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
July 4, 2025 • 4 mins
"My field recording was a cable car journey to the top of an old town. In amongst the hubbub of voices there was snatches of music played on a telephone. I decided to use the duration of the cable car journey as a start and end point, placing the listener in the environment, and planting the melodies and rhythms as if caught almost out of ear shot on phones around the space.
"The human ums, aahs, stamps and claps are...
"The human ums, aahs, stamps and claps are...
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July 4, 2025 • 3 mins
The cable car is the only sensible way to travel up to the precipitous heights of the old town in San Marino, which today is hosting a ComicCon-style festival for lovers of all things sci-fi and fantasy.
Recorded by Cities and Memory.
Recorded by Cities and Memory.
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July 4, 2025 • 9 mins
"The piece opens with Anders Vinjar’s recording of the stark ambiance outside Auschwitz's crematoriums. A voice notes a chilling continuity: "the acoustics are the same today as it was in 1942".
Holocaust survivors then share their stories, interwoven with supporting music. Abrupt cuts jolt listeners back to the haunting recording at Auschwitz. As the piece progresses, survivors' warnings blend with news clips and co...
Holocaust survivors then share their stories, interwoven with supporting music. Abrupt cuts jolt listeners back to the haunting recording at Auschwitz. As the piece progresses, survivors' warnings blend with news clips and co...
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July 4, 2025 • 9 mins
"The sound is the ambience close to the crematorium ovens in Auschwitz 1, used to exterminate 340 humans per hour. The acoustics is the same today as it was in 1942, when the mass-murder was going full speed.
"This soundscape-composition is part of the HEYR project, presenting 3-dimensional soundscapes from special locations, connected to special events. Find out more by visiting https://www.heyr.no"
© Anders...
"This soundscape-composition is part of the HEYR project, presenting 3-dimensional soundscapes from special locations, connected to special events. Find out more by visiting https://www.heyr.no"
© Anders...
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June 27, 2025 • 2 mins
This recording captures birdsong and locals passing through a quiet public garden in central Mantua. The recording was made on the 29th May 2012, about five minutes after a strong earthquake had struck the Emilia Romagna region, causing significant damage to the UNESCO World Heritage property of the Cathedral, Torre Civica and Piazza Grande.
Recorded by Cities and Memory.
Recorded by Cities and Memory.
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June 27, 2025 • 4 mins
"In May 2012, two major earthquakes struck Northern Italy, causing 27 deaths and widespread damage. The events are known in Italy as the 2012 Emilia earthquakes, because they mainly affected the Emilia region.
"The field recording captured birdsong and locals passing through a quiet public garden in central Mantua, five minutes after the Emilia earthquakes. I wanted to depict the contrast between the calmness of the M...
"The field recording captured birdsong and locals passing through a quiet public garden in central Mantua, five minutes after the Emilia earthquakes. I wanted to depict the contrast between the calmness of the M...
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June 25, 2025 • 4 mins
"The transitioning nature of the field recording made for some melodic transitioning in the background. The trumpet call ends abruptly but returns again and again."
Krakow trumpet call reimagined by Moray Newlands.
IMAGE: Oliszydlowski, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Krakow trumpet call reimagined by Moray Newlands.
IMAGE: Oliszydlowski, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
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June 25, 2025 • 3 mins
Probably Poland's most iconic sound, the hejnał mariacki (literally "Saint Mary's dawn") is a trumpet call that sounds every hour on the hour from the highest tower of St Mary's Church in Kraków's rynek glówny (main square).
The bugler plays the same call four times, once in each of the cardinal directions. This tradition dates back to medieval times, when the call was used to signal the opening and closing of the ci...
The bugler plays the same call four times, once in each of the cardinal directions. This tradition dates back to medieval times, when the call was used to signal the opening and closing of the ci...
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June 25, 2025 • 4 mins
In March 2025 we made a series of recordings in and around the Barbican Centre, with the idea of those sounds being folded back into the Observatory Station sound installation, so that the sounds of the Barbican itself become part of the stories being told by sound from around the world.
This recording is a walkthrough of some of the exterior concrete tunnels and walkways that make up this brutalist masterpiece - foo...
This recording is a walkthrough of some of the exterior concrete tunnels and walkways that make up this brutalist masterpiece - foo...
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June 25, 2025 • 4 mins
"I chose to work with a recording made at the Barbican centre in London.
