Cities And Memory

"Golden Hours unfolds like a friendly conversation between two friends who truly see each other. What begins as a light exchange - about work, retirement, and small everyday things - turns into something deeper, almost poetic. In just a few minutes, they drift through life’s big questions with humor and grace: When is it time to stop working? What happens next? Why do we live by the beach but never go there? "Their dialogue flows effortlessly, full of warmth, wit, and openness. Each line is both funny and revealing, showing how two people can cover an entire lifetime of ideas in a few gentle turns of talk - money, time, marriage, hobbies, decisions, and the strange rhythm of growing older. It’s the kind of exchange that feels spontaneous yet full of insight - where every answer sparks another thought, another laugh, another 'maybe'. Beneath the humour runs a tender honesty about time passing, the search for meaning, and the art of simply being curious about each other. "There’s beauty in the pauses, laughte

"Hearing the original sample it suggested an idea for an imaginary space accessed that exists inside the birdsong itself - so I used the sample and through a range of different processes including re-synthesis, granulation, reverberation, repetition and resonation, I created a ton of sound material to create a sense of a surreal space that exists within and without - with close and distant echoes of the bird song.  "The only other additions are a bass pulse and a bee buzzing past to bring a little more depth into this space within the song." Teshima night recording reimagined by Warren Anthony.

Following Terry Riley’s concert at Yokoo House on Teshima Island, I walked through the darkness back to the ryokan when an enigmatic, high-frequency resonance caught my attention.  Curious and compelled, I ran to fetch my two recorders and spent the night listening and recording. The sound — from a summer insect I still can’t identify — remains a mystery that hums in memory. Recorded by Heu.

Retired mail carrier Laura returns to her old work place at the post office West Carrier Annex in Oakland. The mail carriers are just leaving to their routes to deliver the mail with their carts. But they have time to greet Laura shortly as they are hurrying to their work pulling the carts, the sound of which can be heard in the recording.  Laura remembers her old customers and she meets the man who took up her route, where the 106 year old woman still lives and remembers Laura. Recorded by Sirpa Jokinen.

"The piece involves a sample of the ships horn used as part of the melody along with traditional Turkish instruments played in 9/8 time." Ships on the Bosphorus recorded by Anders Vinjar, reimagined by Simon Woods.

"Ambisonic recordings on the Bosphoros, with the sound of large ships' engines, carrying grains from Ukraine to the world. All accompanied by distant calls to prayer by the muezzins." This soundscape 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 Recorded by Anders Vinjar.

Huge pre-communion service bells ring out from the Berliner Dom cathedral across the Mitte district of Berlin.  A solid eight minutes of impressively full bell sounds that reverberate through your entire body. As the bells fade, we walk towards the fountain in front of the cathedral. Recorded by Cities and Memory, September 2025. 

"I wanted to dive inside the sound of the bells and reimagined the drones as a kind of symphony. As a counterpoint to the location, I added waves of sounds so we can drift on a sea of drone." Berliner Dom cathedral bells, Berlin reimagined by Gareth Evans.

This is the sound of a midday call to prayer at the Zangi Ota Memorial Complex. The complex, located just outside Tashkent (20 km), is very popular pilgrimage site as it houses Zangi Ota and Anbar bibi mausoleums.  Visitors from all over Uzbekistan and neighboring countries Anbar bibi or Anbar Ona Mausoleum is quite special, as it is dedicated to a woman, the wife of a prominent Sufi Sheykh, and it draws women young and old to perform pilgrimages and make very intimate requests - a child, happiness in marriage, harmonious relationship with mothers-in-law.  Recorded by Shahnoza Nozimova.

"The recording made me think of a journey through the darkness, trying to find the light, to find the thing that has been searched for. I had the field recording playing throughout the track, blending in and out of the pads playing, until finally at the end when you can finally hear the singing, when you make it to the end of your quest.  :It was very enjoyable working with a sound from somewhere else in the world, a place i have never been able to visit, but I feel like now i have been able to travel there, at least for a time.  Zangi Ota memorial complex, Uzbekistan reimagined by Ellipses (Ant Beloch).

