Cities and Memory - remixing the world

byCities and Memory

ArtsMusicSocietyCulturePlacesTravel

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...

Episodes(40 episodes)

Tommy ten names

"I listened to the original recording a few times to pick out some focal points I could use, notable the "Tommy Tommy" chant at the beginning and the "refugees are welcome" chant at the end. I also picked out some profanity used by a member of the protest directed at a female member of the opposition and pitch shifted a few other bits to use more as textures."It's quite an experimental piece, lots of synths, big reverb drums, metal guitars and hard auto tuned vocals and the song as a whole is a bit tongue in...

Published: Sep 9, 2026Duration: 3m 55s

Cities and Memory: "A special recording like this needed special treatment, so I had a collaboration in mind from the outset when starting on the music. Thinking about that, I set out to create a track that evoked the feeling of the dusk skies and the mellow heat of the African savannah. The field recording was full of different voices and tones, so using it as a bed for the track required some careful splicing and placement so that those voices appeared in the track in the right moments, complementing but not intruding. And of course, there's...

Published: Aug 8, 2026Duration: 6m 29s

Lions at dusk, Tanzania

The microphones were set metres away from the lions as the light dropped off and the temperature shifted. The lions are close. This is by far the most dangerous recording I have ever done. Their voices hold weight, spreading slowly across the savannah, overlapping in uneven intervals. There is a sense of space in the gaps between each call. What carries first is distance, low frequency calls moving across open ground, travelling further than expected in the cooling air.This was not a controlled recording. The position was exposed, visibility was low, and movement nearby could not...

Published: Aug 8, 2026Duration: 4m 47s

Cities and Memory interview on BBC 6music Cerys Matthews show

Broadcast on BBC 6music, Sunday 26 July 2026. Cerys Matthews talks to Cities and Memory creator Stuart Fowkes about disappearing and obsolete sounds, and introduces the project.Includes musical selections by Stuart from Can, Broadcast, Stuart Dempster, William Basinski & Janek Schaefer and The For Carnation.

Published: Jul 27, 2026Duration: 28m 36s

Woodland birds recorded during daytime in Nottinghamshire, England. Blue tits are very prominent in the recording.Recorded by Tim Hills.

Published: Jul 27, 2026Duration: 1m 34s

Birdsong in dub

"I took a pice of birdsong I had recorded and played around with the Flextime function in Logic. I added stereo echo and then a couple of synth parts from Alchemy and this is the result.:Birdsong in Bestwood, England reimagined by Tim Hills.

Published: Jul 27, 2026Duration: 3m 25s

Playing dice, Bishkek

A few old men play a game of dice at the outskirts of the sprawling Osh Bazaar. They slap down small bills before rolling the dice on a wooden board and chain smoke cheap cigarettes. The smoke drifts into the pharmacy next door. They seemingly sell flooring at some point too. While bustling, the bazaar is more calm here; everyone is relaxed and kind.Recorded by wwjd.

Published: Jul 23, 2026Duration: 3m 55s

Tumbling between mountains

"A mix of the casual tumbling dice in their cup and the majestically remote mountains that cover the land outside of Bishkek."Dice game at Osh Bazaar, Bishkek reimagined by wwjd.

Published: Jul 23, 2026Duration: 4m 13s

Underscoring the morning

The original recording conjures a restful yet lively ambience that brings to life what early morning in this part of Chisinau must feel like.As the recordist Rafa notes, there is 'a distant sense of the urban world behind them' in the original recording, which in this composition is brought to the forefront not to clash with the birdsong, but to complement it.The response is flavoured with multiple layers of vintage 70s and 80s-inspired synthesiser sounds to build a soundtrack to early morning. The different layers and cadences of synth parts represent the different...

Published: Jul 15, 2026Duration: 5m 21s

Morning birds at the edge of the city

Recorded early in the morning in a green area on the outskirts of Chișinău, this piece listens to the softer edge of the city.Birds fill the space, with only a distant sense of the urban world behind them. It shows another side of the capital: quieter, greener, more open. The recording feels like a pause from the streets, where nature comes forward and the city almost disappears into the background.Recorded in Chisinau, Moldova by Rafael Diogo.

