Cities and Memory - remixing the world

Cities and Memory - remixing the world

Cities and Memory remixes the world, one sound at a time - a global collaboration between artists and sound recordists all over the world. The project presents an amazingly-diverse array of field recordings from all over the world, but also reimagined, recomposed versions of those recordings as we go on a mission to remix the world. What you'll hear in the podcast are our latest sounds - either a field recording from somewhere in the world, or a remixed new composition based solely on those sounds. Each podcast description tells you more about what you're hearing, and where it came from. There are more than 7,000 sounds featured on our sound map, spread over more than 130 countries and territories. The sounds cover parts of the world as diverse as the hubbub of San Francisco’s main station, traditional fishing women’s songs at Lake Turkana, the sound of computer data centres in Birmingham, spiritual temple chanting in New Taipei City or the hum of the vaporetto engines in Venice. You can explore the project in full at www.citiesandmemory.com

Episodes

December 4, 2025 8 mins
"I chose this soundscape because I wanted to work with sonic elements far removed from what I’m used to hearing. That led me to explore sounds from Japan, and when I came across this recording, it struck me as something special because of its nostalgic quality. Like the person who captured it, I’ve also experienced “last evenings” in the places where I’ve lived. My own feeling isn’t always nostalgia, but rather a kind of empti...
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"Far deep inside the Amazon, after twelve hours on a canoe through green wilderness and mirrored skies, I arrived at a small indigenous Tikuna settlement nestled beside the river. There, children laughed as they bathed in the water’s bronze light, while their mothers washed clothes by the river, each rhythmic strike against the wood becoming part of the forest’s pulse — a gentle percussion older than language.

"From t...
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December 4, 2025 6 mins
By the river’s side in the Amazon, Colombia, the soundscape blends the gentle rush of the water with the rhythmic motion of people washing clothes. Children play joyfully in the river, their laughter and splashes mingling with the natural flow, creating a lively, harmonious atmosphere.

Recorded by Rafael Diogo.
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December 4, 2025 13 mins
"I made a number of live jams over a couple of weeks, each around an hour long, all manipulating a snippet of the recording, with some added synths; the final piece is an edit and amalgamation of two of these. A selection of others can be found at https://dtyb.bandcamp.com/album/warsaw.

St. Martin's church, Warsaw reimagined by dtyb.
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December 4, 2025 5 mins
 "When I heard Miyu's recording of cicadas, I was brought back to humid late summers in Japan — where I lived for two years in the mid-aughts — particularly the time around the Obon festival, when, traditionally, the veil between the living and the dead is said to be at its thinnest. 

"Cicadas, in a synesthetic way to me, are the sound of that veil shaking in a hot breeze, the static cling of the cosmic curtain, and t...
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December 4, 2025 1 min
"The interface of humans and water is celebrated in the recording and composition. I collected bell sounds from the recorded soundscape, and brought them to the forefront in a reverberant timed and tonal pattern, emphasized with percussive textures, while the original soundscape forms foundation and harmony throughout, ultimately zooming to power and reflection."

It-Tlett Ibliet sounds from Malta reimagined by Heather...
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December 4, 2025 4 mins
"This piece starts with the original recording, which consists of lively, beautiful species. However, as we move forward new, unconventional sounds are introduced.
I have been obsessing over sounds, in its raw state, without any acoustic characteristics of a space imbibed in it. I have used a lot of surface recordings done with contact mics. All these are recordings of vibrating surface, which are then EQ'd later to create...
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December 4, 2025 35 secs
Japanese people call the loud cicada sound “Tsukutsukubōshi,” because that’s what it sounds like they’re singing. Don’t you think so when you try saying it out loud quickly?

This recording was made in Niigata, a region in Japan famous for its rice production. The area also has a thriving garment industry, with factories scattered among the rice fields.

If you listen closely, you can hear distant sounds of car...
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December 4, 2025 2 mins
This field recording was made on the embankment of the Yamato River. You can hear the soft flow of the river, distant cars passing by, and the 6:00 p.m. evening chime.