"My composition, titled “Berliner Mauer,” draws inspiration from ambisonics recordings made by Anders Vinjar at the Berlin Wall. "The Berlin Wall, officially known as the Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart, was a fortified concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989. It physically separated West Berlin from East Berlin and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). Construction of the Berlin Wall began on August 13, 1961, by the government of the GDR. The wall featured guard towers along large concrete walls and a wide area known as the “death strip,” which contained anti-vehicle trenches, beds of nails, and other defensive measures. The primary purpose of the Wall was to prevent East German citizens from fleeing to the West. "The intricate history of the Berlin Wall captivated me. Its origin as a tangible symbol of the Cold War division holds immense power. It embodies various aspects, including the brutal suppression of East Germans and their families, its unintended symbolic significan

Ambisonics recording at the wall, physically separating Eastern Europe from Western Europe in Berlin during the Cold War in the years 1961 to 1989. This recording 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 Recorded by Anders Vinjar.

"I liked the space in the recording, and used it to slot in percussive and electronic elements to create a composition where all elements had parity of presence." Sanlin Old Street, Shanghai reimagined by Fergus Kelly. 

"Estonian autumns arrive with shortening days, cooler air, and long, unbroken stretches of rain. There is also a particular sound to this small country — quiet, restrained, and deliberate. Voices fall softly; movement slows; even the strings of daily life seem slightly muted. In such an atmosphere, time itself can begin to blur. "This recording, made in Nõmme, Estonia, tries to capture that sensation — the drift of sound and stillness as they dissolve into one another." Nõmme food market, Tallinn reimagined by Paul Beaudoin.

Estimated to be more than 130 million years old, the ancient rainforest of Sabah comes alive in sound as night descends. The air vibrates with the calls of nocturnal creatures, forming a chorus in the darkness. From the steady hum of countless insects to the distant cries of animals hidden, the forest pulses with life.  Within this vast wilderness dwell some of the world’s rarest and most remarkable beings - the Orangutan, Proboscis Monkey, Pygmy Elephant, Rhinoceros Hornbill, and Estuarine Crocodile - together known as the famous ‘Borneo Five’. Wrapped in shadows and mystery, the rainforest holds their presence like a secret, offering a timeless symphony. Recorded by Jake Edwards. 

The ice on Son Kul lake, Kyrgyzstan melting with spring coming. Recorded by Melissa Aubin.

At the fruit and veg market in the Nomme district in Tallinn, with shopper buying their weekly groceries on a windswept day. Rain starts midway through the recording and we shelter beneath the canopies and listen to the rain beating down above our heads. Nõmme is a natural district of Tallinn. Some of the most beautiful residences from traditional wooden to art nouveau styles stand underneath the pine trees of Nõmme. The Nõmme Market, selling fresh produce and local goods, will transport you to an cosy Estonian village without leaving the city.  Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

In this recording, traffic sounds increase during thunderstorms and rainy weather. In wet conditions, vehicle engines and tires are more audible. These sounds can be heard as a form of white noise and are sometimes accompanied by thunder. Recorded in Trabzon, Türkiye by Ugur Aslan.

"I kept the original recording and a filtered it a bit and afterwards I added a pad. Humidity & Haze capturing the feeling of the air and the rain-streaked city, while the "Passing Thoughts" introduces the human element (the traffic). The combination of pad with the detached sounds of the rainstorm and traffic creates a feeling of lonely movement or stillness in a noisy world." Rainstorm in Trabzon reimagined by Konstantinos.

"The original piece had a feeling to me of drifting through the rainforest canopy, so I thought it would be interesting to contrast these sounds with the "jungle" of empty space between radio signals." Borneo rainforest recording reimagined by {AN} EeL