Published: Jul 15, 2026Duration: 3m 0s

Migrant bird crisis

This piece was inspired by a recording of a klaxon in Patton, PA that seemed to warn of nothing on a spring morning but the arrival of migrant birds.Patton klaxon sound reimagined by Xanthra DuFrane.

Published: Jul 15, 2026Duration: 9m 35s

Warning siren, Patton, PA

The siren sounds everyday, randomly. Sometimes twice or three times. The birds are anxious.Recorded in Patton, Pennsylvania, USA by Xanthra DuFrane.

Published: Jul 15, 2026Duration: 2m 2s

We're still standing

"I retained, without adjustment, the field-recording of chanting on a football terrace. My initial sense was of masculine celebration, the chants serving as a barometer for pride and rivalry. However, with the rhythmic fluctuations, my layered loops and snatches of dialogue shifted the celebratory mood. Repetitive, loopable refrains began to drone and persist with what I perceived as a tense 'possibility of emotional volatility', creating an unpredictable subversion."Horsham FC football chants reimagined by Rachael Adams.

Published: Jun 15, 2026Duration: 8m 56s

Lardy Boys singing at Horsham FC

The Lardy Boys, also known as the Lardy Army, is the name of the supporters at Horsham FC. This is a sample of them singing on a match day.Recorded by Pauline Howley.

Published: Jun 15, 2026Duration: 1m 58s

Sweet memories of Kawasaki

"I found the idea of candy cutting and the cheerful voices on the original recording very reminiscent of a childhood memory. The fact that I cannot understand the Japanese being spoken makes it further seem like a hazy memory. "I wanted to retain the cheerful, nostalgic tone that I perceived while adding a melodic component on top of the rhythm created naturally by the candy cutting." Candy cutting in Kawasaki reimagined by David Jolly.

Published: Jun 12, 2026Duration: 3m 58s

Tontoko: sugar cut on Kawasaki Daishi Street

On the street leading to Kawasaki Daishi, the sharp, percussive sound of hand‑cut sugar candy forms a steady rhythm.Shopkeepers’ voices enter from both sides, calling out “Welcome” and offering tastes of candy just cut moments before.Recorded in Kawasaki, Japan by Miduno.

Published: Jun 12, 2026Duration: 3m 55s

Lake Masek night chaos

| A wild night at Lake Masek in Ndutu, Tanzania. Hear hyenas whooping, lions roaring, jackals calling, hippos grunting, zebras barking, and flamingos vocalizing-all in one incredible soundscape. Perfect for immersion, study, sleep, or experiencing the true chaos of the African night.Recorded in Ngorongoro, Arusha, Tanzania by David Joseph.

Published: Jun 12, 2026Duration: 20m 41s

The darkness is rising

"I spend a lot of my time leading community choirs and singing protest songs, rousing anthems of freedom and liberty - and now, more than ever, they are needed. This is not a protest song, it is a plea. Ask yourself, which side are you on?"Together Alliance protest in London reimagined by Rebecca Denniff.

Published: Jun 12, 2026Duration: 8m 24s

"This is my second attempt at producing a piece of music using the source sample. The original sample contains a clean, distinct loop of tribal drumming, and at first I constructed a piece based on that loop, with rhythmic and melodic elements stacked, and arranged into an EDM piece. "That was a bit too obvious, so instead I took the loop, deconstructed it, and applied pitch-shifting, filtering and other processing to elements to come up with the low-frequency sounds (at 52s, and later in the track) as well as the various bleeps and glitches that run through t...

Published: Jun 12, 2026Duration: 6m 28s

Holding Death Wall

"This is a collaboration with pianist and composer Leah Floyeurs. We worked with sensitivity to honour the vibrational signature of this location in space, the Auschwitz Death Wall, which holds the memory of the Holocaust. The piece uses electronics and piano." Auschwitz Death Wall recording reimagined by Helen Copnall and Leah Floyeurs.

Published: Jun 12, 2026Duration: 3m 18s