This complex has fascinated me for many years, and I have always been curious to seek out new nooks and crannies there. I took my curiosity about the place into how I approached the work.
"The rhythmic footsteps are the core motif of the piece, even though they are not the most dominant sonic aspect, they are the anchor point from which to ...
This complex has fascinated me for many years, and I have always been curious to seek out new nooks and crannies there. I took my curiosity about the place into how I approached the work.
"The rhythmic footsteps are the core motif of the piece, even though they are not the most dominant sonic aspect, they are the anchor point from which to ...
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June 23, 2025 • 4 mins
"In my area of North America, train journeys are relatively rare. Taking a train feels like a special occasion because I only have the opportunity when I’m far from home. I’ve always enjoyed the exploratory feel of train rides: a train journey feels almost like stolen time, where normal responsibilities are paused and you are given freedom to simply be, if you choose.
"I was inspired by the F#-A train horn to create ...
"I was inspired by the F#-A train horn to create ...
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June 23, 2025 • 9 mins
This recording features train horns as the trains pass by a level crossing just outside Palo Alto train station. The tonality of the train horns and the level crossing warning alarms are clearly identifiable as North American trains, and the sonic identity of the trains themselves as they pass are typical of Californian trains.
Palo Alto is a small town and these sounds can be heard from most parts of town as trains ...
Palo Alto is a small town and these sounds can be heard from most parts of town as trains ...
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June 23, 2025 • 8 mins
"Listening to the original field recording, I was engrossed in the dichotomy of the space - the waterfall and open area versus the man-made sounds of jet and helicopter fly overs. In this scenario, the man-made sounds overtaking the environmental quiet have an intentionality to preserve the space of the forest and the livelihood of people within it. The tension, persistence, and resilience of these elements is what I choose to...
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June 23, 2025 • 4 mins
Captured during the devastating wildfires of September 2024 in Benfeita, Portugal, this recording reflects the dramatic challenge faced annually. The sky vanished behind ash-laden fog as fires erupted from all sides.
Near the waterfalls, the relentless hum of helicopters and planes filled the air, battling the flames alongside over 5,000 firefighters. This soundscape embodies a community's crisis, resilience, and the...
Near the waterfalls, the relentless hum of helicopters and planes filled the air, battling the flames alongside over 5,000 firefighters. This soundscape embodies a community's crisis, resilience, and the...
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June 23, 2025 • 4 mins
"“Kintsugi” is field-recording-based piece honouring both the original sample (from the Hill of the Buddha in Japan) as well as a form of Japanese art. Instead of using lacquer and precious metals to mend broken pieces of pottery, I use sound to bind other field recording samples together while still making that sound part of the design.
"I use the full sample to start and end the piece, with a drone-like part of the...
"I use the full sample to start and end the piece, with a drone-like part of the...
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June 23, 2025 • 19 secs
An architectural space of deep spiritual meaning in Sapporo, Japan.
Recorded by David Mintom.
Recorded by David Mintom.
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June 23, 2025 • 6 mins
"A response to a chorus of tree frogs."
Frog chorus in Yokohama, Japan reimagined by Alex Vald.
Frog chorus in Yokohama, Japan reimagined by Alex Vald.
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June 23, 2025 • 20 mins
This is the call of the Schlegel's green frog, a frog endemic to Japan. When one of them starts croaking, a call and response begins. The contrast between stillness and movement is beautiful.
Recorded in Yokohama, Japan by Tadamitsu Mizuno.
Recorded in Yokohama, Japan by Tadamitsu Mizuno.
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June 23, 2025 • 10 mins
A hydrophone recording from the Adriatic Coast of Italy captures the fascinating and vibrant sounds of marine life. You can hear the clicks, pops, and crackles of mollusks, including shrimps, crabs, mussels, lobsters, and barnacles. As we venture further from human activity, the true richness of these underwater soundscapes comes to life.
Recorded by Rafael Diogo.
Recorded by Rafael Diogo.
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June 23, 2025 • 8 mins
"In retrospect, this was a tricky choice of audio file, as the original recording is hard to better in terms of sheer absorbing alien sound quality. I had no idea lobsters were that loud & communicative. They sound quite lively and otherworldly, so I felt the music woven around their sounds should be too. It seems to have evolved into something like a cheerful lobster rave.
"In terms of methodology, I made several...
"In terms of methodology, I made several...
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