Cities And Memory

In Vilnius we were grateful that the Black Ceramics Centre welcomed us into their studio for a behind the scenes close recording session of their manufacturing processes. Here, Ieva Paukstyte is kneading together a blend of wet and dry clay until it becomes usable for moulding her work, with the squelch and thump down onto the table. Black ceramics in Lithuania ― one of the types of black-smoked ceramics, produced using a special technology. It is also called: black-polished, black, grey, smoky, smoked ceramics. Such products have a black colour with a metallic, green or purple sheen, but without the use of dyes. Lithuanian black ceramics are one of the oldest in Europe. This technique was very common in the medieval Europe. Archaeological research in Lithuania has proven that already in the 14th century black ceramics were widespread in the area of modern Vilnius. The Modern Age saw enamel techniques gaining prevalence and black ceramics pushed aside. During the 20th century black ceramics became a rarity.

Platforms 9 and 10 at Oslo central station, waiting for a train to depart, we hear arrivals and departures, loud train sounds, trolley bags, announcements and the general hum of a major railway station. Recorded in 2025 by Cities and Memory. 

The sound of the ocean on the beaches of Cabo Frio, Brazil - a cloudy day with little wind. Recorded by Patricio Lerma.

"The piece represents a busy few minutes on Track 9 of Oslo station. All the sounds are made up from sections of the original field recording - sampled, sequenced, pitched, grained, wave-tabled and just generally mashed up whilst the original recording runs in parallel."Oslo train station soundscape reimagined by Simon Woods.

"I always thought that the waves have their own grooves. My piece follows, complements and builds upon the rhythm of the waves in the recording I have chosen. It aims to be straightforward and slightly hypnotic like the waves of an ocean. Incantations is based on a live jam and it was recorded with an eight track recorder, without the use of a computer."Waves in Cabo Frio reimagined by Rin Kaseya.

"The original recording is processed through a series of tuned resonators and combined with granular based background sound."Vilnius black ceramics kneading reimagined by Wolfgang Ludewig / Radialfilm.

I walk behind the flock as the ewes leave the barn after the morning milking. A lamb gets separated from its mother; she hears its plaintive baaing and comes back to find it. Down the road the shepherd opens the shed where the goats spend the night; they run down to join the sheep, walking beside and behind them like officers. Their bells are rectangular and have a harsher tone. With the sheep's round ones they make a whole orchestra, a ringing river of sound.Recorded in Ano Pedina, Greece by Maria Margaronis.

Listen to the clanging of a pans and cutlery as a Pad Thai is prepared in Chinatown, Bangkok. Recorded by Jake Edwards. 

Aboard the U-bahn in Hannover, travelling to Kroepcke, leaving the station, close-up recording of the escalators, sounds of fellow passengers talking as they leave the station.Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

" I used Jake Edwards’ field recording from Chinatown, Bangkok, capturing the sounds of pots and cutlery during the preparation of Pad Thai. I transformed these everyday sounds through cuts, repetitions and effects, combining them with generative musical processes using my own software, autom@tedMusiC 3.0."The software does not use artificial intelligence. It is the result of a long process of development through my earlier versions, based on algorithmic procedures and generative composition."The piece explores how everyday sounds can lose their original identity and become part of an ever-changing musical composition."Street food in Chinatown, Bangkok reimagined by Sergio Maltagliati. 

"I decided to work with this sound because it reminds me as a kid my easter and summer holidays at my village."A balance between the reality of the location and a musical atmospheric memory of it."The spatial decay reverb and the bouncing echoes from ping pong delay give the impression of cool air in an autumn pasture."Greek sheeping going to pasture reimagined by Konstantinos.

"A recording of the U-Bahn in Hanover—a contemporary sonic trace of a place linked to Greek migration to Germany during the 1960s and 1970s. A recording from a *taverna* featuring Greek popular songs, which at times remain recognizable and at others dissolve into sonic fragments. Evangelia’s voice and oud, combined with electronic percussion, create a new sonic layer. The various sources coexist and undergo constant transformation, forging an imaginary space where different places and eras interpenetrate."Hannover U-bahn reimagined by Orisonspells (Evangelia Tsaousidou and Dimitris Dimitriadis).

The biggest race of the evening's race meet, as the Formula 1 cars battle it out in the final race - this is a recording of the entire race, including an interruption for a crash on the track, which means all the cars stop racing while the somewhat broken cars are safely removed from the arena, before the race can resume. Double world final weekend at Northampton International Shaleway, featuring Brisca Formula 1 stock cars and 1400cc stock cars racing around a shale oval circuit, 11 September 2026. Stock car racing has been in the UK since 1954 - initially taking place on existing greyhound or speedway tracks, the cars were initially road cars from the 1930s with locked rear axle differentials and added armour for contact racing.Recorded in September 2026 by Cities and Memory. 

"Built around a 14-minute field recording of the final "Grand National" race at Northampton International Shaleway, the 6 minute track tries to balances the raw noise and chaos of stock car racing by building the music around the recording."Working in Ableton Live, the sound of the trackside PA and racing engines are edited into rhythmic hooks, processed through Baby Audio’s HyperWarp and Super VHS for a tape lo-fi grit. Eventide’s Temperance Pro reverb then helps tune the recording into the key of the track."Beneath the processed audio, a sub-bass line from Moog Mariana plays with the low rumble of the engines, locked into the minimal drum patterns from Sonic Charge Microtonic. As the race finishes, the tension between noise and control gives way to chords from Sonic Charge Synplant, resolving into a calm, synth-led outro as the engines cut and the recording ends."Northampton stock car circuit, final race, reimagined by Karhide. 

This recording was captured inside the main passage of Nanjing’s Zhonghua Gate. Outside lies a busy intersection, where the sound of traffic, churned within the passage, forms a pure urban soundscape with a rare reverberation unique to such city spaces. Yet, it lacks distinct regional character, carrying more symbolic weight in a textual sense. No human clamor, only passersby. In the history of emperors, the space for commoners’ voices is merely the echo of traffic resonating through the wide passage.Recorded in Nanjing, China by Digimonk.

"I listened to the file several times. The atmospheres are urban and dense. I tried to transform the sounds to create a sense of movement—a ghostly quality, as if the listener were in motion while remaining stationary. A kind of dreamy, ethereal contemplation."Nanjing, Zhonghua Gate Main Passage reimagined by Philippe Neau.

"With its concrete sonic materials and spacial panning, Resistance Lovesong explores the friction between animate spirit and mechanical oppression; industrial noise collides with birdsong, evoking the image of a narrow strip of open sky trapped above an alienating factory: the birdsong resounds as a symbol of hope, a lovesong, a fragment of absolute freedom."Birdsong in Pignotti reimagined by Carlotta Ferrari.

Birds chirping in the early morning while camping in Pignotti, Italy. Recorded by Francesco.

A recording made at 10.30pm next to the Marcus Brunnen fountain in Bremen, Germany - water spouts from the fountain above our recorder, with the night air otherwise punctured solely by the sound of the occasional passer-by. Binaural recording.Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

I combined the flowing water with a gentle drum beat and occasional sounds from a kazoo.  Marktplatz fountain in Bremen reimagined by Antje Bothin.