Cities And Memory

"The original soundtrack I used from Cities & Memory's archive was recorded on a street in Cairo at sunset, outside the Marriott Hotel and Omar Khayyam casino, on Saray El Gezira Street. The famous Gezirah Palace was completed in 1869 by Khedive Ismail, to host dignitaries for the opening of the Suez Canal that year. When I first listened to this piece I heard, among the sounds of car horns and the evening prayer call, the sound of footsteps running down the street and away, and a sharp gasp of breath. The whipping wind in the microphone sounded like a jinn or an Afreet, plural Afareet. It reminded me of my favourite song El Shawarea Hawadeet (the streets are tales) by El Masreyeen from 1977. Lonely streets echoing with memories, stories and Afareet.  "In the final piece, you can hear layers of sounds from different eras. The song Al Bulbul Gani (the nightingale came to me) recorded in Cairo in 1906, written by Abd al-hayy Hilmi; the sounds of drumming used in the Cairo Zar women’s ritual by the group Ma