In many parts of Japan, melodies like this chime are played every evening through outdoor speakers. Originally part of disaster warning systems, they’ve become a daily signal for children to head home and a calming ritual for the community. Often nostal...
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December 4, 2025 4 mins
"Farm life" captures the soundscape of an open paddy field in southern India - long after the harvest season, when weeds have reclaimed the land and rural fauna slowly returns. Recorded just as the day was winding down, the acoustic landscape features a chorus of birds, insects, frogs and distant vehicles that are layered beneath the prominent and resonant calls of Greater Coucals engaging in what feels like a slow, conversati...
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December 4, 2025 2 mins
Inside St Martin's Church, which was founded in 1356 by the Duke of Mazovia Ziemowit and his wife Euphemia. It has been repeatedly reconstructed in the Baroque style, following destruction in 1944, the Baroque interior was not rebuilt and now it is largely modern, with the only surviving original element being the partially burned crucifix in the main nave. 

Recorded by Maria Papdomanolaki.
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December 4, 2025 3 mins
The recording was made at the harbor of Malta’s Three Cities: Vittoriosa, Senglea, and Cospicua - which sit directly across from the capital city of Valletta. The sound of church bells dominates, their deep tones reverberating over the water, creating a harmonious link between these historic cities.

As the bells toll, the sounds of modern life emerge - vehicles moving through narrow streets, boats moving, and people c...
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November 30, 2025 6 mins
"The recording is of a tornado warning siren with howling wind and rain.
Although we don't get tornadoes in my part of the world, I do enjoy stormy weather- from the comfort of my own cozy home. This is what I imagined when creating this piece: a warm cozy home where you can ignore the chaos going on around you. 

"The title, "Placid island" is from a H. P. Lovecraft- Call of Cthulhu quote, "We live on a placid isl...
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November 30, 2025 5 mins
There have been talks of a large storm moving in after many tornadoes had already touched down in the western part of the state earlier that day. Just before midnight, the rain calms down as the clouds lower, and the tornado sirens begin. 

I sit outside recording the dissonant yet beautiful cacophony of the overlapping sirens while neighbours step outside to asses the situation before the storm picks up and everyone m...
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November 30, 2025 2 mins
"Irreversible Change is an ambient track built around a field recording captured at the Pryvoz Market. The natural bustle of the environment is anchored by a sparse, glitchy beat created withthe Air DrumSynth. The rest of the soundscape is shaped by a piano-like Sonic Charge Synplant 2 patch, which floats over the glitchy percussion and the chaotic market noise."

Pryvoz market, Ukraine reimagined by Karhide.
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November 30, 2025 9 mins
This recording was made during a Kathakali performance — a traditional Indian theatre art form native to the Malayalam-speaking state of Kerala. It captures a 9-minute percussive piece performed by an ensemble featuring the Chenda and Maddalam, two prominent drums of the tradition, accompanied by the echoing tones of Chengila (gong) and Elathalam (cymbals).

Recorded from the audience’s perspective, the audio reflects ...
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November 30, 2025 4 mins
Recording at Pryvoz Market in Odessa was a mix of emotions. The market buzzed with life, as vendors sold goods and people clung to everyday routines despite the ongoing conflict. There was a sense of resilience in the air, but beneath the bustle, a quiet sadness lingered. 

It reflected the uncertainty of the war between Ukraine and Russia, casting a shadow over the moments of normalcy that still persisted.

Re...
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November 30, 2025 9 mins
"In reimagining this field recording, I drew upon the raw power of musique concrète by manipulating and deconstructing the layered sounds from the Kathakali performance. I used noise synths to push these textures into distorted, static-filled territories, creating a sense of immersion that moved away from the traditional and into the realm of sonic experimentation.

"The distant murmurs and ambient noises from the audi...
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November 29, 2025 2 mins
The sound of religious singing in the Basilica di Santa Maria in Rome. A calm evening in February before the Basilica shuts its doors for the night, I wandered into the near-empty church to record the soothing sounds of religious hymns that seeped into the dimly lit streets of Rome. 

Recorded by Andrew Ramsey.
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November 29, 2025 4 mins
"Upon first hearing the Santa Maria field recording, I felt a strong sense of place. It was as if I were right there in Rome. I cut a section of the field recording and used the priest's words and the loudest plainchant singing to compose a story song. To create a character and add atmosphere, I added a short recording of my own footsteps walking. The song unfolds: a curious traveler; what she discovers and what she takes with...
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