and around its rhythm, embracing the imperfections and allowing some push and pull between the recording and my response. "In building my response I have worked much like I often do; searching for anything the recording insinuates, singing back to it and composing as I go along." Untuned Bell installation in Oslo reimagined by de Velden.

The Untuned Bell sound installation in Radhusplassen in Oslo. This 1.4-ton bell (anno 1949) was removed from the bell tower of Oslo City Hall because it was no longer in tune with the other 48 bells.  The artist found the bell lying silent on the ground and restored its voice. From its new home on Radhusplassen, here outside the City Hall, the bell can once again interact with the bells in the tower. By putting your foot on a Cry Baby wah pedal nearby, you can activate the untuned bell.  Recorded in September 2025 by Cities and Memory. 

In McCaig's Tower, overlooking the bustling harbour town of Oban, finches call out from all sides as we walk around the inside of the tower walls, while the hum of the harbour rises up the hill from below us. Recorded in Oban, Scotland by Cities and Memory in April 2025. 

"The piece takes its cue from McCaig’s Tower in Oban, Scotland—not as an architectural curiosity, but as an acoustic world. It begins and ends with the finches that inhabit the open structure, their calls forming the work’s natural frame.  "The music moves through evolving motifs: a peaceful drone and the suggestion of bagpipes represent the quiet of the unfinished enclosure overlooking the town and bay of Oban and a little of the builder’s proud, almost overreaching ambition; a more measured, tread-like pulse created from footsteps in the field recording, suggests generations of visitors drifting through the space; and a light, agile texture depicts the birds’ restless motion.  "Finally the pipes return as grandeur brushes against melancholy. The finches, ever-present, attend to their own concerns." Finches in McCaig's Tower reimagined by Martin Gregory.

"In approaching the project I was struck by the evocative and ethereal quality of the original recording, in particular the call to prayer, and have tried to retain that in the three sections of this piece. There is also a timeless quality to the original, which I wanted to retain and develop. "The piece is intended to present those sounds in different yet related contexts; the first section is melodic, while the second darkens and the third tends more towards the filmic or abstract (it hasn't ended up as abstract as originally planned!). Each section is distinct in nature, yet at the same time bound together by the use and reuse of the original sample material, running through the entire piece and providing continuity. "In the first section, I have taken a cut of the call to prayer in the original recording, which has then been pitch-shifted to fit in the key of the piece, which was based on the interplay of the opening electric piano arpeggio and the call to prayer sample. I have also taken elements of t

A call to prayer at the Bang Phat floating village in Thailand, known for its "floating" houses on stilts and a simple fishing community. Recorded by Jake Edwards. 

"I used the cuckoos as a backdrop for a story about death in the forest, of disappearing back into the earth and how that would feel. I wanted it to sound sort of dreamy and slightly off balance." Cuckoos in Tomintoul, Scotland reimagined by Dermot Fitzsimons.

A soundscape of a particularly misty morning, recorded at 4.12am during late spring from the observing window of the Tomintoul Bird Hide. The hide sits on the edge of the highest village in the Highlands of Scotland.  The calls of cuckoos create an eerie presence that gives depths to the length of the surrounding valley. Along with the days awakening dawn chorus, loud insects chirping, a brash pheasant interrupts the scene as well as slight interior noise from the bird hide. Recorded by Rachel Larsen-Jones. 

"Beneath the swell, she echoes emerged from Marcelo Carneiro’s evocative field recording of the Iemanjá Day celebration—its textures, rhythms, and atmosphere opened a doorway to memory. I was drawn to create it through a long-standing connection to Brazilian music and culture. Many years ago, while singing with a Brazilian percussion group in Scotland and collaborating with Brazilian musicians and dancers, I learned a chant to Iemanjá—the mother of the sea. I have reimagined this chant among the waves, voices, and living pulse of the celebration. "The track carries that lineage: the swell of water, the pulse of distant drums, and the enchanted movements of a water spirit echoing between drifting textures and electronic sound." Praia Vermelha, Brazil reimagined by Aileen Ogilvie.

This is the first edition of a recording I've made in the 2024 summer afternoon at the beach. It was made at Praia Vermelha (Red Beach), Urca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was a hot weather, the beach was crowded: children, families, young and elder people, vendors selling drinks and refreshments (water, cold mate, coconut water, popsicle, and so on). People are talking, laughing, shouting. Waves are breaking continuously on the sand.  Recorded in Rio de Janeiro by Marcelo Carneiro de Lima.

"The sound of a train in the distance on a quiet beautiful morning makes me think of possibility and freedom. But I was thinking about how others may hear something different, or it might not be a positive association for everyone, depending on how free you are, or what's truly possible. In the old days I had an idea of America and its wide open spaces as a place where people were free and everything was possible. Maybe it still is and maybe it never was.  "There's a little musical sound, some kind of alarm maybe, that I brought into the piano part. The sound isn't quite tuned to the notes of the piano, and you can hear it in slightly different keys, and as major or minor. I tried to build on that sound to create a thread through the music, but use the ambiguity it creates to allow a couple of changes of direction, between uncertainty, hopefulness, and melancholy."  Savannah Garden City soundscape reimagined by Andrew Hayes.

It’s early morning in what seems to be a quiet suburb of Georgia. People are still asleep, but you the rumble of industry never stops, cars flying down nearby highways and the signalling and occasional hoots of trains passing through. The birds wake up and follow suit.  Garden City is a city is known for its industrial hub and proximity to the Port of Savannah. The rumble of trains reminds you of this in the early morning in what would appear to be a very leafy suburb, with long verges, and tall trees.  I spent a few nights in Savannah Garden City while visiting Savannah during Autumn 2023.  Recorded by Marg Laing.